Columbia Falls City Council race: Marijke Stob

For Marijke Stob running for Columbia Falls City Council is her first foray into politics, but she’s been getting a good taste of it for several months now. Stob has been attending council meetings regularly, learning how city government works.

For Stob, 35, it’s about listening to constituents and representing the people.

“I believe in community and I think we need to start trusting each other again,” she said.

Stob is a seamstress by trade. She owns Super Bloom Gear Repair in Whitefish in the Riverside Plaza, specializing in repairs of outdoor gear and apparel. She’s been operating the business now about three years. She rents a home in Columbia Falls and will bring the renter’s perspective to council if elected.

She says she’s fortunate to have found a home in the city that’s reasonable rent and stable as well.

Stob grew up in Michigan and came to Montana to work for Glacier Park Inc. several years ago., She has an environmental science degree from North Park University, though she says she enjoys government.

“A lot of my friends are city planners,” she said.

Having watched city council for a few months now, she sees how “there’s a disconnect between laws, rules and what people see.” Which is to say the city has little control over many matters dictated by state law.

She said city manager Eric Hanks does a good job communicating, but it could be even better.

She would like to see the city council have its own emails, like other councils in the valley do, with an address that would be public record.

One of her main concerns is affordable housing and rentals in the city. Her own neighborhood has vacation rental homes. She’s an avid walker and hiker and walks by those homes thinking, “a family could be living there. I could be waving to a family.”

Still, she says the city is doing a good job of promoting multi-family housing like duplexes, triplexes and working with Habitat for Humanity, which builds affordable homes for working-class families.

She said she supports the city’s 3% resort tax as it brought $1.6 million to city coffers last year to pay for police and fire departments as well as streets and property tax rebates for residents.

But in addition to housing needs, the city also needs a vibrant business community, she said. She would like to have her business here, but Whitefish actually had an affordable commercial space to rent.

She also noted that the affordable housing issue isn’t just for the young.

“We need to care about our older population as well,” she said.

Stob also understands what it means to have health issues. She’s a cancer survivor herself. Her main goal is to represent her constituents and do the best she can.

“I’m here to listen and I’m open to everyone,” she said. “I hope to represent everyone. I come to this job humble.”