Getting to know the next possible Alberton mayor

1. How long have you lived in Alberton?

I was born and raised here in Western Montana. Six years ago, I bought my home in Alberton, where I live with my wife and 16-year-old son.

2. Why do you want to be mayor?

I want to be mayor to apply my experience and qualifications to help enhance the quality of life for our Alberton residents. We have the most amazing community in our state and it is a town that I’m proud to call home. I want to make a difference in the town that I love. I want to ensure that all Alberton residents will always live in a town where they are happy and safe. Sitting on the sidelines when so much is at stake for our town is not an option for me. I feel the need to be a voice for the voiceless and for those in our community that have been forgotten. I will build on the good in Alberton to make things even better. I want to make an impact and ensure the best interests of Alberton will endure.

3. What qualifications do you bring to this position?

For the last four years I have served the Alberton community as a Town Council member. I have learned so much over the years which has prepared me to move to the next level in leadership. As a council member, I have helped create and manage our budget. I have always watched over the interest of our community members in all things related to our local government. In addition to serving on our Town Council, I started Montana Rock Design and I have remained actively engaged with the greater Alberton community through my volunteer work with leading nonprofits. I am currently a Director for the Brain Injury Alliance of Montana and serve on the Board of Directors for Mothers Milk Bank of Montana. I am confident that with my experience I will protect the interests of Alberton and serve as a strong mayor.

4. What do you regard as the most urgent problem facing Alberton and how do you propose dealing with it?

I believe that the most urgent problem facing Alberton is the absence of collaboration between the residents and our local government. Local government officials operate within a complex environment which presents unique, recurring, and, at times, unexpected situations. As the mayor I will do everything I can to encourage citizen involvement while also addressing issues or concerns to ensure no one feels alienated in our community. I will lead with a focus of bridging the connection between our residents and our local government. I will work with residents to ensure that our Town Council represents the voice of our community so that a relationship of trust and public confidence can be established. I will help create a campaign that will move us away from the “us” vs “them” mentality and encourage residents to become more involved with the Council by attend meetings.

5. What is your problem-solving philosophy as it relates to local government?

As a leader in our community, my goal is to minimize challenges. But, the reality is that at times they do arise. My problem-solving philosophy is to establish strong, healthy and positive community engagement between residents and our local government. Alberton’s mayor and Town Council members are on the ground floor. We are here to work alongside and hear candidly from our constituents. These personal connections serve: 1) to provide insight into a clear understanding of what the problem is; 2) will facilitate an approach to resolve that problem; and 3) will create a collaborative model to establish consensus for problem solving. I believe that a problem shared is one step closer to being a problem solved. Throughout the last several years I have met with many community members that share a vision for Alberton that encourages community collaboration to get people to work together to achieve common goals.

6. Do you feel the town has an adequate law enforcement presence? What could be done to make our town safer?

This is a tough question because some Alberton residents believe that we do and some believe that we do not have adequate law enforcement protection. Unfortunately, with the large size of our county and a limited budget, our sheriff’s department can be spread thin at times. Having a resident deputy in Alberton is important as it will help maintain local law enforcement while protecting those in our community. Recently, we on the Town Council worked with Mineral County Sheriff Tom Bauer to enact deputy logs that detail exactly how much law enforcement time is spent in Alberton. Because we face some rural law enforcement challenges, I believe that we should also create a town wide neighborhood watch program that would educate our residents to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement.

7. According to the 2016 Mineral County Growth Policy, the county’s population is projected to grow over the next ten years with seniors as the fastest growing segment of the population. What resources would you use as Mayor to address a projected population growth for the town of Alberton?

I will work with Alberton residents and our local government to create and maintain a needs assessment process. This process will be used for determining and addressing our community’s immediate needs and direction. I anticipate that such needs would include our community recognizing the senior population growth and develop a plan of how well we cope with the needs of our aging population. We need to make sure that Alberton seniors have a good standard of living. We should also work closely with federal, state and county organizations (DPHHS and Montana’s Area Agencies on Aging) that work specifically with seniors to develop community programs that will keep our seniors independent while being available to help those that require assistance and support. We can also apply for grants that specifically help facilitate support senior services in our community.

8. Do you have any additional comments you would like to share with the community?

As the mayor of Alberton, I will not be afraid to tackle issues affecting our community, regardless of how difficult or unpopular those issues may be. I understand how vital economic stability and development is to Alberton and our greater Mineral County. I will encourage that our Council and community embrace new ideas while educating ourselves on what makes our economy tick. I will work with the Council and community to create and execute policies that will enable Alberton to thrive. I will continue to work to bring people together, not apart. Recently I was told by an Alberton constituent that they would vote for me because I was approachable. If I am elected I am committed and prepared to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days out of the year.

Write-in Candidate: Loreen M. Felstet

1. How long have you lived in Alberton?

A little more than 5 years. I moved back to Montana to be with my mother for her final days and was blessed with 11 months with her and 6 months with her mom, of course my grandma. These two heavy losses along with the loss of my beloved community and dream in Tonasket, WA through divorce, brought me to my knees harder than I anticipated. Now here I am, ready to go, with a new community to immerse myself in.

