Polson residents choose city government review
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POLSON — Every 10 years, as mandated by the Montana Constitution, city and county residents vote whether they want to assemble a panel of citizens to review their form of government.
Although reviews of St. Ignatius, Ronan, Polson and Lake County governments were all on the June 3 primary ballot, only Polson residents voted in favor of taking a fresh look at how the current form of government is working.
What that means, according to Kathie Newgard, Lake County Election Administrator, is that a panel of five people will be elected to review how Polson’s government structure is working.
Currently in Polson the elected Polson City Commissioners have power to hire and fire their city manager that runs the day-to-day operations much like a business. The mayor is elected by the citizens, and is the city figurehead.
People who are interested in serving on the panel can now throw their hat in the ring by Aug. 11 to get on the ballot. Then city residents will select five candidates in the Nov. 1 general election. If there aren’t enough candidates, Polson City Commissioners will appoint the remaining panel members.
The panel will spend two years reviewing the city manager form of government and the mayoral form of government. The panel will present their recommendation in June of 2016. If they chose the mayoral form of government, then the issue will go to a vote of the people in the 2016 general election, Newgard said.
