Incumbent Bill Barron seeks third term on Lake County Commission

“I think if you talk to homeowners, landowners, construction people, people who’ve dealt with our office, I think you’ll find they all tell you that I’m a problem solver,” said Bill Barron, who is seeking a third term as Lake County Commissioner.

The Republican faces Polson resident Cory Knutson in the upcoming June 2 primary election. There are no Democrats on the ballot for commissioner. Ballots will be mailed May 8 to all active, registered voters within the county. They must be in the Election Office by 8 p.m. on June 2 in order to be counted.

Barron said he was influenced in life by his father who served as a local police officer.

“I watched the way he did business,” he said.

His father “didn’t always write a lot of tickets,” he said, but did everything he could to work out problems to make things better.

Barron followed his father into a 30-year law enforcement career, including two terms as Lake County Sheriff, and adopted the same philosophy, he said.

“I tried to help people as much as I possibly could. I would always try to work to get the best outcome for the victims and the individuals involved.”

As a commissioner, he said, “I’m here because I want to help people with their problems. It’s a very rewarding job when you can do that.”

He said he believes he has made a positive difference, for example, helping landowners navigate issues with planning and environmental health regulations to “get things accomplished,” even if the solution is not everything they originally asked for.

“I understand county government,” he said. Before becoming a commissioner, he said he had a “very good understanding of county budgets” from working with them as sheriff. “That helped me a lot.”

Barron is certified in the Incident Command system. This has come in handy recently with the COVID-19 virus.

“I didn’t have to be trained or brought up to speed when the state of Montana declared a state of emergency. I could step in and start working with it and making the decisions we needed to.”

Barron quickly supported going to a unified command with the CSKT and now serves alongside Tribal leaders on a unified command team. They have created videos together that are shown on the web.

“When something as serious as this comes up, we’re working together. We’re looking out for everyone,” Barron said.

The team has worked with many local organizations and individuals on such issues as providing meals to people staying in their homes.

“We have a fantastic team,” he said, without trying to name them all, they are so many. Two organizations, one in Polson and one in Ronan, have already provided over 20,000 meals each.

“We are trying to be prepared if it crops back up, the so-called ‘second wave.’” Currently, this entails lining up beds for sick people in case the local health care facilities don’t have enough.

“If you’re not prepared for the worst-case scenario, you’re not prepared,” Barron said. “A lot of people are counting on you.”

Barron is actively working to obtain funding from the state Legislature for issues surrounding Public Law 280, a federal law relating to law enforcement jurisdiction between federal, state, county, and tribal law enforcement. With law enforcement experience both in counties governed by PL280 and not, he said he understands the issues on both sides of that law.

Barron said he tends to rise to leadership positions in many organizations he works with, such as past president of Montana Association of Counties (MACo), past president of the Montana-Idaho chapter of FBI National Academy Association, president of Boys and Girls Club, and others. But, he said, it’s the relationships that are built that make a difference.

“I always try to be involved as a team, where everybody’s got a voice and their input is heard, and the right decision is made, hopefully,” he added.

“Lake County’s going through a lot of very important things right now. You need strong leadership and you need experience. I have that. I try really hard to work together with people. I care.”