Hertz, McLaughlin on ballot for House District 12
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Greg Hertz and William McLaughlin are running for the House District 12 seat.
McLaughlin said he was asked to be a Democratic Party placeholder on the ballot, and he filed with the understanding the Democrats would have a formal candidate.
He is not actively campaigning.
Hertz, 59, has lived in Lake County since 1959, although he was born in Malta. He and his wife, Kate, have been married for 37 years, have three children and two grandchildren.
Hertz, the incumbent, is president and CEO of Moody’s Market, Inc., which operates retail grocery stores, including Polson Super 1 Foods, Harvest Foods in Ronan, Lolo, Thompson Falls and St. Maries, Idaho.
The issues most important to Hertz are the economy, property taxes and water issues.
“The poor job market and struggling economy is not only an issue facing our district, but many people across Montana, especially Western Montana,” Hertz said. “In order to encourage new jobs in Montana, we need to further reduce our workers compensation rates, ensure our tax policies are fair and competitive, address tort reform, seek responsible development of our natural resources, make sure we have a strong, locally controlled education system, and push back against the burden of an increasingly powerful and intrusive federal government.”
Property taxes have become “too onerous,” according to Hertz.
“We need to reform our property reappraisal system and make fair and equitable reductions in our state property taxes,” he said. “We’ll be looking at property taxes in the 2015 legislature.”
Hertz added he has other ideas on how to reduce Montana residents’ property taxes.
The ongoing struggle for a water rights compact is a priority for Hertz.
“We need a water compact with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes that is fair to all parties and respects private property rights.”
