MUNICIPAL MANAGER

Chuck Stearns has made a career of serving in city government in mountain ski towns.

He retires this week after serving eight years as City Manager for the city of Whitefish. He also previously worked for cities in Colorado and the city of Missoula.

“I knew I wanted to be in a western, mountain town with a good snow environment and a small town,” he said.

Before being hired as the city’s chief executive officer, Stearns previously spent time in Whitefish from 1980 to 1982 as a self-proclaimed “ski bum.”

“As a ski bum it was easy to fall in love with this place,” he said. “I always wanted to come back.”

Stearns grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and it was during trips with neighbors to western New York and Colorado that at around age 10 he learned to ski. He headed to college in the west earning a degree from the University of Colorado in Boulder. Then he took time off to come to Whitefish to ski before obtaining his master of public administration degree from the University of Montana. Stearns served as town administrator in Georgetown, Colorado, and town manager in Mt. Crested Butte, Colorado. Prior to that he served as finance director/city clerk and also fiscal analyst for the city of Missoula.

Stearns is retiring to spend more time on the ski slope and on his bike. Along with his wife, Rita Braun, he will go on two six-week bike trips this summer in North Carolina and in northern Michigan and Wisconsin.

Adam Hammatt began last month as the new Whitefish City Manager. Stearns says he is a great selection because he knows Montana having grown up in Great Falls, but he also brings new ideas having worked in other states.

On a recent afternoon at City Hall, Stearns sat down with the Pilot reflecting on his career and tenure in Whitefish. He said it was an interest in and the challenge of finance — budgets and bonds — that first drew him into working in government.

“It originally was a sense of public service,” he said. “I was a good worker and I thought it was a good place to direct my efforts. I wanted to work in local government rather than a big organization like the state because I thought I could make more of a difference and get things done.”

Stearns began work at Whitefish City Hall in late 2008 when the city was experiencing significant growth.

Stearns has seen the city through many changes during his tenure. He has led during difficult budgeting times in the aftermath of the Great Recession and in the following steady increase of commercial and residential growth in the city.

He has carried out the direction of City Council through the construction of the Emergency Services Building along with the transition to 24/7 emergency services, and the move to bring the Whitefish Community Library under city control. He has been part of efforts to develop and implement the Depot Park master plan and downtown master plan.

The massive reconstruction of Central Avenue and other downtown streets were completed on his watch, and the city is also nearing the end of a $16.2 million construction project that will create a new City Hall and attached parking structure.

Mayor John Muhlfeld said he realized Stearns was the right fit for Whitefish when during the interview process in 2008, Stearns pulled out his Big Mountain annual ski pass from many years before.

“I had the pleasure of working with Chuck for his entire tenure at the city. Chuck’s commitment to doing the right thing for this community always drove his decisions and the recommendations he made to the Council,” Muhlfeld said. “He arrived at the city at a very difficult time, and assumed the role as both City Manager and finance officer following the passing of Mike Eve. Over the years, Chuck was instrumental in guiding many community projects.”

Muhlfeld praised Stearns for his role in the creation of the Haskill Basin conservation easement, which ultimately led to the protection of 3,000 acres of forestland northeast of town.

“When The Trust for Public Land first approached me about the Haskill Basin project, I went straight to Chuck and asked what the possibility was to pull this project off in 18 months,” Muhlfeld said. “He went straight to work, and developed what was in my opinion, an extremely creative and thoughtful funding strategy to make sure this project closed on time. And it did, in large part due to the overwhelming support from our community.”

The Haskill Basin conservation easement was finished in 2016. The five-year effort to keep future development out of Whitefish’s main watershed was finalized when the city, The Trust for Public Land, F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber, and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks closed on the deal.

While Stearns finds it hard to pick one project that sticks out from the list he has worked on, he is glad to have been a part of the Haskill Basin effort.

“Haskill Basin will have a long lasting benefit to the town and it had wide support,” he said.

Noting that many city projects in Whitefish come with opinions on both sides of an issue, Stearns said the Haskill Basin effort received almost universal support.

Whitefish voters in April 2015 approved a resort tax hike to help fund the conservation easement. About 84 percent of ballots cast in the special election were in favor of increasing the resort tax from 2 to 3 percent to back the land deal.

“I’ve never seen a 50 percent increase in taxes get that kind of approval,” he said. “It was a united effort to complete a complex project with a lot of people working a lot of different angles.”

Over the years, Stearns said his work in small town government has taught him to be more patient. He enjoys talking with folks about the city’s operations because he says he enjoys his job.

“I’ve learned the importance of listening to people and their perspective,” he said. “I’m happy to explain things to people and the rationale for policy decisions. They may not agree, but they often understand why we make a decision.”

Sometime taking the criticism home at night is part of the job, he noted. Stearns likens the role of City Manager to that of a baseball team manager because he takes the blame when things go well, but also the congratulations.

“I can’t really do anything without the support of the team,” he said. “Sometimes I wish the mayor, City Council and city staff would get more of the credit for things going well.”

A retirement celebration for Chuck Stearns will be Thursday, March 9 from 4-5 p.m. in City Council Chambers at interim City Hall.