Candidates
County commissioner candidates (from left) Darren Coldwell, Larry Coryell, Glenn "Louie" Garrison and Ron Downey discuss issues during a forum last Wednesday night at Troy High School. Photo courtesy Kootenai Valley Record.
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Candidates differ on growth plan, wilderness bill
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
May 8, 2010
The four candidates for District 2 county commissioner squared off last week in Troy on issues including Lincoln County’s growth plan, economic development and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.
Darren Coldwell, Larry Coryell, Glenn "Louie" Garrison and Ron Downey, all of Troy, will be on the June 8 primary ballot with the top two candidates moving on to the November general election. Following the passage of a ballot measure last fall, all county officials will be elected on a nonpartisan basis.
Coldwell is the owner of Booze-N-Bait in Troy and is a member of the Troy School Board, the Lincoln County Port Authority board and the county’s elected official salary review board. He holds a degree in communications from the University of Montana with a minor in business management.
Coldwell said he’s running for commissioner because he thinks he can do a good job and wants to see the county continue to grow. He said he’s spent the last 18 years serving Troy and Lincoln County in various volunteer positions and works daily with a budget.
Coryell is also a UM graduate with a degree in forestry. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Eureka and Troy before retiring, and he has been a Troy resident since 1992. During his retirement, Coryell has worked in real estate and managing his own timber land and has served on the Troy City Council.
Coryell said his "knowledge, skills and abilities" make him the best candidate.
Garrison is a Troy native with family roots going back 100 years. He worked at the lumber mill in Libby for 26 years until the mill closed, then took advantage of a retraining program to earn an associate’s degree in general studies. His volunteer work includes nine years as a member of David Thompson Search and Rescue.
When asked why he’s the best candidate, Garrison touted his approachability.
"If you ask me a question, I’ll get you an answer," he said. "We may not agree, but I’ll tell you why I came up with that answer."
Downey worked for the Forest Service for 17 years and has been with the county road crew for 22, the last eight as the District 2 foreman. He described himself as a fiscal conservative and an NRA member and Second Amendment advocate, and he noted that he’s president of the Troy Shooting Club and on the board of directors of the Troy Rural Fire District.
Downey also pointed to his experience with county budgeting and personnel issues as a qualification for the job.
"I love this area and I just want to give something back to it," Downey said.
An overview of the candidates’ views on some of the issues follows:
Lincoln County’s Growth Plan
Coldwell said he’s not opposed to the plan, noting that the plan itself does not institute zoning and allows for development, as long as it’s done in the right way.
"If you don’t have it, someone from the state can come in and tell us how to run our county, such as DEQ or any other agency," he said. "I think it’s important to have local involvement."
Coldwell also noted that the plan specifically mentions logging and mining as part of Lincoln County’s culture and customs.
Coryell said he’s concerned about "another layer of bureaucracy that you have to work through."
"It looks like job security for planners in Lincoln County to me," he said.
If the plan is not followed, the county runs the risk of lawsuits, Coryell said.
Coryell added that he’s opposed to conservation easements that put a "permanent cloud" on private property.
Garrison said the plan is not required by law, but once adopted needs to be followed. He said there’s "a lot of double talk" in state regulations regarding growth plans.
Garrison also expressed concerns about compensation for potential impacts of the plan on private property.
Downey said he’s in favor of the plan. His main concerns are local input and the need to maintain the county’s rural character.
"The growth plan provides a platform, a base on which to begin, and it’s badly needed," he said.
Downey said he’s opposed to big government but feels the plan safeguards private property rights.
Economic Development
The best thing the commissioners can do to promote economic development and reduce unemployment is to support the Kootenai Business Park in Libby, Coryell said.
"We all win when improvements are made out there," he said.
Coryell praised the work done by Kootenai River Development Council director Paul Rumelhart to enhance the business park through grants that helped bring in a wood chipper currently being used by Troy’s Chapel Cedar and to find "creative financing" to support Stinger Welding.
Garrison said the county needs to keep supporting logging and mining while promoting tourism and small business development. More lodging is needed, particularly in Troy, to help tourism grow, he said.
"Other than that, I’m open to ideas from everybody," Garrison said.
Downey said he favors a "multi-pronged approach" to take advantage of the area’s timber and mineral resources while promoting things like broadband communications and small business development.
Downey also stressed the need for training and skills development programs available through the local campus of Flathead Valley Community College.
"We need to continue that," he said. "It will pay off in the long run."
Coldwell described his favored approach as "economic gardening." Examples include the grants that have supported Stinger Welding and Chapel Cedar, and "creative incentives" for businesses such as the Troy Mine, he said.
The county should make public property available for business development and continue to support mining projects by Mines Management and Revett Minerals, Coldwell said.
Forest Jobs and Recreation Act
Garrison said he has mixed feelings on Tester’s bill. He said his hat’s off to the people who worked on the bill, but he’s concerned that some people were left out of the process and that while wilderness will be created up-front, logging projects could be shut down by appeals.
"My opinion on that is very mixed," he said.
Downey said that in general he will support anything that will bring jobs, but he can’t support Tester’s bill because it provides no guarantees for logging jobs.
"It looked more like a wilderness giveaway to me," he said.
Like Garrison, Coldwell acknowledged the hard work put into the bill but expressed misgivings.
"What happened when it got to Washington, D.C. is beyond me," he said.
The final bill left out preferences for local businesses and provides no guarantees for ATV enthusiasts, only promoting studies while not providing any funding, Coldwell said.
"Yet the wilderness advocates get their wilderness no matter what," he said.
Coldwell said he can’t support the bill in its current form.
Coryell said he’s not signed on as a supporter but thinks the county commissioners should back the bill. He said he thinks land should go through a study process before being designated as wilderness and that logging projects included in the bill should be exempt from appeals and litigation.
But as a former Forest Service employee, Coryell said he likes that "it tells the Forest Service to get out there and do something, get off your duff."
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Editor’s Note: See the May 4, 2010 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Tuesdays, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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