Letter to the Editor - Hearing on government changes

Editor:

Re: Public hearing for public input, Tuesday, March 8.

Your Havre City Government Study Commission has spent the last 18 months reviewing our duties, reviewing appropriate documents, establishing a budget for the Study Commission, establishing questions deemed appropriate for gaining useful information and interviewing department heads current and past, city clerks past and present, city judge, all city councilpersons (including the two new members) and the mayor. We went to a familiarization class in the fall of 2014 and just recently asked for a follow-up class here in Havre from the support of Montana State University in Bozeman's Local Government Center.

We will be prepared and will bring supporting documentation with us to answer questions and give the public a perspective of where the Commission is at in the process. We feel at this time that we have a direction we believe in. We believe in three concepts that appear would ensure the city of Havre’s future for the best and appropriate direction. We plan to expound on them at each public hearing.

Together the commission, the public and city government can work together to plan this concept in all our best interests for the foreseeable future. Myself, as the chair of the committee, I can tell you that I have struggled with some of the issues that the committee has come to agree on. People who know me know I tend to take the devil’s advocate position and try to argue both sides of an issue to assure equal focus on the discussion. It’s taken me most of the past year to realize my ignorance of the rules, laws and safety features built into the state laws eventually assured me that Havre citizens will always be involved with the process and any changes that the City Council may ask to add or change. Furthermore with my questions answered, I feel that I can assist the public in what I learned to give me confidence that we weren’t opening Pandora’s Box.

Most important, the time has come for us to share what we’ve learned and accomplished in these 18 months and get the public’s views taken. We plan to have at least three of these public hearings, and we invite all citizens to come and partake in the process. We can build our future together and only together. We encourage you to come to all the hearings. We will include information that we learn from each hearing. We’re on a tight schedule from here on to the election Nov. 8, so we need to stay on this tight schedule. We will have one more public hearing to share our first draft of our ballot issue and any recommendations that we may plan to submit for a vote or not submit anything if the committee decides to not submit any changes. The public will be able to give further input at that hearing as well.

The first public hearing will be Tuesday, March 8, at 7 p.m., in the City Council Chambers.

David H. Brewer

Chairman Havre City Government Study Commission