Commissioner candidates talk about county issues at debate

The race for a vacated Mineral County commissioner seat got off to a running start at a candidate debate held at the St. Regis Community Center last Tuesday night.

The three candidates are vying for a Mineral County commissioner seat that will be vacated by Judy Stang, who is leaving to run for Montana Senate District 7 in the upcoming election.

Democrats Duane Simons and Glenn Ferren and Republican Curtis Cochran sat in front of a crowd of around 25 people to answer questions from moderator and St. Regis Community Council President Jeff Noonan. The event was sponsored by the Clark Fork Chronicle and the St. Regis Community Council.

Each candidate had three minutes to respond to each question and with the exception of one question, which Simons said he never received from Chronicle Publisher John Murray, all of the candidates had time to prepare their answers for the questions.

The first question of the evening was what the candidates felt were the most important issues facing Mineral County.

Cochran told the audience that while he could not come up with any one particular issue he felt was more important than the others, he thought that the budget was the most important part of the job. He said that he was against raising taxes and was for private property rights and that he would work to build those ideas through working with the budget.

Ferren echoed Cochran’s words about the budget, adding that he felt rising fuel costs and lack of jobs in the area were some of the things he could work to combat as a commissioner.

Simons said the biggest thing facing Mineral County was economic growth and that he wanted to work to build jobs and bring in area development, as well as push for natural resource development.

Noonan asked the candidates what they thought of growth and impact fees for Mineral County. Each candidate said that they were against impact fees at this time. Ferren mentioned that it was another form of taxation. Cochran said that while it is inappropriate now, with the rising cost in fuel, the county may need the money and they should not throw the idea completely out.

Noonan asked the candidates to comment about two major threats facing wildlife in the area — subdivision development and wolves.

Simons and Cochran largely agreed with one another on subdivision management, saying that Mineral County has enough wildlife management areas as it is and that there is no opportunity for the area to grow because so much land is federally owned and operated.

Ferren disagreed and said that tourism in Mineral County is going to be a vital part of its economy so they should be trying their best to preserve wildlife movement areas and possibly even considering wildlife viewing areas. He said he feels the wildlife in this area could be a great draw for tourists and bring a lot of money into the county.

The candidates were also asked to comment on the county’s involvement in discussions with Plum Creek about their land and road easements in the area.

Simons said the commissioners are about as involved in the discussion as they can be right now. He added that the only other option they have is to enter into a joint lawsuit with other counties against the federal government for road use easements brought on by land sale by Plum Creek.

Cochran and Ferren said that the commissioners should be involved with Plum Creek to stay informed about situations in the county and development in the area. Cochran added that if the Plum Creek land was developed into lots smaller than 15 acres, it would create taxable land and more money for the county.

Noonan asked the candidates to comment on the loss of timber receipts as funding for schools and roads in the area and what they felt needed to be done.

“That money has been declining for a long time; it’s nothing new,” Cochran said.

Each candidate said they would write and apply as much pressure as they could to state and federal legislators to get the Secure Rural Schools Act passed.

“If they’re not going to let us have timber then we need this,” said Simons about the Secure Rural School Act.

None of the candidates were in favor of increasing taxes for funding.

“The only thing we can do is tighten our belt and try not to raise taxes; there’s other ways to raise money without raising taxes,” Cochran said.

The candidates all agreed that they would be against zoning in Mineral County when asked by Noonan. Cochran said he felt it was something each area should decide on their own because the commissioners in Superior should not being telling the St. Regis residents what to do with their land.

Simons said Murray had not sent him that question, so he felt unprepared, but he was against zoning restrictions.

An audience member said that she was concerned with garbage pickup in Mineral County because it is expensive. There is nowhere for people to take their trash and much of it ends up getting dumped illegally.

All of the candidates felt that it was definitely a problem that needed closer inspection. Cochran said it would be inappropriate for the county to create a business that would push the private garbage collectors out of town and take jobs away from residents.

Ferren said he felt he paid too much for garbage collection and would support any way to drop that cost.

Simons was concerned about the illegal dumping, but said on Monday that he had spoken with some people about it and had found out that people did not want to get rid of the current garbage service so much as find a way to prevent illegal dumping. He said one woman he spoke to suggested a few public dumpsters to give people somewhere to throw out their garbage.

Stang said that she thought the event went very well. She added that she had a good feeling about the candidates that could be taking her place.

“They all did their homework and it gives you a good feeling to know that the person that’s going to be elected will be willing to do those things,” Stang said.