Candidate is a communicator

Democrat Stacey Schnebel says she decided to run for Flathead County Commissioner to bring a fresh perspective to county-level management. She wants to bring more communication, transparency, responsiveness and accessibility to the county’s top job.

“I’ve received lots of enthusiasm and support since I announced my candidacy,” she said. “People like it that a person who is approachable and has their interests in mind could reach the commissioner position.”

Schnebel grew up on a farm outside Chicago. She attended the University of Iowa for four years, majoring in human or cultural geography, which she notes “is very well suited for the job of county commissioner.”

After moving to the Flathead in 2000, she was taking business classes at Flathead Valley Community College when she landed a career job at Whitefish Mountain Resort.

In 2007, she and her husband Seth moved to Coram, where they started an Internet business called UnderCurrent Web and with partners acquired the Stonefly Lounge. They have two young children.

Schnebel, 36, says her age is an advantage.

“I have the social networking skills to respond to everyone,” she said. “I want to represent the taxpayers, voters and residents of Flathead County.”

The county needs a commissioner who has no special interests, political history or obligations, she says.

“I represent a clean slate,” she said. “My agenda is to protect the resources and enhance the services of the county.”

Schnebel has no plans for immediate changes.

“My strength is in working with all kinds of people, drawing out different opinions and making the best decision possible,” she said.

Using her technical skills to efficiently access information, she expects she can be up to speed quickly and use her people skills to communicate with department heads to find what their budget needs are.

Maintaining the county’s greenbox sites makes sense, Schnebel said, even if it means a small fee increase to keep junk and garbage off the roads and out of the woods. And recycling is a necessity, she added.

“The money could come from other places in the budget,” she said. “For example, why should we spend so much money on meetings and consultants to study our greenbox sites? County commissioners should be able to handle this issue on their own.”

Restoring the old courthouse was a good idea, Schnebel said, and it makes sense for the county to spend money on its Kalispell campus and other infrastructure. The same goes for the Agency On Aging, which should get a new building.

“But we need a new approach so we can accommodate other needs both now and into the future,” she said. “For example, could the commercial kitchen at the Agency On Aging building be used for other things, too?”

It’s prudent to spend money now to handle future needs and always be looking ahead, she said. And looking ahead includes planned growth to prevent sprawl.

“I have personal experience living in a severely sprawled area — the Chicago suburbs,” she said. “What we have in the Flathead is unique — separated towns with separate characters. People are drawn here for that reason. It would be a travesty to destroy what we have here. The worst thing they could do is connect the towns with strip malls.”

The county should enforce existing laws regulating septic systems to protect water quality in the valley — all septic systems should be permitted and functioning correctly, she said.

Road paving should be decided by budget availability and be project-based, she added, economic development should be promoted by ensuring infrastructure is in place, and the county should put more trust in the government committee negotiating the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes water compact.

“There’s so much distrust now in the political process — and there should be,” she said. “But I have no corporate sponsors or dark money behind me. I have just the county’s interests in mind.”