Mayoral race: It's a horse race now

By RICHARD HANNERS

Whitefish Pilot

It may still be up in the air whether Andy Feury will step down as mayor of Whitefish after this year, but two city councilors have their minds made up.

Cris Coughlin and Nick Palmer announced Monday that they intend to run for mayor in this fall.

Coughlin says she has the consistency and experience needed to run a city council meeting and is fair and open-minded. This is her fourth year on the council, so whether she wins or loses in her mayoral bid, her council seat will become open.

Velvet Phillips-Sullivan has already said she will not run again for the council, leaving a second seat open.

John Muhlfeld, who was appointed to the council in January 2006 to replace Tom Muri, who had resigned, will also be up for election this fall. He says he's considering running.

When Feury's term ends this year, the term for mayor will go from two years to four. Feury has not announced whether he will stay on, but work in China is keeping him from attending regular council meetings.

Palmer said he was persuaded to run for mayor by people "from across the spectrum" — environmentalists, members of the development community and even Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall.

Palmer represented the city council in negotiations over the planning department's proposal for zoning compliance permits on county lands under the city's planning jurisdiction. Critics called it regulation without representation while supporters said the city only wanted to enforce existing zoning regulations.

"Hall called me 'fair-minded' and said I had 'well thought out positions,'" Palmer said.

Palmer says finding the middle ground between protecting community interests and not intruding in people's lives is his strong point.

"I'd like to see us control growth without stifling it so the city grows in an orderly way," he said.

Palmer says he wants to see the city's new planning policies carried through, but he notes that the council has been very responsive to the residents.

"I'm a representative of the people," he said. "I don't feel I'm up there to express my own truth. I've had to vote for some projects that I personally didn't like, but they were supported by the neighbors."

In the eight years since Palmer moved to Whitefish, he has been very active in city government. He served three years on the Whitefish City-County Planning Board, one of those years as chairman.

Since being elected to the council in 2005, Palmer has represented the council on a variety of committees, including the growth policy, the A Trail Runs Through It project, the lakeshore protection policy and critical areas committees.

He has also served in ad hoc positions for city court budget negotiations, the purchase of the Cow Creek parkland and design talks between the owner and neighbors of the Red Caboose diners.

Palmer cites several examples of where he took steps to protect community interests and individual rights at the same time:

* Palmer said he opposed enforcing the city's decay ordinance outside the city limits.

* Palmer calls the Archi-tectural Review Committee "the first line of defense against corporate invasion and franchisees who want to stamp us as Anytown USA," and he has encouraged talks between ARC and the council.

"I knew the council would support a strong stand by the Architectural Review Committee, so I bridged a communication gap," he said.

* Palmer says he opposes downzoning, especially recent efforts to eliminate WR-2 in places.

"I would take away people's nest eggs for retirement or their kids' college," he said.

Regarding downtown parking, Palmer supported reducing the number of off-street spaces required by downtown residences. He also supported a resident on Kalispell Avenue in successfully eliminating parking near Whitefish Middle School. He says the parking issue will be handled by the Downtown Master Plan.

"We're in transition," he said. "Whether you're renovating a home or a city, there will be some inconvenience. We must endure some inconvenience."

He said within three to five years, it will be "rare for there to be an inconvenience" because there will be three new parking structures, a new City Hall, a new emergency services building and a revitalized downtown city core.