Incumbent and former parole officer file for Polson judge seat

The Polson City Commission met Monday night with attorney Jordan Crosby, who was hired during the previous meeting to help guide the process of appointing a city judge.

The city has two candidates for the four-year position: incumbent Mike Larson and Barb Monaco, the former juvenile probation officer for Lake and Sanders counties.

Crosby, who works for a Great Falls law firm and specializes in municipal law, told the commission that she’s helped other communities in Montana navigate the process. She noted that some aspects of the Montana code pertaining to the appointment of city judges have not been updated “in 100 years, and so we're operating on some very antiquated statutes, and it gets very confusing.”

She also pointed out that because the city attorney also has to appear before the judge as a prosecutor on occasion, it places him “in a really awkward place” when it comes to advising the commission on the appointment process.

Crosby told the commission that she’s communicated with Judge Larson, who voiced concerns “as to the process that has been voted upon” for selecting a judge.

She suggested meeting with the commission May 5 to discuss those issues before embarking on the formal interview process, which would be scheduled at a later date. The commission is required to appoint a judge by July 1.

In response to questions from commissioners, she said that interviews with candidates would be conducted during an open session, with identical questions asked of each applicant, and the public would have an opportunity to submit comments before an applicant is chosen.

Commissioners also had a lively debate regarding a new policy proposal that would give them access to draft budget documents.

At the previous meeting, City Manager Ed Meece had been asked by Commissioner Lisa Rehard to come up with a means of sharing draft budget documents prior to when the final budget is presented for approval.

“My request is very simple,” Rehard said at Monday’s meeting. “I just want to see what department heads think should be the budget priorities going into the budgeting process and I just want to know what's part of the policy decisions we make in deciding how we allocate limited resources, and I want to know what the competing options are.”

Commissioner Carolyn Pardini echoed that interest, and said it was spurred, in part, by her meeting with the Polson Government Review Study Commission, whose members urged her to be more informed and engaged in the budgeting process.

“I definitely felt that they thought that I, as a commissioner, was slacking on the job in my understanding of the budget. And I was strongly encouraged to up my game,” she said.

Commissioner Brodie Moll, on the other hand, offered “a little contrary opinion on this,” and suggested that the commission’s involvement so early in the process could be construed as overreach.

“The administration has a responsibility to present a budget to us,” he said. “By getting involved and looking at all the details at that point, we're intervening in the job responsibilities of the city manager.”

“It's kind of beyond our roles and responsibilities as commissioners,” he added. “We don't drive that process. That's his responsibility.”

Rehard countered that the commission’s primary responsibility is to set policy for the city. “The biggest policy that we are faced with is how do we allocate the resources that are available to the city to meet the needs of our citizens,” she said. “We aren't doing our job if we aren't looking at the whole picture about what the needs are before we start whittling them down.”

The commission ultimately approved a change in budgeting procedure, which calls for the city manager to send electronic copies of what he calls the “origin budget,” and to also make that version available to the public online. Department heads would also be required to attend the preliminary budget hearings, so they can directly respond to questions from the commissioners.

In other business:

• The commission tabled a first reading of a revision to the Polson Development Code that would lower the threshold for a traffic study required on a new subdivision from 1,000 daily trips to 300 daily trips. According to Community Development director Rob Edington, the language of the ordinance still needs some tweaking to close a loophole.

• Commissioners approved changes to the development code that will align it with laws passed by the Legislature in 2023, which aimed to speed up the timeline for new housing projects.

“The 69th session of the Montana Legislature is wrapping up here in a couple weeks, so there will be a number of future text amendments as well,” Edington predicted.

• City manager Meece reminded commissioners that the city is teaming up with the Polson Chamber of Commerce to host an open house at noon, May 3. Community members are invited to tour City Hall and visit booths with information on various departments.

The fire department will offer a “hit-the-target” fire hose game and fire-extinguisher training, while the staff from Bunkers will be on hand to grill burgers and make other menu items available.

He also mentioned, in response to a question from Pardini, that a new booster pump is being installed at the Hillside water tower. “If you guys haven't been by there, that's a heck of a pump,” Pardini said.