Mixed results from city survey; as a third of respondents don't live in city limits

Columbia Falls has some work to do in some areas, but is adequate in others, according to a recent survey.

The survey comes with a significant caveat, however. About 30% of the people who responded admitted they don’t live inside the city limits. There was no way to parse the data, either.

Having said that, when asked about how responsive the city was to people’s needs, just under 30% said not very responsive and about 18% said very unresponsive.

On the other hand, about 30% said it was responsive.

In that vein, about 30% said the city was unfair in dealing with residents and 18% said it was very unfair. Thirty percent said it was fair.

“Residents with public comments at city council meetings were sometimes dismissed/disrespected,” one person commented. Another claimed the city only caters to the rich.

But another person had a different take.

“I do think they cater too much to the known whiners and complainers. I think they should talk with neighbors to find out if the concerns are legitimate,” a person said.

Still, others commended the city administration.

“I don’t share some of the complaints that I have heard from others. I feel the former city manager Susan Nicosia had her hands full and did the best she could with what she had. Also, I feel they need to find an experienced city manager,” a respondent said.

About 45% of people said the city administration was adequate or more than adequate, while 44% said it was less than adequate or inadequate.

Law enforcement and the fire departments, however, were generally well regarded. Sixty-seven percent said the police department was adequate or more than adequate and 87% said the fire department was adequate or more than adequate.

City sewer and water was also deemed adequate or more than adequate by about 60% of those that responded and city parks were adequate or more than adequate by about 63% of responders as well.

Response to the survey in general was low, with 123 bothering to take the survey. The city has about 1,800 households.

A public hearing hosted by the Columbia Falls Study Commission earlier this month on the survey saw no one from the public attend other than the Hungry Horse News.

The commission went over portions of the survey, but many of the questions, members noted, were beyond the scope of the commission’s charge, which is to examine whether the city should change its form of government, or make any other changes.

The commission may try to tweak the survey to drill down on more basic government change questions (a new survey was recently mailed out), but as it stands now, the commission didn’t see the need for any wholesale changes to the city government structure. For example, the commission went over city charters crafted by Choteau and Whitefish, and both had language that mirrored existing state law.

The commission, if it so chose, could make a host of recommendations to council, from changing the structure of city government, such as a “strong mayor” like what Missoula has, where an elected mayor runs the city, with an administrator. 

One option, though entirely disregarded, would be to dissolve the city entirely, where it would then be just part of the county.