Solomon favorable to city manager

It’s time the city of Havre looks at having a city manager form of government, Mayor Tim Solomon believes.

Solomon was interviewed Tuesday night by the Havre Review Commission, the panel that is determining whether the city should change its form of government and how.

When panel members asked him about the city manager proposal, he said it was a tough question, but he came down on the side of an appointed city manager who would answer to city council.

He said the city needed a professional to run the day-to-day operations of the business, “and that’s what the city is, a big business.”

“Havre has been lucky,” he said. The last two city clerks — Doug Kaercher and Lowell Swenson — have been exceptionally knowledgeable in municipal law and operations, he said.

They have performed many of the duties a city manager might normally oversee, he said.

But as city operations become more complex, it will be important to have a trained professional, he said.

Solomon said he came into the job with knowledge in government operations from his years as Hill County sheriff.

But he said the mayoral election is often a popularity contest, “and taking some nice guy off the street and putting him in charge of this operation is not the best way,” he said.

Dave Brewer, chair of the three-member panel, said he was open to the idea of a city manager, which seemed to be a shift from his earlier skepticism.

On other topics, the mayor said he looked favorably on the proposal to create a city charter.

The charter would not change the form of government, but would give City Council more authority to make changes. In effect, committee members said, the charter would allow the city to enact legislation as long as it was not prohibited by state law. Presently, they said, the city can pass laws specifically allowed by the state.

On the question of annexation of property outside city limits, the mayor said the city should move forward.

There will be some additional costs to the city, especially in law enforcement. Police officers would have to patrol the annexed land.

But he said the benefits outweigh the additional costs.

Commission members have interviewed city officials over the past few months to get input. Brewer said members will now review the comments and come up with some rough ideas as to what they will proposed.

They will then conduct public hearings before finalizing the proposal.

The proposal will then be sent to city lawyers and then be presented to the Hill County Clerk and Recorder’s Office before going on the November 2016 ballot.