Council decides to not fund clerk request

The Columbia Falls City Council Monday night decided to stick to its original 2017 budget, in effect denying a request by Columbia Falls City Court Judge Susan “Tina” Gordon for an additional part-time clerk.

Gordon was requesting a part-time clerk that would work 19.5 hours a week to ease the court staff’s workload.

But her request came after the budget was finalized. Gordon argued for the additional help, saying she needed it because of the increase in DUIs in the last quarter and because an intern, which was free to the city, quit earlier than expected.

Gordon had three clerks three years ago, but staff was trimmed after the caseload went down and the city went to an electronic ticketing system.

Gordon said that DUIs create a greater workload because most plead not guilty. She also claimed the electronic system didn’t save that much time.

But overall, the caseload at the court is down, city manager Susan Nicosia noted in a report to council. In 2007, her report notes, the court had 3,121, cases, both civil and criminal. In 2015, that number was down to 1,935.

In addition, in 2007, the court collected $251,000 in fines and forfeitures, while in the past fiscal year, fines were only $159,600 as there was a significant drop in citations.

The drop came after the state legislature made it illegal for police departments to set quotas for tickets.

Council’s decision to hold the line on the court budget was unanimous. The court’s budget will be examined further in next year’s budget cycle. The clerk would have cost the city between $14,000 and $15,00 a year. The city currently spends about $118,000 a year to staff the court.

In other news:

• Mayor Don Barnhart said he wants to see volunteer projects posted on the city’s web site. Barnhart would like to see more volunteerism in the city and hopes to attract volunteers to complete projects in the city’s parks, with support from city services.

• The search for a new police chief continues. The candidate list has been narrowed down and interviews are scheduled for the week of Oct. 17.

Police commission member Larry Wilson and Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset will help with the interviews along with Nicosia, councilman Doug Karper and councilman John Piper.