Municipal candidate filing period ends

Nine candidates will be campaigning for three four-year seats on the Libby City Council in November’s municipal election. Only one candidate filed for the two-year seat created by the resignation of Robin Benson upon her election to the office of Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder.

Dejon Raines was appointed to replace Benson in January, and is the only candidate to file for the two-year term. Barring a write-in campaign, Raines will retain the council seat until the next general municipal election, in 2017.

“I guess my campaign is going to be pretty easy this year,” Raines joked. “Seriously, though, I just want to be part of making this city thrive. Serving on the City Council is a good way to help.”

Two of the three incumbents up for re-election, Peggy Williams and Allen Olsen, have also filed. Bill Bischoff, who serves as president of the council, has announced he will not seek another term. Former councilmen Joseph Johnston and D.C. Orr have also declared their candidacies. Gary Beach, Joe Miller, Brian Zimmerman and Arlen Magill have also filed for the three four-year seats.

Libby Mayor Doug Roll is also on the ballot for November, although he said he is not running to win.

“I don’t want any votes,” Roll said. “I’ve got one reason and one reason only for running, to make sure Orr, Olsen and Magill don’t win. Moe, Larry and Curly, I do not want to see them get on council.”

Montana law prohibits a person from holding two elected offices simultaneously. Were he to be elected, Roll would have to resign his position as mayor in order to assume a seat on the City Council.

Joe Miller was unable to discuss his campaign Monday morning, as he was too busy at work. Joseph Johnston and Peggy Williams did not return telephone messages prior to press time.

Allen Olsen, who filed on deadline day, said he made the decision to seek re-election in hopes of bringing change to city government.

“I don’t feel it would have been the right thing to bail out on the people,” Olsen said. “I just hope the good people of Libby see what’s been going on and are ready to make a change.”

Change was a common theme in the remarks of Brian Zimmerman and Gary Beach.

“We need some new blood on the City Council,” Beach said. “It’s time to get the ball moving forward, instead of staying stagnant.”

Zimmerman also said the city needs change.

“I just want to try to do my part as a public servant,” he said. “I want to help take the city in a new direction.”

Zimmerman also expressed concerns about the long-term ramifications of the Environmental Protection Agency’s departure from Libby.

“I want to make sure that we’re not left holding the bag when EPA rolls out of here,” he said.

Former councilman D.C. Orr said the city needs experience and integrity from its elected leaders.

“I’m running for the same reason I ran three times before,” he said. “I think we need experience on the council, and we need integrity more than we need anything else. I’m a guy who can bring that.”

Arlen Magill said his focus is on the city’s crumbling infrastructure.

“The streets need fixed, that’s obvious,” he said. “The water distribution system also needs repaired and we need to figure out how to pay for that.”

Montana law requires a primary in the event the number of declared candidates is one more than three times the number of available positions. With nine candidates filed, the ballot is one name short of that threshold, so there will not be a municipal primary in Libby this year.

During the general election, scheduled for Nov. 3, voters will cast three votes for City Council. The top three recipients will win the open council seats.