Council hires Whitefish attorney to be new judge

Columbia Falls has a new city judge. On Monday night, the city council unanimously approved the hire of longtime Whitefish attorney Kristi L. Curtis to the position.

Curtis has served as Whitefish’s deputy city attorney since 2015 and, prior to that, served as the prosecutor for the city of Kalispell. She also has more than 30 years of law experience and was a partner in a law firm in California before moving to Whitefish 17 years ago.

She will replace longtime city judge Susan “Tina” Gordon, who retires at the end of the month after 30 years on the bench.

Six applicants applied for the position. They were interviewed by councilman John Piper, Jenny Lovering, Mayor Don Barnhart, city co-counsel Stephanie Breck and Susan Nicosia.

“It was a difficult job,” Barnhart noted.

Curtis said she looks forward to the job.

“I love criminal law,” she said. “I find it fascinating.”

City court handles misdemeanor crime cases and traffic tickets.

In other city news:

- Barnhart said he was proud of the city’s effort in the annual Salvation Army kettle drive competition. Columbia Falls officials rang the bells for the Salvation Army for eight hours at Smith’s Food and Drug last Wednesday and raised $4,072.99, but was edged by Evergreen, who raised $4,113.15.

But Barnhart noted the city leaders did it in one day, while Evergreen’s tally was a longer period of time.

Whatever the case, he was proud of the city, the donors and its efforts.

- The city approved a new contract with the Breck law firm for its services. The base contract is $68,310, with a $175 an hour additional charge for litigation, arbitration and other legal matters if the need arises.

Council approved the contract and noted it was good to have attorney Justin Breck at meetings and at planning board meetings to answer questions on matters of law.

- Council approved Bryan Shaffer’s appointment as a new city fireman. Shaffer, a Columbia Falls graduate, recently went through Army basic training and is in the National Guard, where he took fire training.