Five candidates are competing for three seats on the Columbia Falls City Council in the Nov. 3 election. Incumbents Doug Karper and Darin Fisher are seeking re-election. Julie Plevel, whose term expires the end of the year, did not file for re-election. Joining the two incumbents in the Columbia Falls city election are Frederick “Erick” Robbins, John H. Piper and Tyler Lee Furry.

Darin Fisher

Columbia Falls City Council incumbent Darin Fisher is seeking re-election after his first term in office because he likes the direction the city is heading and wants to be a part of its future.

“I like being involved in community activities and this is a great way to be involved,” he said. “The community is heading in a great direction and I want to continue to be a part of that.”

Fisher, 38, grew up in Akron, Ohio, and graduated from Bowling Green University with a bachelor’s degree in American Studies. He first came west in 1999 as a volunteer with the U.S. Forest Service in Wyoming, which eventually led to a job with the agency. Fisher and his wife, Carla, moved to Columbia Falls in 2009 when he took a post as a trails manager for the Hungry Horse Ranger District. They have a daughter, Hazel, 3.

Fisher is also a beer brewer and the couple are building Backslope Brewing on U.S. 2 in Columbia Falls. The microbrewery is expected to open sometime this winter, Fisher said.

He said the current City Council is a diverse group that is good at fostering growth and building consensus, even though they all come from different walks of life and occupations.

“When we work things out, we’re nearly always unanimous,” he said.

Fisher said he views himself as fiscally conservative and he wants to foster growth in the city, but with a long term view.

“We need to think big picture,” he said.

He said he supports business expansion such as Smartlam’s proposed plant at the industrial park at the north end of the city, and it will bring more jobs to the community.

“They’ve already proven they can be good neighbors,” he said.

As far a Superfund listing for the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant is concerned, he said the important thing is that it’s cleaned up properly and the company is held responsible for the cleanup.

“That’s what’s important to me and that’s what’s important to the community,” he said.

Tyler Furry

Tyler Furry is running for City Council because there’s a “lot of crazy things going on in our nation and world,” and while he can’t necessarily do much about those, he can exact “some positive change at the local level.”

He has worries about the Environmental Protection Agency declaring the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant a Superfund site and he’s worried about federal overreach. He points to other Superfund sites across the U.S.

“I don’t think you could call them successes,” he said.

Furry, 29, grew up in Fishtail and Red Lodge and has been moving northwest ever since, he said. He has lived in Columbia Falls for a couple of years with his wife, Megan and young son, Talus. He has dual bachelor’s degrees in communications and media arts from the University of Montana and has been a designer and user interface developer for the Zane Ray Group, a website and marketing firm in Whitefish for the past three years.

He said he would love to see Columbia Falls’ downtown area revitalized and he said he also supports industry as well. But he wants to keep Columbia Falls an affordable place to live. He noted that when there was a big snowstorm last winter, everyone in the neighborhood pitched in to dig each other out. There’s a strong sense of community here.

“I’d love to maintain that,” he said.

He said he supports creating a quiet zone through the city for freight train traffic.

“We’d all sleep a little better,” he said.

When he’s not working he enjoys skiing, hiking, mountain biking and hanging out with his family. He also raises chickens in his backyard and encourages other folks to do so as well.

He considers himself fiscally conservative and wants to hold the line on city taxes and other fees.

Doug Karper

Veteran Columbia Falls City Council member Doug Karper said he initially thought this would be his last term. But then he reconsidered.

“I still have a passion for what’s going on in Columbia Falls,” he said.

Karper, 63, has decades of experience on the council and longtime ties to the city.

He has been the head of maintenance and custodial services for School District 6 for 26 years. He grew up in Pennsylvania and first came to Montana with the Air Force at Malmstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls. He met his wife, Colleen, while stationed there 43 years ago. The couple has two grown children, Beth and Michael.

Karper said some of the accomplishments the council has made over the years fall under the public’s radar but impact them every day. The city has upgraded its water and sewer systems and still has held the line on costs — there hasn’t been a sewer and water rate increase in years.

“Those are the things people don’t see,” he said.

He’s excited about the growth coming to the town.

“There’s a sense of vitality and optimism in Columbia Falls that’s been a long time coming,” he said.

He noted the council is working on an urban renewal plan for downtown and an economic development plan for the industrial park at the north end of the city. He said there are things the city can do to make a positive environment for small businesses.

“I know how hard it is to make a small business work,” he said. When he first moved here, he owned the former Park Mercantile on Nucleus but couldn’t make a go of it.

“We can do things to help small businesses,” he said.

By the same token, he said council has done a good job over the years of holding the line on budgets and taxes.

“I think as a council we’re very conservative fiscally,” he said. “We try to keep taxes and costs down.”

He also cautioned that while the new growth is welcome, the city needs to take care of what it has currently, such as its parks and other amenities. “We can’t forget we still have old stuff to take care of,” he noted.

He also credited the volume of work Susan Nicosia has done as city manager over the years.

“She makes it easier to be a City Council member,” he said.

JOHN PIPER

John Piper is a true Columbia Falls native. He was born and raised here and graduated from Columbia Falls High School in 1979. The 54-year-old worked at Plum Creek in the shipping department for 30 years and now works as the night supervisor at the Montana Veterans Home.

Piper’s father, Howard, also was a supervisor at Plum Creek.

Piper served on the Columbia Falls Fire Department for 24 years and was chief for 4 1/2 years before he stepped down in 2007.

He said he decided to run for City Council because at the time he registered, there were few candidates.

“I was concerned by that,” he said. “I could learn the ropes of city government, so I threw my hat into the ring.”

Piper said he has no agenda but he has a lot of history here and would be a good liaison between the public and city government.

“I’d like to think I know quite a bit about the city,” he said.

He said he’s excited about the promise of growth in the city, but at the same time he wants Columbia Falls to remain the pleasant hometown it’s always been.

“I like the town we have, but I also know it needs the things to help it grow,” he said.

He said he supports growth such as the expansion of SmartLam and the revitalization of downtown that the city and private businesses are working on. He said the SmartLam expansion is better than what’s been at the site in the past.

He considers himself fiscally conservative. Piper and his wife, Tina, have two grown children, Kate and Michael. Michael lives just south of the city and has a wife, Shelby and son, Colt. Tina is also a Columbia Falls native.

Erick Robbins

Columbia Falls is on the cusp of some significant changes in the next few years and Erick Robbins wants to help guide the city’s growth.

Robbins, 46, is a Realtor with Re/max Mountain View in Columbia Falls. This is his first time running for council, although he previously sat on the city-county planning board.

He said he appreciates the way the city is currently operating.

“I like the fact that we operate in a fiscally conservative matter,” he said.

Robbins has lived here for 11 1/2 years. His wife, Jennifer, has taught seventh grade at Columbia Falls Junior High School for 16 years. He has three children: George, 11, Sophia, 9, and Ella, 5. He’s originally from Phoenix and he has a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management. He started his real estate career in 2002 and joined Re/max in 2003.

“I’ve had aspirations to get involved in local government for quite some time,” he said.

After the real estate crash of 2008, the city is poised for change.

“The town’s going through what feels like some growth changes. It’s very exciting. It remains to be seen to what degree and what pace,” he noted.

Robbins said he would bring honesty, integrity and transparency to his council seat.

“I’m doing it for the love of the community,” he said.

— Compiled by the Hungry Horse News