File now for city council, mayoral seats

The deadline for filing for Columbia Falls city council is fast approaching. Two incumbents, Jenny Lovering and Mike Shepard announced Monday they are not seeking re-election, while incumbent Paula Robinson said she would seek another term.

The deadline to file at the county election department is June 11.

Up for election this cycle are three councilor positions and the mayor. Mayor Don Barnhart has not yet made an announcement on whether he’ll seek another term.

Shepard has been a councilor since the 1990s and Lovering has been on council for 12 years. Barnhart is in his 15th year as mayor and served on council seven years prior to that.

All told, the mayoral seat and three councilor positions are up. So far, two people have filed for council, newcomers Christopher Semok and Marijke Stob.

Stob explained while the filing shows a Whitefish address.

"I hope to clarify why my filing shows my mailing address in whitefish. I am a renter and i have lived all over the valley due to the challenges in the housing market. I have had my Whitefish PO Box for many, many years and I plan on moving it to Columbia Falls because we finally found a stable long-term rental in town. Our current PO Box lease expires in November, and it is too much of a cost burden to have two po boxes. I'm hoping people can understand and relate to this budget conundrum. I care about this community and desire to be a genuine and honest public servant."

This story has been updated.