Former councilor running for commissioner seat

County commissioner candidate Doug Adams says he worked with plenty of public-private partnerships as Whitefish City Councilor — and the county can do the same.

The 49-year-old Whitefish candidate is one of seven Republicans seeking the north valley commissioner’s seat after Jim Dupont died March 19.

Adams served as city councilor in Whitefish from 2002 to 2006, two of those years as deputy mayor. While on the council, the city embraced several public-private partnerships, he said, including building The Wave fitness center, a skateboard park and an ice skating rink.

If residents want certain projects done, the county could use the same model, Adams said, where government provides the necessary infrastructure and residents raise funds and help with other aspects of the project. This way, projects get completed without raising taxes, he said.

Regarding the dispute between the county and Whitefish over the city’s planning and zoning “doughnut” area, Adams said a state law passed in the 1970s gives Montana cities extraterritorial jurisdiction. Having said that, he noted, a way exists to provide representation to residents of the doughnut, but it will take a compromise on the part of the county and the city — perhaps a representative from the doughnut could sit on the city council.

What he did oppose was endless litigation that cost both entities money and will likely drag on for years, with doughnut residents seeing no solution.

“My goal is to work with the city and preempt a lawsuit,” he said.

Adams opposes marijuana shops in the county and supports Whitefish’s effort to keep them out of the city. He believed the medical marijuana initiative was a bad idea at the time and that it would simply lead to the overall legalization of the drug.

“People who think it’s a good idea for Montana are stupid,” he said.

A businessman, Adams owns and operates Design Turf Technologies, which installs synthetic turf surfaces across the U.S. and Canada. That experience has given him insight into which business regulations work and which don’t. He says he’s not against all regulations, but some are just designed to keep government employees working.

Adams has a wife, Tammy, three children and four stepchildren. Voters can read more about his campaign and the issues online at www.adamsforcommissioner.com.