Election 2011: Muhlfeld focused on economy

Enticing new businesses to Whitefish

will be a top priority for candidate John Muhlfeld if elected

mayor.

The current city councilor and

president of River Design Group plans to pull from his business

background to help promote economic development here.

Originally from Connecticut, Muhlfeld

moved to Whitefish in 1995 after studying water resources at the

University of Queensland in Australia. He worked here with the

Forest Service and Department of Natural Resources and Conservation

before teaming up with partners in 2003 to launch a river

restoration company. River Design Group was recently named by

Outside magazine as one of the best places to work in the U.S.

Muhlfeld was appointed to city council

in 2006 to fill a two-year vacancy and was elected in 2007 to his

current four-year term.

A major challenge facing Whitefish

today, he says, is promoting economic development and diversifying

the economic base. Muhlfeld wants the city to do a better job of

attracting sustainable and good paying jobs.

“We need to provide incentives for

businesses to relocate to Whitefish,” he said. “What we’ve seen

over the past few years is an economy susceptible to the boom and

bust of real-estate development. We need to diversify our economic

base by attracting small to medium businesses.”

He points to the vacant Idaho Timber

and former hospital lots as prime places that could be revitalized

as a business park. There are opportunities with the city’s TIF, he

says, to encourage private and public partnerships to help

redevelop some blighted areas.

“While we are in this economic slow

down we need to prepare the city for opportunities when they do

knock at our door,” he said.

Muhlfeld likes the idea of setting up a

business incubator to help prospective companies get established

and walk them through the regulatory process.

While Whitefish is sometimes accused of

being business unfriendly due to regulations, Muhlfeld says many of

the resolutions and ordinances that have passed benefit the city.

He also notes that any ordinance will require some “housekeeping

and review.”

“We can open the hood and look

underneath to see what we can do to streamline the process,” he

said.

“I think several of these ordinances

have helped define and distinguish Whitefish. They help promote the

character and quality of life that attracted us to Whitefish

individually.”

The Critical Areas Ordinance is a

regulation that Muhlfeld has been deeply involved with. As a

councilor, he sat on the Critical Areas Advisory Committee, which

in 2007 helped create and draft the regulation for review by the

planning board and city council.

Muhlfeld voted as a councilor to

approve the CAO in 2008. The document established a list of

criteria that set out to protect the city’s water quality by

limiting development in environmentally critical areas. The

ordinance has since been amended twice, both of which Muhlfeld says

he supported.

“I think we’ve made some good strides

to make the document more user friendly and less restrictive,” he

said.

A third amendment that Muhlfeld brought

forward is up for discussion now and includes an option to

eliminate the controversial “steep slope” portion of the

ordinance.

“[The city] updated erosion control

standards,” Muhlfeld said. “It duplicated the purpose of the CAO.

When you talk about too many regulations and having to wade through

that stuff — get rid of it. We don’t need it.”

He still supports the basic principle

of the ordinance.

“Our community values clean water. We

need to be good stewards of this resource for future generations.

No law or regulation we ever pass is right the first time. When I

was on that committee, I supported this for water quality and no

other reason.”

Critics of the CAO says it’s too

confusing and that its restrictions hurt property sales. Muhlfeld

says the brokers he talks to indicate otherwise, but that he

“respects the opposing opinion.”

“It’s that critical balance that we

need to try and find a compromise on the elements of the CAO,”

Muhlfeld said. “The zoning text amendments over the past years have

been a result of that.”

In the city-county planning doughnut,

Muhlfeld says the top goal should be to find meaningful

representation for doughnut residents. He supports the

Constitutional right of the referendum to repeal the interlocal

agreement, but says it’s likely not the best approach to resolving

the issue.

“This issue has become so complex that

I feel resolving this issue with the county is best handled by city

council officials and the county commissioners,” he said.

Muhlfeld voted against the restated

interlocal agreement at a Nov. 15, 2010 council meeting, but says

it’s a good foundation to build upon.

“It’s the first of several steps in the

right direction,” he said.

Muhlfeld voted to approve the 2012 city

budget and says he is in favor of keeping taxes down in the

future.

“I think people are still suffering to

some degree,” he said. “My constituents have indicated they’re

maxed out in terms of their property taxes.”

He says the 2012 budget was the best

council could do given the economy and choices presented by the

city. He’d like to see the budget be presented in a more

user-friendly format so it’s more readable by the general

public.

On the hot topic of a new City Hall

building, Muhlfeld says it’s time to slam on the brakes.

“We need to be responsible stewards of

city tax dollars,” he said. “Just because money is available now it

doesn’t mean we have to spend it. Being frugal in today’s economy

is OK.”

He says citizens should have a say

about where and when City Hall should be built.

The idea of the city helping fund a

high school renovation is appropriate, he says, but the city should

engage in talks first with the school district, PTA and public.

The role of mayor, he says is to serve

as a sounding board between city staff, the public and the city

council.

“More importantly, the mayor should

ensure we are providing a forum that fosters good debate and

respectful dialogue that encourages solutions that are in the best

interest of Whitefish,” he said. “Everyone deserves a spot at the

table.”