Brekke wants to let 'new blood' come in to City Council

Havre City Council President Andrew Brekke said in a recent interview he will be resigning from City Council and moving on to other pursuits.

Brekke, during a City Council meeting Monday, submitted his letter of resignation to the council.

Brekke said he is buying a new house outside of his ward and in result has to resign, adding the state law dictates if a council person moves, or lives, outside of the ward they represent, they have to resign.

He added that at this point, he also has no plans on pursuing a council seat in the ward he is moving to or running in any other office, local or state.

"I've hear from a lot of people say I should run for this or that, and I've said no," Brekke said, "I've done my 11 years and I think that's good enough for a while, so I'll take a break from local politics."

Brekke has been involved in local politics since a very young age, he said, serving as a legislative intern for the state Office of Commissioner of Higher Education during the 2001 Legislature.

Then, in 2002, Brekke ran and lost in the race for Legislature against Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, who is currently holding the seat and running against Republican Gilbert Bruce Meyers in this upcoming election.

He ran again in 2004 as a Republican against John Musgrove and lost as well.

Brekke won in 2007 in his bid for Havre City Council Ward 4, running against Democrat Tara Brandon, and has been re-elected running unopposed in 2011 and 2015.

In 2009, he was elected chair of the Hill County Republican Central Committee.

Brekke said his experience in City Council has been great.

"I've always encouraged people to get involved," Brekke said. " ... I think the most important thing about public service is that you learn both sides of it, not just from the constituency level."

"Often times it's not as simple as what people make it seem," Brekke added. "Getting involved in public office and running you start to see the other side. You have an immediate respect for not only what it is that people who serve in public bodies go through on a regular basis but what the staff have to deal with.

"Over the course of my 11 years on the City Council, I've come to respect everyone who works at the city very much and appreciate what it is that they do for the public, as taxpayers and constitutes alike," Brekke said. " ... I've come to appreciate all that."

Brekke said state statute says resignation must be within 30 days of leaving the ward. He said the City Council was already aware of his resignation before he submitted his letter of intent. This will just be a formality, he said, but after the formal resignation the council can begin the process to replace him.

The process, Brekke said, is the council will pbut out a call for a vacancy for Ward 4, then people in the ward can apply for the position. Usually there are one or two candidates, he said. Candidates usually submit a letter of interest and resume, he added. At that point, Brekke said, the council usually has an interview meeting then vote later in another meeting, although it doesn't have to be done that way. If there are many candidates, council members then sponsor candidates and nominate candidates to be voted on, he said.

Brekke said, since he is also the chair of the council, they will also need to vote on a new chair. He said the council might wait to vote on a new chair or they might do it before the end of this year, adding he is not going to be involved in that process.

He added that he will also continue to be the chair of the Republican party. He said this coming year will be an election and if anyone wants to step up he is willing to step down from that position as well.

"I would like to step down from that role too," Brekke said, "Not because of any other reason, but I do think that it's time for new blood. Whenever you exceed 10 years in anything I don't think that's the healthiest situation. Doesn't mean I wont be involved, it would just mean that somebody else would take that role."

"I think it's healthy to get new blood in every one of these roles," he added.

New people holding office might bring some new ideas, Brekke said.

"I just appreciate all the individuals that I have served with past and present," he said. "The folks at the city, I very much appreciate everything that they have done to educate me over the years and stand by me and the decisions which we've made. I think that we have accomplished a lot of things in 11 years and I do think that the city is in a better place than when we started. I think that's the goal of everyone on the council is that they try to make it better than the way they found it."

Brekke said he has no intention on leaving Havre but it is just time for someone else to "try their hand at public service."