McLean, Williams, Odegard face off in commission race: Diane McLean

Incumbent Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean, a Republican, is looking to retain her seat on the commission with a challenge from independent Les Odegard and Democrat Sheri Williams, the commission's executive assistant.

McLean said the reason she believes she is still the best person for the job is her experience, and she would like to use that experience to maintain continuity at the commission, which she said is important given how broad the commission's responsibilities are.

She said her biggest concerns at the county for the moment are their tight budgets, which are only going to get tighter with inflation, and retaining staff.

The county has lost significant natural gas revenue in the past decade, which has affected the pool of funds that local government has access to and she thinks there are inefficiencies that could be mended.

She talked about looking for more bulk deals on county phones and not buying as many printers, specifically criticizing her fellow commissioners for a recent vote to buy an overly expensive printer she thinks is unnecessary.

McLean also proposed discussing the possibility of combining 911 services with the city of Havre to improve efficiency.

She was also critical of Rural Fire District 1, a fire district that includes much of the county outside of Havre that contracts with the city for fire suppression services, and their use of funds which she said should be being spent on solving specific problems pointed out by the city a year ago.

When it came to the subject of employees McLean was also highly critical of the county's various department heads for telling the commission what they should be doing and "stepping out of their lane."

She said asking questions is OK, but said officials are going beyond that and "interfering" with the commission.

She said officials need to be more cognizant of getting her the information she asks for and not ignoring her.

She also said she doesn't see any particular issues at the county regarding government transparency, but did say that officials need to do a better job of training their successors on how to open their books for people who are interested.

McLean was also highly critical of the Hill County Health Department and its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic which she called "over-the-top heavy handed," saying Hill County, and the state should have followed the lead of Florida and South Dakota.

She went on to espouse a number of conspiratorial beliefs in the efficacy of alternative COVID-19 treatments like Ivermectin and said that the COVID-19 vaccination is killing people, both of which have been disproven.

She lamented that such ideas are being "pooh-poohed."

Another health-related subject McLean commented on was the recent legalization of marijuana which she opposed because of the effects addiction have had on her family for its "legal and social ills."

She said she supports the idea of the 3 percent county tax on marijuana products, however, saying those tax dollars should be primarily used by law enforcement.

She said she's not opposed to using part of the money for education, but the money would need to be narrowly targeted and not spent on things like pamphlets or fliers, only something that's efficacy can be directly measured.

McLean also defended a recent decision by the commission to award much higher raises to the Hill County Sheriff's Office personnel compared to the other departments, saying their jobs are more demanding and so they deserve more.

"To think that everyone deserves the same is a myth," she said.

When asked about what the county should be doing on the local level to combat the effects of climate change, she laughed and said she did not support any effort to transition energy sources to renewable sources like wind energy and condemned efforts on the national level to support such a transition.

--

Age: 64

Graduated: Fergus High School

Degrees: Bachelor's in elementary education with a minor in math

Military Service: None

Previous offices held: Hill County superintendent of schools