2. Why do you want to be Mayor?

Because I have a passion for community and I care about this community in which I live. I am committed to a walking, knocking campaign so I could build my list of relationships within my community. I’ve enjoyed the conversations in your yards, on your porches, meals at your dinner table, and many cups of coffee and tea. Being Mayor is the ultimate way I can serve my community. During these conversations I learned a lot about myself and my neighbors. It’s not easy to go around knocking on doors, especially if I happened to be following the people from the church. Plus I met some people I hadn’t yet. There is a lot going on here in Alberton. If I missed you, give me a call 722-3312, let’s talk.

3. What qualifications do you bring to this position??I have been self-employed most of my adult life so I have an entrepreneurial spirit along with knowledge of how business and commerce works. I am not an expert on Roberts Rules though I have served on many different boards and had the opportunity to hold all positions of office. During the 12 years I lived in Tonasket I was the president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary on the Board of Directors for the Tonasket Natural Foods Co-op.

Also president and founder of Green Okanogan a non-profit recycle project, served as secretary and board member for many terms for the Okanogan Family Barter Faire and Okanogan Neighbors as well as board member of a private lending fund. I enjoy serving my community.

Currently I am president of the Alberton Community Recycling project, serve on the We Care board, and attend the Healthy Community Coalition of Mineral County. I was formerly active with Helping Hands of Alberton, the Alberton Railroad committee and served on the Zero Waste council that wrote the plan adopted by Missoula to move towards zero waste by 2050.

I am a Permaculture enthusiast. I am connected to my community and getting more so by the day. I have been in conversation with an author of the CHIP, the Community Health Improvement project. It all ties together. I am also retired so I have time for the job.

4. What do you regard as the most urgent problem facing Alberton and how do you propose dealing with it?

Dogs running loose, then cars and other items junking up yards and streets were frequently mentioned. However, water is the number one issue in my perception. The job of mayor is to see to the health, safety and wellbeing of the community. Water seems pretty key to all three. I participated in a small group tour of the Missoula waste water treatment facility following their recent acquisition of their neighbor, Eco Compost. I attended the Inland Northwest Permaculture Convergence last month and learned of a cutting edge technology water treatment facility in a nearby community that we can learn from. I don’t know all the answers or even all of the questions. I’ve been learning a lot. I’m excited to see many opportunities and I believe together we can find a solution.

5. What is your problem-solving philosophy as it relates to local government?

In any problem solving situation I believe in starting from the ground and working on up through to solution or resolution. I look at this as a puzzle, a challenge, and an opportunity to learn and have always used fact finding and conflict resolution principles when problem-solving. Emotional maturity helps along with knowing that I don’t have everything. The answers are found by asking questions. Do lots of research, which means asking a lot of questions, inquiring to all parties involved, learning about ordinances, rules and laws that might affect the situation. Once you gathered everything from all aspects, then from an informed position you can begin to work towards resolution and decisions followed by action.

6. Do you feel the town has an adequate law enforcement presence? What could be done to make our town safer?

Yes, but that’s only half the picture. Our local law enforcement, when needed and necessary is close by and in my experience, responds appropriately. We have all heard the saying, “it takes a village”. When we know our neighbors, we have the strength of community, which ends with the word unity for a reason. I see Alberton as a place where most people know each other. I’ve also read Facebook conversation updating neighbors about local activity and spreading awareness. This is good, but not everyone is on Facebook. We make our community safer through awareness and knowing our neighbors. Law enforcement is on one level and community watch is another. There is opportunity for improvement here.

7. According to the 2016 Mineral County Growth Policy, the county’s population is projected to grow over the next ten years with seniors as the fastest growing segment of the population. What resources would you use as Mayor to address a projected population growth for the town of Alberton?

Tim Reed is our County planner and so I think we can look to him for some guidance on this. I think we can look to examples of how other small towns address a growing aging population and learn from their experience while planning then implementing what works for us. I heard a lot of good things during my visits for what is needed here. These seniors are going to want choices of things to do, places to go that are nearby. Missoula is close, but Alberton needs some options.

How about a small business incubator where ideas could be researched through to implementation once proven viable or worth a try. For about 15 years I have been following a movement called Transition. There is a form of this already in operation in Missoula called Transition Streets. Alberton is of the size that we could do Transition Town. The Missoula chapter would help us with this and I have already been in contact. Check into Transition, then come visit me on Fridays at the Cinderella Mountain Art Gallery from noon to 5. The tea and conversation is always available. Let’s start this initiative here as an answer to build resilience in our community and enhance the future of our communities growth.

8. Do you have any additional comments you would like to share with the community?

In an economically challenged community. I admire the PEAK foundation by being an example of forward-thinking, learning opportunities and fun events they bring to our community funded through grant writing. I would like to see more opportunity brought to Alberton through grants and other types of funding, I’d like to see more business and options for economic development here. I look forward to developing relationships with the school, Alberton Community Foundation, the Lake County Community Development foundation, the Mineral County Economic Development Council, the Alberton Farmers’ market, the people of Alberton proper, as well as those in the surrounding area. Networking and establishing relationships within the community has always served me well in being successful. I look forward to continuing the conversation and working as we build the many relationships that make our community what it is.

If you are a registered elector in Alberton proper, you hold the key in your power to vote and Write-in Loreen M. Felstet for the Town of Alberton Mayor. Thank you.