Phil Mitchell gave a decade of public service to Whitefish — four years on the City Council and six years on the School Board — and believes that experience gives him the ability to seamlessly step into the job of county commissioner.

With a laser-like focus on budgets and a straightforward, practical approach to government spending, Mitchell said he will bring the same style of fiscal conservatism to the commissioner job.

“I’ve always asked, ‘Do we need it or do we just want it?’” he said. “And if we want it, how do we pay for it and how does it affect the taxpayer?”

‘Doughnut’ aftermath

Mitchell said he warned his fellow City Council members that getting into a legal wrestling match over planning control of the area outside Whitefish known as the “doughnut” would be an all-or-nothing proposition.

“I kept saying, we’ll 100 percent win or we’ll 100 percent lose, and the city lost,” he said.

With the county now in the driver’s seat about how the urban fringes of Whitefish will be developed, Mitchell said he believes there still may be some room for give and take. He’d like to see citizen-initiated zoning by doughnut residents.

“This allows people who haven’t had a say” to determine what kind of zoning they want, Mitchell said. As for the entrances to Whitefish on U.S. 93 to the south and west, he would encourage the city to provide input on a “100 percent advisory” basis as the county makes planning decisions.

The county needs to review both county and Whitefish lakeshore regulations thoroughly, he added, before deciding what rules should apply to Whitefish and Lost Coon lakes, which previously were under city control.

“I’d like to see them work together to see if we can come to an agreement of what the rules are,” he said. “My wish is that they sit down at the table and do this.”

Zoning

Mitchell favors zoning that allows people to operate home-based businesses, but he doesn’t want to see dozens of cars coming and going in rural neighborhoods.

“This country was founded on capitalism, and I’m for this, within reason,” he said. “I don’t like rules, but I want rules [to protect] neighbors. There are ways to work things out.”

Green boxes/recycling

A special tax district for users of a proposed new green-box collection site in Bigfork “seems like a reasonable solution for all taxpayers,” Mitchell said. He’s referring to a plan that would create a new garbage collection site in Bigfork that would be paid for by a fee paid by each property owner within a designated district.

Both Bigfork and Lakeside collection sites were slated for closure as part of the county’s long-term plan to consolidate green-box locations and make solid waste collection more efficient.

“Lakeside would need to look at doing the same thing” with a special fee district if people there want to keep their site, he added.

Regarding a recent reduction in the number of recycling sites throughout the county, Mitchell said it’s the county’s responsibility to recycle unless it’s putting an unfair burden on taxpayers.

“What do taxpayers want?” Mitchell asked. “We need to look at the costs. I’d like to see more public input on all issues, and this is an example. I think there are a number of areas where I don’t think the commissioners spend enough time talking to the public.”

Capital improvements

Mitchell said he’s not sure about a recent decision by the commissioners to reclaim unused property-tax mills from past years and levy them to generate money that will be set aside to expand the overcrowded county jail and build a county gymnasium.

The additional tax money would be levied over seven years and could generate close to $10 million.

“I’m struggling with using previously unused mills,” he said. “It’s like paying your taxes twice.”

He does like the idea of saving money on interest, though, by using the unique funding method. And it’s difficult to know if there would be support for a bond issue for the jail and gym, he added.

Mitchell questions the county’s recent decision to relocate the Agency on Aging to a new building to be constructed south of the courthouse on First Avenue West.

“I’ve yet to see a needs study that tells me what size building” the Agency on Aging needs, he said. Mitchell acknowledged the agency needs to be relocated from the leased building on Kelly Road, but he feels there are a number of design issues with the proposed new building that haven’t been addressed, such as access for trucks in a congested area that has a lot of traffic.

“I think it was pushed through too quickly,” he said. “It’s possible there could be other options that are cheaper and better. I’m struggling with the amount of money the county is spending” on the new building, which will also house other county services and offices in addition to AOA.

While Mitchell believes the county’s seniors need a safety net of aging services, he’s not sure whether those services should be provided by the county or a nonprofit organization.

Water compact

Mitchell said he believes there’s a need for more public meetings on the water compact process involving the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes. He said he’s not opposed to some kind of a compact and solving water issues, but after spending 30 hours in meetings about the compact, he still has unanswered questions about what’s proposed.

Natural resources

“We need to be able to use our resources to employ people,” Mitchell said, listing Montana’s resources such as coal, oil, timber and agriculture.

The way to reduce the number of oil and coal trains coming through the Flathead is to build the Keystone Pipeline, he said.

“It’s the safety of trains versus the safety of pipe, and I’ll take the pipe,” he said, noting that Montana could learn from Alaska’s long history of oil pipelines.

Mitchell also wants federal forest land to be open to multiple uses.

Emergency dispatch center referendum

The proposed referendum to raise taxes to generate $736,000 annually for the 911 dispatch center is a way for all taxpayers to pay their fair share, Mitchell said. Homeowners would pay $25 a year and businesses would pay $50 per commercial unit.

“We need something equitable, and this is closer than what we have now,” he said.

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