Council candidate wants to 'get Moore for your money'

With five candidates for three council seats, the Columbia Falls municipal election this year will be competitive. But it didn’t seem so when Duane Moore initially threw his hat in the ring.

“When I read in the paper that there were three seats open on the city council and no one had even filed yet, I felt ashamed,” he said. “If I’m a citizen and I care, it’s time to step up.”

As it turned out, the three incumbents, Shawn Bates, Mike Shepard and Dave Petersen, decided to file late in hopes of encouraging more city residents to run. A dearth of Columbia Falls City Council candidates is not unusual, and several times in the past the council has found itself appointing volunteers to fill open seats.

Moore said he started out living in the Flathead but over the years has lived in California, Florida and Nevada. His mother was born in the Flathead, his grandfather was born in Montana, and Moore moved back to the Flathead in 2002.

“I consider myself a native,” he said. “I love it here. I’ve always wanted to be here.”

Moore has held a variety of jobs over the years, working in hospitals, restaurants and on a dude ranch. He got a degree in graphic design while in Florida.

He most recently retired as a school bus driver in Whitefish. He’s married and has two adult children, one in Columbia Falls and one in California.

“I’m a third generation Montanan, and I live in Columbia Falls,” he said. “I want to give back to my community and my home. I want what’s best for Columbia Falls. I want our tax dollars to be spent wisely.”

Moore’s tongue-in-cheek motto is “Get Moore for your money.” He says he has no specific agenda and wants to serve the people.

“I want to talk to people and find out what they want,” he said. “I’m looking for consensus building.”

If there’s any change he supports now it’s “sprucing up Nucleus Avenue.” Moore said he likes the idea of promoting Columbia Falls as the “Gateway to Glacier National Park.”

“I support that to a degree,” he said. “But I don’t want to ruin Columbia Falls’ atmosphere. It could be done in a good way.”

He cited a small town in Georgia which adopted a Bavarian theme for its architecture and community events.

“It saved the town from bankruptcy,” he said. “Something like that can be good up to a point.”

Moore also wants government to follow the rules.

“I believe in the U.S. Constitution and believe we should be following it the way it was originally written,” he said.

Moore has had some setbacks in recent years. About seven years ago, he was elk hunting with a friend above Lake Blaine in the Swan Range when he slipped on wet ground and shattered his left ankle. Some friends arrived and used a wheelbarrow to get him out.

A week later, he was in the hospital undergoing a quadruple-bypass heart operation. This past winter, he fell on ice in front of his trailer and suffered a severe back injury. But Moore’s managed to stay upbeat and active.

“There’s no better place to live than here,” he said. “I’ve lived in other states but always called this home. I once wrote a poem about this called ‘Going Home.’”