The Daily Inter Lake

Dale Lauman, the Republican candidate for Flathead County commissioner, is not particularly loud or flamboyant.

Unlike his Viking ancestors, the third-generation Flathead native does not look for distant villages to raid or far-off lands to conquer. Instead, he is quiet and friendly, quick to smile but slow to seek advantage.

Lauman's election campaign has been equally low-key. Rather than score a few final points in what could be another tight commissioner race, he chose to end a recent interview by praising the many volunteers in the county and encouraging people to get out and vote.

"I took a pledge not to attack my opponent," he said. "I wanted to conduct a clean campaign that focuses on my ideas, goals and qualifications, and I think I've done that. I'm running because I feel I have something to offer."

Lauman, 66, grew up in Somers in the 1940s and '50s. His Norwegian grandfather moved to the valley in 1900; his father worked in the Somers railroad tie plant.

After high school, he spent five years with Montgomery Ward in Kalispell before going to work for the U.S. Postal Service.

"A lot of people I grew up with had to leave the valley, but the Postal Service offered a a well-paying job, with job security," Lauman said. "It's what allowed me to stay in the Flathead."

He was with the agency for 30 years, from 1963 until he retired at the end of 1992. The last 19 years he was the postmaster in Bigfork.

Lauman said he thinks the training and experience he gained during that time will serve him well as county commissioner.

In addition to his postmaster duties, he served as a regional training manager, helping to install new post offices and train personnel. He also spent 14 months in Washington, D.C., as temporary national manager for the training program, overseeing a multimillion-dollar budget.

"I have experience in administration, budget management, human resources, team-building, conflict resolution - I think the commissioners get involved in a few of those," he said.

He also has experience dealing with the Flathead's recent growth.

After he retired, Lauman joined the Lakeside sewer district board, serving as chairman for the past six years.

Three years ago, the district was in a reasonably comfortable position, with adequate capacity to meet its obligations. Since then, it's been hammered with multiple requests for service as more than 1,000 subdivision lots have been proposed within the district's service area, with the potential for as many as 2,000 more residential units being discussed.

"It's been challenging," Lauman said. "Last spring, we authorized a study of our treatment site to see where we're at. You can't oversell your capacity."

The board also declared a temporary moratorium on new connections until it's sure it can meet the demand.

Although some people have advocated a countywide moratorium on growth, at least until the new growth policy is completed, Lauman doesn't favor that approach.

"I don't think that's a solution," he said. "The problem with a moratorium is that things just stack up. We need to move forward with the growth policy and start implementing it. The longer we wait, the logjam just gets bigger."

When discussing the challenges and opportunities facing Flathead County, Lauman displays a detailed familiarity with various issues, including the limitations of the growth policy, what percentage of local property taxes go to the county versus to schools, and how few sheriff's deputies are available on any given shift.

He said growth and its impacts on county services would be one of his top priorities as commissioner. He's also a proponent of planning, both for growth and for future fiscal needs.

For example, he said that federal timber payments - which are intended to reimburse rural counties hurt by cutbacks in timber harvests on national forest lands - are a critical source of revenue for the county Road and Bridge Department.

"Those payments are going to end at some point, so we need to start thinking now about how we're going to finance road improvements," Lauman said. "Too many times we wait until there's a crisis before we do something. There are some [problems] we know are going to happen, and we need to plan ahead for those."

Other issues of particular concern, he said, include water quality, city-county cooperation and maintaining adequate law-enforcement services.

"Do I have all the answers? No, but I will go forward with an open mind and make decisions based on the existing laws, rules and regulations, and on common-sense government," Lauman said. "I had an open-door policy when I worked for the Postal Service, and I'd do the same as a commissioner. I don't look on it [the commissioner's job] as a power position. I look on it as a position of responsibility."

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com