Retired railroader calls for county transparency

When John “Jack” Garlitz read a while back that only one candidate had filed for the District 1 Flathead County commissioner seat now held by Cal Scott, he tried to talk his wife, Phyllis, into running.

“She said ‘Hey, don’t you do it?’ She handed me the family checkbook and said go file,” Garlitz said.

So he threw his hat in the ring and is running a fairly low-key campaign. It’s his first experience in running for public office.

Garlitz, 73, of Whitefish, faces Stacey Schnebel of Coram in the Democratic primary election on June 3. The winner will face the victor of the Republican race between  Cal Scott and Phil Mitchell in the Nov. 4 general election.

The District 1 commissioner represents the northern tier of Flathead County.

Early voting begins today in Flathead County.

Garlitz said transparency and accountability are important for the county commission and he would bring those tenets to the table.

“The commissioners are not responsive to the public like they should be,” he said. “I will try to listen to people and have more accessibility.”

A lifelong Democrat, Garlitz said he considers himself a conservative when it comes to spending taxpayer money.

“Taxes are a big issue; they’re a necessary evil if we want good roads and decent public facilities,” he said.

Garlitz said he believes the county should strive to pave more county roads and encourage neighborhoods to consider Rural Special Improvement Districts with some level of financial commitment from the county.

“Sometimes you have to join together for the common good,” he said.

Garlitz said he and his neighbors pooled their money for dust abatement along Haskill Basin Road. His home is outside of Whitefish’s two-mile “doughnut,” but he readily weighs in on the controversial battle between the city and county for planning control.

“I have a word for the doughnut, and it’s hogwash,” he said. “You’re either in the county or you’re out. If the city wants to annex it, they need to annex it with all the warts. It’s regulation without representation.”

Garlitz also would like the county to be active in working with local economic development groups to create more local jobs.

“Right now a good share of our labor force is in North Dakota,” Garlitz said about the continuous draw of local workers to the Bakken oil fields. “If you’re going to bring people in [for jobs here] you need the infrastructure. We need to pay more attention to business growth. And I would encourage people to do something with all of our empty buildings. Let’s utilize what we have.”

Garlitz weighed in on a number of issues currently in the news.

He said the commissioners’ recent decision to terminate a grant process that had awarded a $298,000 federal slope stabilization mitigation grant to a group of homeowners off Whitefish Stage Road was a “big boo-boo.” 

The county needs to make good on its agreement to be the pass-through government entity for the grant money, especially since “there’s not even any money coming out of county coffers.”

Regarding the environmental cleanup of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. property, Garlitz said the county should push for cleanup of any contamination. In addition to giving the Columbia Falls site a clean bill of health, the cleanup would create jobs, he said, adding that he’d like to see local contractors utilized.

Garlitz supports septic regulations to protect water quality. He said he believes the county should continue to provide a recycling program and he thinks “the county should do more for seniors.” He favors building a new Agency on Aging building in a centralized location in Kalispell and supports the idea of a county campus for the majority of county services. 

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.