GOP commissioner candidates share views

Candidates for the Flathead County District 1 commissioner seat introduced themselves last week during the Glacier Pachyderm Club meeting in Kalispell.

Five of the eight GOP candidates who are running for the seat held by the late Commissioner Jim Dupont briefly introduced themselves and took a few questions.

The winner of the June 5 primary will face Democrat Gil Jordan in the November general election. An interim commissioner is expected to be appointed to the seat soon and will serve until the end of the year.

Candidates Doug Adams, Rod Bernhardson, Glenn Kolodejchuk, Cal Scott and Mike Shepard addressed the club. Also seeking the seat, but not in attendance, were Kirk Gentry, Chris Hyatt and Ben Stormes.

Cal Scott of Kalispell touted his experience in the mortgage, banking, real estate development and financial counseling businesses. He called himself a capitalist.

“I can’t sit back. I need to be involved,” he said of his interest in running.

But it was his involvement in an “Occupy” rally in Kalispell that drew criticism from one woman in the audience.

Scott explained that he joined the rally out of frustration over taxpayer money being used to bailout Wall Street and the personal financial losses he suffered since the recession.

“I was P.O.’d and that’s why I went down there and held up a sign,” said Scott, who apologized for associating with the movement.

Scott said he intends to be a leader who listens and is able to identify the difference between the wants and needs of the county.

Rod Bernhardson of Whitefish began his introduction by saying he is “not a politician,” but feels the open seat has given him the opportunity to get involved.

The small business owner said he would focus on the economy of the county.

“It’s important to have jobs,” he said. “Without jobs we can’t have anything.”

Mike Shepard, a four-term Columbia Falls City Council member raised two issues the county will be dealing with. One involves wastewater treatment standards that “could have far-reaching impacts on septics in the county,” he said.

Another issued deals with problems related to the 911 center. Shepard worked closely with Dupont on the 911 board of directors. He cited potential communication problems at the center as exposing the county to future litigation if a solution isn’t found.

“This is 2012,” he said. “We can’t do business like it’s 1899. The 911 dispatch center is about communication. This is a public safety issue.”

Shepard said he lost his brother after an accident in another state because of the lack of a 911 system.

“I don’t want anyone to have to deal with that,” he said.

Shepard pointed to his work as a city council member, saying he was involved with 20 some subdivisions without a lawsuit.

He said Columbia Falls has worked to balance the interest of neighbors and developers with regard to subdivisions while the county has a track record of subdivisions leading to lawsuits.

Glenn Kolodejchuk of Kalispell called himself a blue-collar worker who has worked in the timber industry for 25 years. He volunteers with the Flathead Snowmobile Association, youth sports and Boy Scouts.

Kolodejchuk said he doesn’t want to make promises or pledge for changes for the county because the commissioner job is about holding people accountable.

“I’m not afraid to ask the tough questions from department heads,” he said. “I want to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent well.”

Doug Adams, former Whitefish City Council member, said he has no specific agenda for running and is generally “happy with how the county is being run.”

He said he supported the county’s plan for the planning “doughnut” for Whitefish and noted that it’s a contentious issue.

“It’s something that can be solved,” he said. “I think I have the solutions to do that.”

Adams said he is sympathetic to the state and federal regulations that often burden small business and the solution is for the government to get out of the way so the economy can grow.

During the question and answer portion of the event, the candidates were asked their thoughts on the county’s air quality and approach to hiring a police officer to cite for drivers speeding on gravel roads.

Bernhardson simply said he likes the air quality in the county and that it’s “really good.”

Shepard said some roads need to be paved and that the county needs to sit down and “plan financially” for that.

Scott said the 700 plus gravel roads in the county, many of which have turned to dirt, need to be addressed.

Kolodejchuck said the use of police officers is a good way to hold drivers accountable. Paving roads needs to be looked at and moved up on the priority list, he said.

Adams said that there have been improvements to some roads through different treatment methods. He said he favors the continued use of rural special improvement districts to create private-public partnerships to fund road paving.