Montana Decides: Congrats, Considerations, and a Clarification

Much like vote counting results in some places around the country, I am a little slow on delivery.

However, local elections are officially in the rearview mirror. Approximately 58 percent of registered Jefferson County voters participated from the ten precincts within the county. The good news is that this was on par with the state, whose total turnout was just over 60 percent. Since it’s our number one responsibility as sovereign actors within our government, perhaps we should expect higher participation in the process. If I recall from my school days, that percentage is a “low D/high F” on the grading scale.

Does this represent an unfabricated “threat to our democracy,” that so many choose to stay home and punt on that responsibility?

It’s no surprise that Dan Hagerty won the County Commissioner race but what was perhaps surprising to some is that he won all ten precincts. While a resounding county-wide victory is good for the whole county, it has remained Dan’s objective to enhance representation for the south end. He’s promised to have an open-door policy, literally, to make himself fully accessible to his constituents and their needs and concerns.

Tom Grimsrud achieved a victory for the Sheriff’s office by winning seven of the ten precincts. The three he did not carry were the two Whitehall districts and Elk Park which makes up the south end of the County. However, Tom has assured us that he intends to serve the entire county equally. In fact, prior to the election, Tom and I talked about collaborating on some helpful information for all residents of the county regarding the Sheriff’s roles and responsibilities. That information wasn’t readily available before. We may look forward to this educational effort as one area of improvement under his leadership.

The ballot consisted of six uncontested races out of eleven, not including the Justice of the Peace retention decision. My comment is in no way a complaint about those people who were the uncontested candidates, but a consideration that not enough challengers are stepping up. Choice and competition only strengthen our county government. It’s why they are elected positions. After all, the strongest steel is forged in the hottest fires, and those fires are stoked by competition. Elections support incentives for all to do the best job possible. Are we missing opportunities to raise the bar of performance from the people whom we hire to run important functions of our local government?

The second consideration revolves around the passing of the Public Health mill ballot. If you recall from one of my previous articles, “If It Moves (or Doesn’t), Tax It,” there are three primary ways that our property taxes increase, with the biggest factor being voter-approved levies and bonds. Approximately two-thirds of the registered voters in Jefferson County, many of whom do not pay property taxes, just voluntarily decided to raise our property taxes. While public health has always been considered an important function of county government, is it possible to increase the funding to certain departments without having it become more expensive to live in our county? Perhaps we could ask our newly configured commission to consider reprioritizing the county budget instead of increasing its costs. Is it possible for the county to do fewer things better?

Regarding “threats to our democracy,” Article 1, Section 2, Clause 1 of the US Constitution gives us the right to vote for our own representatives, making our government a democratic republic. It’s easy to understand how we mistakenly refer to our system of government as a democracy, but that is not only inaccurate but dangerous if you understand the true history and meaning of “democracy.” The father of our constitution, James Madison said, “Democracies have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” Why is this important?

It’s important because as Thomas Jefferson stated, “Modern times have the signal advantage…of having discovered the only device by which equal rights can be secured; government by the people, acting not in person but by representatives chosen by themselves.” So going forward, let’s increase our turnout percentage, have more competition and fewer uncontested races, hold our winners accountable to their pre-election promises, and properly refer to our government as a democratic republic, or even a constitutional republic which is as fitting.

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