Myrt Webb has quickly become rather unpopular. The man who stepped in as Kalispell’s interim city manager – since the previous one, Jim Patrick, also rather unpopular, was fired – has told the council his blunt view of its finances. In short, he said if the city doesn’t begin making more staff cuts it will eventually run out of money.
Not everyone believes him. They say the councilors just need to “sharpen their pencils,” as if something in the fine print has been overlooked. They question Webb’s motives, as if hailing from Columbia Falls means he’s plotting to flush Kalispell down the toilet.
“I do not like the fact that we hired someone who could slash the city budget and go back to Columbia Falls,” a man said during the public comment period during last week’s city council meeting. “I cannot believe that the council in a city the size of Kalispell would even fathom cutting police officers, 911 dispatchers and firefighters.”
The thing is, Webb doesn’t seem to care what other people think. When he took over the position until a permanent replacement could be found, he was asked to present the city council with a budget. He did, but the council didn’t like what it saw, especially the idea of cutting firefighters and police officers. So Webb came back with a revised budget and a grim assessment.
“This is really more of a band-aid than a cure,” he said at the time. “We’re going to need to do more at some time … whether that help is going to come in revenues that I don’t foresee right now, I don’t know.”
Webb has good reason to be candid about Kalispell’s finances, and it has nothing to do with some hidden agenda against the city or those who serve it. Instead, Webb is temporary and he has made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want the city manager job (who can blame him). And, in this case, that’s exactly what Kalispell needs: the hard truth delivered by a man who doesn’t care about his own job security.
Imagine if Patrick had been placed in the same position. The former city manager had an icy relationship with many city employees, especially firefighters. When former Fire Chief Randy Brodehl, also unpopular, stopped showing up to work last spring, his subordinates weren’t even told why.
When it was eventually announced that Brodehl retired, Patrick said of his decision not to inform the firefighters of the chief’s wherabouts: “We knew; they didn’t need to know. They have their reporting chain and the chain took care of this.”
So, again, imagine if Patrick was the one telling councilors that they need to cut firefighters, officers and other staffers to get its budget in line. Chances are, there would be more than civil unrest among city employees. Webb doesn’t have to deal with such baggage.
At least some councilors seem to be listening. Councilman Hank Olson suggested that the council is skirting its obligation to taxpayers by not coming up with a sustainable budget.
“I’m just a little amazed at what’s going on here,” Olson said last week. “You can’t run a bank, you can’t run a home, you can’t run a business if you take less money in than you spend … When are we going to face reality?”
I hope no more city jobs are placed on the chopping block. But there are fewer pencils to sharpen and Kalispell’s coffers are looking increasingly sparse. The city, at least, can count on Webb as its reality check.