Council candidates discuss priorities, challenges
Eight of the 10 candidates for Libby City Council responded to questions about their backgrounds, personalities and ideas for Libby’s future. This is the second in a series of articles with the candidates’ answers to those questions. Candidates D.C. Orr and Doug Roll did not respond to the questions.
If elected, what would be your top priority? Why?
Joe Miller
My top priority will be to serve the people of Libby to the best of my ability. Libby is my home. Its citizens are my friends and neighbors. I care about this town and its future.
Gary Beach
Libby needs to change its image of being the place where you can’t breathe the air and can’t find a job. We need to focus on repairing our infrastructure as well as promote and invest in business growth to restore Libby to the community it once was.
Arlen Magill
My top priority would be infrastructure, because Libby’s infrastructure has to be replaced. I would like to see a belt-tightening at the highest level in order to save money to help offset the costs.
Joseph Johnston
My top priority, if elected, would and always will be the voters and residents of Libby. Libby’s council persons are put into office to represent the citizens. I believe very strongly that all council persons must be approachable, be available within reason and never consider that a person’s questions are ridiculous. With respect to current projects, we need to ensure that the construction of the Flower Creek Dam be completed within a proper time frame and within the projected budget.
Brian Zimmerman
For me, there is a list and they are all connected together. I would start with the budget, infrastructure and economic development to help create a greater tax base and better promote our great little town.
Peggy Williams
A lot has been accomplished in the last few years. Streets are getting paved, water infrastructure receives ongoing attention and this summer’s construction of Flower Creek Dam will secure our water supply into the future. Riverfront Park is a great addition to the area park system. Just as importantly, our ordinance book is being given attention, updating ordinances that are decades old. All of that requires a council that is focused on the overall good of the city, not personal agendas.
Allen Olsen
We need to stop wasteful spending and throw every dollar we can at the Flower Creek Dam so that 1,710 water customers will not have to pay for this dam for the next 30 years. We also need to continue to work on stopping the Chicago-style corruption in our town.
Dejon Raines
If elected my top priority will be the same as it is today and that is to serve the public to the fullest. To fully serve the public, I need to be involved and informed to make the best decisions for the community. Since being appointed in January, it’s been my primary goal to be informed, involved and aware of the community’s concerns.
What is the single biggest challenge facing Libby?
Joe Miller
Every household, business and government entity faces the issue of how best to utilize the money that is available to pay the bills. Fiscal responsibility is essential to municipal government while balancing the needs of providing quality public services. Building a realistic budget and sticking to it is a challenge that we will continue to face. A careful review of spending and responsible financial decision-making is necessary for our future.
Gary Beach
Direction and identity. Libby needs to become a place where people want to come visit and live. This requires a vibrant downtown, working infrastructure and industry. We will never survive as a tourist destination or just a retirement town, we need to utilize our local resources and get out of the “same procedure, another day” frame of mine and go to work.
Arlen Magill
Libby’s perceived image as a Superfund site is a huge issue. I think there is more leadership can and should do to help shape clean-up efforts while getting more residents involved in the spending of future settlements with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Joseph Johnston
The single biggest challenge to folks is finding employment. Small town councils across the United States face this challenge and it is always an uphill battle. The community of Libby flourished for decades because of timber and mining jobs. Those jobs are gone now, most of us know why. Our small town, along with our councils and county commissioners recently moved to de-list the grizzly bear, in hope of opening up certain portions of the forest. I believe one of their ideas is that de-listing might allow for various thinning projects. Our forest is overgrown, a canopy is being created and this will be disastrous if we get forest fires. If a major fire destroys the forest animal habitats, there will be no grizzly bear recovery program.
LiV Golf Cars currently operates in Libby, hopeful for success but lagging behind schedules and projections. Our tax dollars are invested in this business with both city and county officials remaining optimistic. It is these kinds of efforts that the city has to either develop or get behind and aggressively support.
Brian Zimmerman
We still have a black eye from all the asbestosis coverage and being a Superfund site for so many years. I believe the Environmental Protection Agency is ready to leave and this should be for the better of this community, but we need some kind of policies and coverage left in place from them so that the city, county and state do not get left being responsible for costs incurred by additional clean-ups down the road.
This town has many challenges ahead of us. One of the biggest is having this community come together again and rally so that we can make a difference and get the ball rolling.
Peggy Williams
The city’s biggest challenge is finding revenues sufficient to fund city operations to the level expected by the public.
Allen Olsen
Infrastructure. We need to do the job right the first time. I understand that things can go wrong, but to dig up a newly paved street nine times is just plain wrong. I don’t know what it takes, from finding new suppliers for parts, more training, using the right materials, more testing or all of the above.
Dejon Raines
I believe the biggest challenge facing Libby is similar to other rural towns and that is having a very small budget that must go a long way. There is no easy fix to this. Small towns, Libby included, have to prioritize their budgets, look for unique funding options and be creative in stretching a dollar.