Meet Lincoln Co. Commissioner candidate Noel Duram

Name: Noel Duram 

Age: 53 

Family: I am divorced with three grown children and my mother, my ex-wife and two brothers live in the Eureka area. Family is very important to me and we are very close.

Occupation: Retired Montana Highway Patrol. Other occupations: General handyman, part time music services and entertainment, help others with just about any project. 

Community Involvement: I have helped with various service projects in Eureka, including the Memorial Park, assisted the Eureka Food Pantry with deliveries, specifically fresh meat through FWP seizures. 

The county has received $12 million in Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency funds in the last two fiscal years. What do you think the county should use the money for?

The money from the Local Consistency and Tribal Fund money can be used in many ways. I have not read what specific uses are attached to that funding, but my understanding is that it can be used to assist in funding the budgets of the county and investment in areas that are in serious need. The long range possibility of this funding continuing is important to identify, if this will be a one time only investment then saving for the future and extending its potential is a vital role this money can play if needs arise in the future budgets. The hardest part of spending other peoples money, is ensuring that their money is wisely used and to the fullest potential possible. 

Do you feel the county’s problems with elections in the last several years are about integrity or human error?

The election issues are an interesting issue. From a voters side of it, everything looks upfront and at the polling places voters like myself see no integrity issues. What is happening behind the closed doors is not seen by the general public and a honest opinion of the issues cannot be made from the perspective of the general voter, like myself, without that inside information. 

What should the county’s plan be when and if illegal squatting becomes a bigger problem?

Illegal squatting is becoming a real problem all over the country and it has already started in Lincoln County during summers mostly. As a retired officer, I have been in situations similar to these squatting situations. I do believe the county should take a zero tolerance on it and follow existing laws to keep this from getting out of hand. 

The hardest thing in these cases is that moving people off can be filled with extreme emotions and conflicts. The sad thing is that We, as county residents, should support our Law Enforcement Community that is tasked with these enforcement issues. If we allow these illegal squatting situations to occur, they will become more common and more dangerous for all those involved. 

What other issues should the county address?

I have two issues with current Lincoln County problems. At the Commissioner level in Lincoln County, the incumbent, Josh Letcher, has repeatedly created more strife and division by continued commenting on Facebook regarding issues that should be handled in official settings and explained with education and not with passive aggressive actions and comments that just further divide this community. 

Many of the topics dealt with at the Commissioner level become very personal and emotional with the people involved. Handling those situations directly can avoid the division and possibility of litigation that might solve the problem with mush higher costs than working through issues directly. When I hear elected officials like Commissioner Letcher say that we do not have money for roads or libraries, I then wonder why he feels that the county has money for defending from lawsuits? We can do better at working through many of the issues facing Lincoln County by coming together and not fanning the flames of an already heated situation. 

The glaring thing for Lincoln County is the need to address the coming financial hardships that are plaguing the budget as well as businesses in this county. The tax base is limited by the volume of Federal, State and Natural Conservation lands that cannot be developed. 

The federal policies that are in place that have deeply impacted Lincoln County including, but not limited to, NAFTA, Equal Access To Justice Act, the Endangered Species Act, EPA actions, Federal control limiting the timber industry…..and inflation have all pushed to stifle the industries of logging and mining in Lincoln County. 

Services industry jobs do not sustain a society with outside investment of capital. We need  way to get outside investment in to Lincoln County. The Federal policies might be able to be changed from Lincoln County, but the policies will not change until they become more painful to keep than to change. 

That requires the Federal Government responsible for these policies to be paying much more in PiLT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) Funds than they are currently paying. Pushing for that money is not welfare or “sucking of the Federal Government,” but rather making the government pay for the consequences of their bad policies. 

Yes, I do know that money is taxpayer money and that Congress has pushed America deeper in to debt as a nation than ever before…..this is also the reason the Federal Policies are continuing to desperately impact Lincoln County.