In the weeks leading up to election day, the Whitefish City Council race increasingly turned into a showdown between incumbent Frank Sweeney and the three other candidates, with controversial mailers and gossip on the street helping to intensify that division.
On Tuesday, voters continued that trend, casting ballots for Chris Hyatt, Bill Kahle and Phil Mitchell to fill three vacant council seats over Sweeney. Hyatt received the most votes with 28 percent, followed by Kahle with 26 percent and Mitchell with 21 percent. Sweeney received 19 percent of the vote. Incumbent Nick Palmer dropped out of the race after announcing he would run for re-election.
Sweeney, who replaced Councilor Shirley Jacobson after she stepped down at the end of 2008, had been targeted in mailers sent out by residents Tim Grattan and Rick Blake in recent weeks. The mailers have called on Whitefish residents to vote for Hyatt, Kahle and Mitchell. One such mailer linked Sweeney to “power-mad extremism.”
All four candidates made efforts to distance themselves from the divisiveness. But, in addition to the mailers, political action committees also split the race into Sweeney versus the challengers. Public chatter reflected these sentiments.
The race was often framed as a debate over how regulatory a city council should be, with critics of the current council contending that the past few years have been a swing toward overregulation. Sweeney, as a member of the current council, has been the centerpiece of this discussion. Several notable figures, including current councilor Ryan Friel and Mayor Mike Jenson, publicly came to Sweeney’s defense.
Hyatt, 43, is a business consultant who has lived on and off in Whitefish for 30 years, including the last 17 straight. Kahle, also 43, has lived in the valley for eight years and is the key figure in the Railway District’s Conductor’s Row project. Mitchell, 56, is a retired business owner who has lived in the valley for 31 years. Sweeney, 56, is an attorney who has been in Whitefish for 10 years.
<a href="http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/election_results/13970/" title="Related: Complete Election Results”>Related: Complete Election Results