Two write-in candidates, David Coffman and Lisa Rehard, are seeking to represent Ward 2 in the Polson City Commission seat currently held by Tony Isbell. The race is nonpartisan.

Because neither candidate filed before last spring’s regular filing deadline, neither name will appear on the ballot. Instead, voters must fill in their preferred candidate’s name, spelled correctly, and then fill in the oval next to the name.

David L. Coffman: Married for 38 years, candidate Coffman and his wife, Barbara, have been Polson residents for seven years and have two adult children.

A native of California, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Intelligence Studies from the American Military University, served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 12 years and is a veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Storm.

His nearly 30-year career in law enforcement included several supervisory and management assignments with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, where he was twice awarded a Bronze Star for bravery. He has served as a Lake County election judge, volunteered as a range safety officer with the Polson Shooters Association, and currently serves as a board member for Mission Bay Home Owners Assoc.

Although he has never held elected office, Coffman ran for Lake County Sheriff in 2018 and for the Polson City Commission in 2021.

He says that he filed as a write-in candidate, in part, because no one filed for Isbell’s seat during the regular filing period. “It’s kind of sad that there’s so little interest in local elections,” he adds.

Coffman is running for the commission “to provide a public safety manager's perspective on the city's needs.” He believes in reasonable growth and a family-friendly community, supports small business owners and local industry, and feels public safety should always come first.

One of Coffman’s goals is to update Polson’s strategic plan “to reflect the electorate’s priorities and the city’s finances.” Another aim would be to cooperate with local schools to “develop a youth program to involve young people in the political process.”

Lisa Rehard: A retired attorney, candidate Rehard is married to Mark Hubbard, and has three grown stepchildren and six grandchildren. She spent her childhood in Butte, and attended high school, college and law school in Wyoming.

She practiced law in small firms in Platte City, Mo.; the last was in a partnership with Hubbard for 28 years.

They moved to Polson after retirement in 2015 because Rehard has family in western Montana. She writes that the couple fell in love with Polson’s location on Flathead Lake and – in her husband’s case – its golf course.

Rehard has not held elected office, but she represented many small cities and special-purpose public boards in Missouri during her legal career. She served four years on the Platte City Park Board, two terms on the board of directors of the Platte City Area Chamber of Commerce, and one term on the Community Action Agency of Greater Kansas City’s board.

She was motivated to run for the commission when she found out no one had filed for the open seat in Ward 2 in time for their name to appear on the ballot. She says she has the time to serve and believes her experience could be beneficial to the city.

“Polson is a nice community,” she writes. “It takes people serving to make it a nice community and I have a responsibility to contribute if I am able.”

“A city’s main responsibilities are to provide good municipal services to its residents at an affordable cost and to promote prosperity of the city and its residents,” Rehard writes. While she believes Polson has made some progress on those goals, she believes funding for roads and other infrastructure and affordable housing need to be priorities.

“Although the city cannot directly provide affordable housing, it can support programs and policies that enable others to meet that goal,” she writes.

Finally, Rehard says growth needs to be accompanied “by proper municipal planning so that services and resources remain adequate for all residents, both old and new.”

She considers Polson “a wonderful place to live,” and says she looks forward to working with other citizens to contribute to its future.

Ballots were mailed Oct. 18 and must be returned to the Election Office at the Lake County Courthouse by 8 p.m. Nov. 7. There’s still time to register to vote either at the Election Office or online at sosmt.gov/elections/vote/. For more information, call 406-883-7268.