Adams says he’ll take strong stand on property rights

Elliot Adams said he “wants to be able to take a stand for people’s individual rights” if he is elected the next Flathead County commissioner.

Adams, a Republican, seeks to replace Phil Mitchell, outgoing commissioner of District 1.

The 31-year-old told the Inter Lake he considers himself a “conservative Republican” and places land-use issues and public-safety issues as issues of great importance. He has wanted to enter politics ever since helping his father run for then-House District 84 in 1996.

“We were knocking on doors as a family,” Adams said. “So I got to have a little political experience as a kid.”

He currently serves on the Flathead County Planning Board.

“I really enjoy doing that. It’s given me a good grasp of land use in Flathead County,” he said.

While he sees the explosive growth in Flathead Valley, he said the county has to protect private-property rights when making land-use decisions.

“We can’t be taking somebody’s private property rights, we have to follow guidelines of the growth policy,” Adams said. He added that while the current policy is “not bad,” it needs to be updated in a more forward-thinking way.

He said he does not agree with the Montana Water Rights Protection Act, which settled the water-rights dispute between the state of Montana and the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes. The act was known as the CSKT Water Compact when it passed at the state level in 2015.

“In short, the water compact is the taking of private-property rights with the potential for taking of private property,” Adams said. While the greater impact will be felt in Lake County, Flathead County will still be affected by the compact.

Adams recognized the county government is in need of space for areas like the Department of Motor Vehicles and various courts, but said the county also needs a new jail. He said the cost of a jail would be $60-90 million.

“There’s a need for both, but we can’t afford them both right now,” Adams said.

Adams said there are “going to be a lot of challenges to Flathead County and Montana as a whole” coming out of the COVID-19 crisis. While he wants to get the economy going again, he anticipates that a pending recession will depress property values.

There will be a “significant decrease” in property taxes as property is assessed, Adams said, and the drop in revenue will be a challenge for the county to address.

“Having a good, healthy climate for business in Flathead County is very important,” Adams said.

He also wants to expand the communication capabilities of the county government. “Government is of the people, so people need to have a say in their government,” Adams said. “They deserve to know what’s going on.”

Adams wants to establish a stronger online presence for the commissioners’ office, work on updating parts of the county website and establish better communication with local news sources.

“Without knowing what’s going on, it’s hard to have an informed decision,” he added.