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Columbia Falls public comments: residents urge codifying police policies and debate proposed immigration resolution
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Summary
At the Feb. 17 council meeting residents asked the council to codify police policies and raised transit needs; one resident opposed a proposed immigration-related resolution, citing House Bill 200 and her experience with House Bill 267.
Columbia Falls — Several residents used the public-comment period at the Feb. 17 council meeting to press for codified police and city policies, to ask the council to consider improved public transit to Kalispell, and to oppose a proposed local immigration-related resolution.
Anne Higgins told the council she wanted the city to codify certain policies for stability over time and raised transportation needs between Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Kalispell for low-income residents. "There is a great need in our community for public transit between Columbia Falls, Whitefish, and Kalispell," Higgins said, adding that many low-income residents cannot physically get to appointments in Kalispell.
Elizabeth McBride, a Columbia Falls resident who said she followed recent reporting in the Hungry Horse News, urged the council not to adopt an "illegal immigration resolution," arguing that Montana House Bill 200 (2021) prohibits sanctuary cities and that a local resolution could trigger state review. "House bill 200 prohibits sanctuary cities in Montana requiring state and local law enforcement to comply with federal immigration laws," McBride said, and she cited her experience working on House Bill 267 as context for how state law changes occur.
Another speaker identifying himself as Bug said the requests in Higgins' proposal were legal under Montana and federal code and framed them as a call for accountability rather than a sanctuary-city declaration.
City staff later told the council that most of the proposal's items appear addressed by existing police policies, though staff noted one exception: they did not support using alternative identification (such as non-photo utility billing records) as acceptable law-enforcement identification.
No formal council action on an immigration resolution occurred during the meeting; staff said they would continue to brief the council and that citizens who want changes can pursue codification through council action.
