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Residents and some commissioners back a city-county manager and smaller commission
Summary
Public commenters at a Butte-Silver Bow study commission hearing largely supported replacing the elected chief executive with a hired city/county manager and reducing the current 12-member commission to a smaller, paid body to improve professionalism and efficiency.
Many residents who spoke at the Butte-Silver Bow Charter Study Commission public hearing urged replacing the elected chief executive with a professional city-county manager and shrinking the 12-member commission to a smaller, paid body.
Supporters including a current commissioner and several longtime residents argued a manager would be a professionally trained administrator who could run departments and remove political pressures from daily operations. Jim Fisher, who said he currently serves on the Butte-Silver Bow commission, said a city-county manager and fewer commissioners would focus attention on reorganizing departments such as Superfund and parks and recreation. "We've been in this government for 40 years and we're just not getting too far ahead as other counties are," Fisher said.
Proponents proposed different council sizes. Some speakers preferred three commissioners as the most streamlined option; others urged four or five to preserve local representation. Larry Smith said a smaller, paid council would make members more engaged and representative, suggesting four to six members with an at-large elected mayor. Student speaker Elena Moore said shifting administrative duties to a manager and retaining an elected mayor would allow officials to focus on policymaking and speed implementation of local projects.
Speakers also raised concerns about representation and districting if the commission is reduced. Shannon Parker, who said she worked in municipal government elsewhere, supported a manager but asked how districts would be drawn to ensure neighborhoods are not underrepresented. Gabriel Offit said he could not support a reduced commission without seeing proposed district maps and warned that replacing elected officials with appointed managers could reduce voters' direct control.
Fiscal questions surfaced in the hearing. Mitsy Brazilian estimated that a smaller, paid commission and mayor could cost roughly $400,000 per year, a figure she said could be absorbed within the budget but which others said should be examined in more detail. Supporters argued potential salary and transition costs might be offset by faster, more consistent governance and clearer accountability.
The study commission did not act on the proposals at the hearing. The public hearing closed with the commission scheduling deliberations for May 11.
