One candidate files, one incumbent plans run for Council

Only one candidate has officially filed to run for Whitefish City Council and one incumbent says he will run again.

Melissa Hartman filed to run and incumbent Andy Feury said he plans to seek re-election.

As of Tuesday, Hartman was the only candidate to file with the Flathead County Election Department. The deadline to file is Monday, June 19.

Whitefish has three City Council positions open, along with the municipal judge position up for election this year.

Hartman, a Democrat, unsuccessfully ran for state Legislature for Senate District 3 last year.

The terms of Pam Barberis, Jen Frandsen and Andy Feury end this year.

Feury, who was appointed to Council in 1991 and was elected in 1993 serving four years and served as mayor from 2000 until resigning in 2007, said he will seek another term on Council.

“I haven’t filed yet, but I will,” he said on Monday. “I still enjoy it.”

Frandsen and Barberis were both first elected to council in 2013.

Frandsen said she will not seek re-election. She is an owner at Old Town Creative, a web design firm based in the Railway District.

“I love doing it and I will do it again,” she said. “Right now my business needs my full attention.”

Barberis last week said she was undecided on whether she would run again.

Whitefish Municipal Judge Bradley Johnson is retiring at the end of his term this year. Three candidates for the judge position entered that race quickly when filing opened in April. Attorney Tom Tornow, Whitefish’s Deputy City Attorney Kristi Curtis and Attorney William Hileman all are running for the judge position.