Local government review training scheduled

The Montana State University Extension Local Government Center will welcome newly elected or appointed study commissioners to Bozeman on Dec. 8-9 for training on how to effectively review and develop reform proposals for their county and municipal governments.

The Montana Constitution mandates that voters consider a local government review every 10 years. During the June 3 primary election, voters in 11 Montana counties and 39 municipalities chose to review their local government structure. These communities elected study commissioners during the November election, and seats that weren’t filled have since been appointed.

The training will consist of workshops, discussion panels and interactive training. The keynote speaker on Dec. 9 will be Mae Nan Ellingson. At age 24, Ellingson was the youngest delegate at the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention. She contributed to the legislation that is the legal basis for the Montana voter review.

“Local government review empowers local people to decide the form, structure, authority and function of the government closest to them,” said Dan Clark, director of MSU’s Local Government Center. “The ability to manage, update and reform local structures is unique to Montana and a valuable tool in keeping this level of government efficient and accountable.”

The study commissions will consider alternative form and structures for their local governments and prepare reform proposals for the electorate to vote on in the November 2016 election.

Columbia Falls city manager Susan Nicosia spoke about the Local Government Center during the city council’s Dec. 1 meeting. She suggested the local government review process was an unfunded mandate by the state, and the state should pay for the local elections that decide whether a city should undergo the review process, what candidates should be elected to the local review committee, and what changes should be made.

In the case of Columbia Falls, nobody in the city put their name on this year’s Nov. 4 ballot, and the city council appointed the three members.