Meet commissioner candidate Phil Mitchell

Republican Flathead County commissioner candidate Phil Mitchell says he came out of a difficult government environment while serving on the Whitefish City Council for four years and still remained a conservative.

“I have a heart for all the people in the Flathead Valley, people of all walks of life,” he said. “By keeping government at a reasonable level, we can continue to have people here from all walks of life.”

Mitchell grew up in Bismarck, N.D., and lived in California before moving to the Flathead. He’s lived in Whitefish 39 years.

After graduating from Cal Poly, in Pomona, Calif., with a degree in horticulture and recreation, he went to work in the golf industry for 35 years. He served as president of the Whitefish Golf Course and also owned an antiques store and candy store in Whitefish.

Mitchell “retired” seven years ago but manages to stay busy just the same. He oversaw construction of the Christ Lutheran Church and the new North Valley Food Bank in Whitefish. After managing Rollie Smith Sports Park for eight years, he resigned last month. He also served on the Whitefish School Board for six years.

Mitchell said he decided not to run for re-election to the city council last fall in anticipation of a run for the county commission this year.

“Several people asked me to run,” he said. “I agreed the second time they asked me.”

Mitchell said he’s running for the county seat with no agenda.

“I want to do a good job of running county government,” he said. “I have good experience in business and at the city council — particularly with budgets.”

Many golf course budgets run from $20 million to $50 million, Mitchell noted. He said he spent four years on the Whitefish City Council protecting taxes during the recession and making certain the city stayed within its means.

“The people who asked me to run thought I had the expertise and ability to do the job, so I chose to continue to give back to public service,” he said.

Mitchell has strong feelings about the dispute between the county and Whitefish over the city’s two-mile planning and zoning “doughnut” area.

“We spent a year and a half coming up with the 2010 interlocal agreement, and the city referendum ruined it,” he said. “The city wants to control it without representation.”

Mitchell said he didn’t think the burden of taking over planning and zoning in the “doughnut” would cost the county too much.

“It’s mostly agricultural land,” he said. “If Whitefish wants to control land in the doughnut, they should annex it.”

As for the hundreds of miles of unpaved county roads, Mitchell said big subdivisions should pave roads but not the little ones. He said he’d support continued dust abatement on the North Fork Road and paving the road as far as the Camas Road bridge.

“As for the EPA and dust, is it really that bad?” he asked. “Who sets these limits?”

Mitchell also has strong feelings about the proposed Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes water compact. Whereas he doesn’t expect to see a drought severe enough to cause problems for irrigators under the compact, he wanted to see the compact address all agricultural needs — both on and off the Flathead Indian Reservation.

“It’s controlled by too few people and creates a new bureaucracy,” he said. “All the water in the state belongs to the state. The legislature should control water, not a small board.”

Mitchell criticized the Flathead County Commissioners for not taking public comment when approving the CSKT water compact and when they decided not to repair a slump near Kalispell that is threatening homes above the Whitefish River. The second matter drew more than 100 angry residents to a commissioners meeting, he noted.

Mitchell said he can’t understand why citizens are not allowed to rummage through green box sites and help with recycling, so long as there’s no liability to the county. But he also doesn’t want to see trash along the highways.

“Flathead County is a special place,” he said. “I could see higher rates if necessary for a cleaner valley — call it Phil’s dream world.”

A firm supporter of property rights, Mitchell said disputes should be resolved using common sense, with reasonable protection for water quality and zoning.

“People need to be left alone without Big Brother overlooking them all the time,” he said.