Simons opens his door to community concerns
Newly-elected Mineral County Commissioner Duane Simons has a lot on his mind.
"There's a lot of work to be done," Simons said.
The new commissioner will be stepping into the shoes of Judy Stang, who held the seat for 12 years and was a strong member of the board of commissioners.
Simons won the election 966 votes, only 22 more than his Republican opponent Curtis Cochran's 944. There must be less than a 10 vote margin in Mineral County for a recount.
Simons said that he plans to listen to not only Cochran's, but any one else's concerns as a commissioner.
"If anyone wants to talk to me, I'm available," Simons said.
Simons said that one of his biggest concerns coming onto the board will be the county's budget. This year the commissioners were faced with an enormous budget deficit and funding was cut from nearly every branch of county government.
Simons said that he wants to do everything he can to maintain the county's budget so drastic cuts are not necessary next fiscal year.
"I'm not commissioner yet, so I can't say that it's going to be possible. I'm afraid we're in for some very tough times in the coming years," Simons said.
Simons, a Democrat, said he was glad to see Obama in office, and he would be looking to both federal and state government to help fill funding gaps.
"Our state seems to have, or say they have, an over-abundance of money and hopefully we can figure out some ways to help utilize that to help Mineral County," Simons said.
To help bring in more revenue for the county, and begin to heal Mineral County's suffering economic status, Simons said that he would like to see more work done to save the timber industry
A life-long logger, Simons said that Montana needs the timber industry to survive, and if something isn't done to help logging companies, the entire state of Montana might suffer.
"The timber industry has always been the backbone of this state. I know a lot of people don't want to hear that but it's the truth. Those jobs are good paying jobs and we cannot afford to lose those jobs. We cannot afford to lose another sawmill in the state of Montana and we most certainly cannot afford to lose the one we have in Mineral County," Simons said.
Using the timber industry as a basis for growth in the county, Simons said that the commissioners should also work to attract other businesses to the county and help out those that are still here, such as the Mineral Community Hospital.
"We need to maintain the economic viability within our county and we need to keep the current jobs and bring in more jobs," Simons said.
Simons added that most of all, he plans to be realistic about Mineral County's opportunities. In a county largely taken over by federal land, only so much expansion can take place, and Simons said that he is aware of that reality.
"I don't expect us to grow a lot; I don't think the people in this county want us to grow a lot. But we do want to continue to live here and we don't want our taxes to go through the roof," Simons said.