Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 9.14.16

NEWS
City Manager Finalists to Gather at Open House Four candidates vie for White sh’s chief administrator position
BY BEACON STAFF
The search for the next city manager in White sh is underway and four nal- ists are gathering in downtown this week for an open house.
Chuck Stearns, the city manager for the past eight years, will retire Jan. 6, 2017. He announced his plans to step down in March.
The White sh City Council, a com- munity interview committee and a sta interview committee will conduct in-person interviews with the four nal- ists for the full-time position on Sept. 15, at the interim White sh City Hall. An open house with the public at Casey’s Bar is scheduled for 7-8 p.m., Thursday. The
mayor and city council will select a can- didate after the executive session.
One of the four nalists in the pool recently withdrew from the application process. The mayor and city council have extended an invitation to another nalist to interview for the position, Kim Park of Wolcott, New York.
Park will join three other nalists Ken Decker, Edwin Meece and Chuck Winn on Thursday.
Kim Park has served as an elected town supervisor for the town of Wolcott and as an elected county supervisor for Wayne County, New York. Before serving in elected positions, Park served as the county administrator for Wayne County for approximately two years while also
managing her own small business. Park holds a bachelor of science in marketing, bachelor of arts in psychology, masters of public administration and masters of sci- ence in education.
Decker has worked for Caroline County, Maryland, for ve years as the county administrator. He is a Libby native and holds a degree in economics and jour- nalism and a master of public adminis- tration and is credentialed through the ICMA voluntary credentialing program. Before his tenure with Caroline County, Decker worked as the town manager for Hampstead, Maryland, for 12 years.
Meece previously worked in Liv- ingston as the city manager. He holds a degree in political science and a master
of public administration. Before his ten- ure with Livingston, Meece worked for Louisville-Je erson County Metro as the assistant director of public works and general services administration and has held multiple city administrator and management positions.
Winn has worked for the city of Boz- eman for 32 years, serving the last eight years as the assistant city manager. Winn spent most of his career as chief of the Bozeman Fire Department, assistant director of public safety, deputy chief/ re marshal, and as a re ghter. He attended Montana State University with an emphasis in sociology and criminal justice.
news@ atheadbeacon.com
Montana Chamber of Commerce Presents Business Agenda in Bigfork Focus on workforce, high-paying jobs, business equipment tax concerns
BY CLARE MENZEL OF THE BEACON
Statelegislators,localrepresentatives, and businesspeople met with Montana Chamber of Commerce sta Sept. 7 at Glacier Bank in Bigfork to discuss the chamber’s 10-year strategic plan and trends in the statewide economy.
The chamber’s new Envision 2026 plan aims to “create the opportunity for business growth and prosperity” in Mon- tana over the coming decade by promot- ing legislative e orts to improve work- force development, general business cli- mate, infrastructure, and entrepreneur- ship. Envision 2026 names four primary goals for the state: to remain among the top 10 states in per-capita personal income growth and GDP growth, and emerge among the top 10 in job growth and the top 25 in per-capita personal income.
Chamber President and CEO Webb
Brown presented the organization’s endorsements for the upcoming election, whichincludeRyanZinkeforCongress, Greg Gianforte for governor, Tim Fox for attorney general, and Corey Stapleton for Secretary of State. In the interest of supporting a “balanced Supreme Court, resulting in a predictable business envi- ronment,” the Chamber also endorses Mike McGrath for Supreme Court Jus- tice, and Kristen Juras and Jim Shea for seats on the court.
Montana Chamber Communications Director Nate Kavanagh also discussed the high school business challenge, an eight-week program during which stu- dents statewide compete in a stock mar- ket simulation to build the most valuable stock. Bigfork Chamber Executive Direc- tor Heather Burnham said both students and the community are looking forward to participating this year.
When opened up to the meeting’s
attendees, conversation turned to the prospect of eliminating Montana’s busi- ness equipment tax, which requires businesses that own equipment valued between $100,000 and $6 million to pay a 1.5 percent tax, and businesses with equipment valued over $6 million to pay a 3 percent tax.
Interest in the tax has grown locally since Casey Malmquist, president and general manager of Columbia Falls-based SmartLam, cited it as one reason his com- pany may look elsewhere to build the world’s largest cross-laminated timber development site. States including Wash- ington and North Dakota o er exemp- tions for manufacturing equipment pur- chases or other similar incentives.
Though agreeing that the tax isn’t competitive, State Sen. Bob Keenan com- mented that the tax produces a valuable contribution to the general fund.
Brown said that while “we recognize
where the money is and isn’t, it’s ulti- mately a goal of ours [to eliminate the tax,]andifit’sin10years,wewantto keep working toward it. We’ve been chip- ping away at it.”
“We think it’s not competitive (and) we think it puts us at a disadvantage,” he added. “I just don’t think we’re going to see it in this (upcoming legislative) session.”
The meeting concluded with a discus- sion on the challenge of balancing the loss of skilled manufacturing jobs with the growth of the service industry, where wages are typically lower.
“We can see logging disappear and now we’ve lost Plum Creek,” Keenan said. “We can see the aluminum indus- try disappearing ... We’re probably going to lose coal as well. Service industry jobs, I know those aren’t high-paying jobs. The jobs we’re losing are high-paying jobs.”
clare@ atheadbeacon.com
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SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM