After years of “fighting for Flathead County” at county commission and city council meetings and before the state Legislature, Terry Kramer decided the time was right to run for the Flathead County commission in District 3.

“I saw an opportunity to commit my time back to the community,” Kramer said of his candidacy for the Republican nomination.

He wants to speed up the process of improving the local economy:  “We have a diverse economy and we’re faltering.” He says he can “help move things along.”

Kramer has resigned from nearly all of his volunteer positions to free up his time to work as a commissioner.

“I’m kind of an idea person,” he said. “You need to get the right people around you because you can’t do it all yourself.”

Kramer describes himself as “an efficiency freak and expert.”

He said he has talked about privatization of some government operations and some of that talk “has been taken wrong.”

He favors public and private partnerships as some county departments are already doing.

“Volunteerism can work,” Kramer said.

County policies and regulations need to be continuously reviewed, as is now the case in Flathead County, to boost efficiency, he said.

“I appreciate that we’re doing that and think the commissioners should support that and be educated to know where we can be efficient.”

He supports buying technology that can result in improved efficiencies, realizing that some technology “can be costly.”

Kramer also favors cross-training of employees, noting that some union contracts can make that effort more difficult.

Flathead County needs to be involved in jurisdiction of the two-mile “doughnut” area surrounding Whitefish “because the residents have asked for that,” Kramer said.

“There’s a serious issue with representation” of doughnut residents, he said, in that they have no representation in Whitefish city government. “The commissioners were voted to be their representatives.”

A lawsuit is pending to determine whether the city of Whitefish or Flathead County should have jurisdiction in the two-mile area.

Kramer would have preferred the doughnut issue not end up in litigation. He thinks Flathead County gets sued “way too often.”

That litigation “is costing taxpayers too much,” he said.

County officials need to figure out if mistakes are being made that lead to lawsuits or if the county’s regulations are bad, allowing for lawsuits, he said.

“Public officials need to have all the facts and make good decisions,” he said. “We have to be careful about decisions and make sure it’s within our authority.”

He favors some change to state laws to make “nuisance” lawsuits more difficult to file. He says there’s room to change state laws related to tort reform. Montana legislators “have been picking away at it and trying to fix it, but it’s not easy or simple.”

“Loser pays should be a conversation,” he said. “It might keep people out of nuisance lawsuits.” He worries that “fear of lawsuits inhibits business.”

Asked if the county should have full control of the 911 center, Kramer said generally any entity runs better when there’s one manager.

As long as there’s an agreement that each entity using the center pays its share, maybe operation should be turned over to one government, he said.

“Is the county the right one to manage it? Maybe, since we encompass all the cities, it makes sense.”

It’s important to be fair and equitable in managing the operation, he said, and getting a plan in place is important.

The 911 board is looking at many options for funding and managing the center, Kramer said. If elected, he would press that board to come up with good ideas about the center and funding options that work for everyone.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.