Meet the candidates for County Commissioner: Roman Zylawy

by Summer Crosby
| March 24, 2010 1:03 PM

For Roman Zylawy, finding ways to help improve and make communities is just an "extension of his personality."

"I've always kind of been a public servant," he said, citing his job as a highway patrolman. "I enjoy helping people. My main goal was to serve the people of Montana. I've always been outgoing and interested in how to make community better."

In order to pursue that goal, Zylawy is running for east end commissioner seat in the 2010 elections on the republican ticket. He said that his decision to run stems from a desire to see opportunities remain available to those who live here.

"I grew up in this county and I think it's a great place to grow up and raise your family," he said. "I'm kind of worried that the same opportunities that I had might be slipping away in our future which would allow others live here and have a decent job and a good quality of life. I just want to see what improvements we can make to help our citizens and help our county stay prosperous."

Besides his role as a highway patrolman, Zylawy has also served as a page in the legislature. He went to grade school and graduated from high school in Alberton. His wife, Terry, is from Superior and most of his whole family resides in the area.

"The people here are hard-working, friendly and they'd give you the shirt off your back," he said. "I was lucky enough to get a job that enabled me to return."

One of the most critical things Zylawy believes will be the focus of his role as a commissioner is making the voice of Mineral County heard in governments above the county level.

"There's only so much that can actually be done at a county level. I'm hoping to make our small county voice heard loud and clear by other people in power above us. There are so many decisions being made at those levels that impact us," he said. "If they understand our plight, understand our county than maybe that improved attention to us can help make improvement here because in the forefront I see some real-life serious problems that are were going to be facing: the poor economy, the loss of the secure schools money. We need to work with those people at the higher level and we've we got to get their ear and get their understanding and then I think maybe we can find those ideas and those solutions. I don't know all the answers, but I'm definitely passionate about delving into it and doing all we can to try to get things going around here."

Zylawy said that he wants to see more businesses come into the area, which will in turn attract more jobs, while also continuing to focus on how to keep the current businesses that the county has. He feels that keeping the current info structure is important and that the diminishing funds in the county are going to present real problems. The biggest problem he sees is just funding our day to day current county government operations. He doesn't see increasing taxes as a solution in the long-term.

"If you lose the interest of the company, like Tricon, that has the capitol and ability to make a product once their gone you will never get them back. We need to do all we can to keep our current businesses and hopefully find something else that can come and expand our jobs base," he said. "We can't keep increasing taxes because the few that live here are going to be forced to move away if we keep putting the burden on them."

Zylawy feels that capturing dollars from the recreation located in the county would prove valuable as a resource. He said that recreation should be expanded and they need to figure out how to cash in with the advantage of the interstate.

"We're getting the cars and people here, we just need to figure out how to make them stay a little longer and enjoy what we have," he said.

Zylawy said regardless of whether he wins or loses, he doesn't see himself disappearing out of the picture.

"Win or lose I'll always be approachable and willing to listen even if I'm not a county commissioner. These issues are still important to me and I will take peoples' comments and information to the people who can make a difference."