Lakes Highway District has made sweeping changes under Monty Montgomery's watch.

"I think we (the commissioners) have done quite a bit of things that were not done in the past, and it helps the taxpayer," said Montgomery, running to keep his sub district 2 commissioner seat in the upcoming election.

Trimming costs tops the list of his achievements, he said.

Consolidating maintenance shops and scaling down staff are part of major budgeting changes Montgomery has instigated with the other current commissioners, he said.

The district also recently hired a permanent engineer and engineering tech to handle projects previously contracted out.

"We've been able to cut down on our engineering costs by doing quite a bit of it in-house," Montgomery said. "We've probably saved the district in excess of $300,000 in engineering fees."

Some operations have also been tweaked during Montgomery's first term, like switching district meetings from afternoons to evenings to accommodate the working public.

Employee reviews are new, too.

"When we came in, there was nothing, no reviews of the employees," said Montgomery, 71.

Only seeking one more term before retiring, Montgomery still hopes to see a few more projects brought to completion, he said, like paving the rest of Diagonal Road and finishing work on Lancaster Road.

Otherwise, he wants to stay the course, he said.

"Mainly just scaling down and trying to become more lean and mean," he said.

Montgomery, originally from Claremont, Calif., moved to Kootenai County in 1995. He lives in an unincorporated area of the county, he said, and has been married 52 years to his wife, Donna, and has three grown children.

He has been self employed since 1968, he said, and has spanned dump truck work, paving, fuel sales and managing a parking area.

Montgomery will have been commissioner for four years in October.

The highway district elections are scheduled for May 17. The zone 2 seat would be for a roughly 4-year term, on account of the consolidated elections scheduling.

The current commissioners make a good team, Montgomery said.

"I'd like to continue on with what we've done," he said. "I think we've done a good job."