Funke, Siler run for Ward 3 seat in Polson

POLSON — Incumbent Fred Funke will square off against Ken Siler for the Ward 3 seat on the Polson City Commission.
Funke and his wife Sandy have been married 34 years. The Funkes three kids — Angela, Ryan and Randy — all live and work in the Mission Valley. Funke said he is very proud of this fact.
Funke is a Polson native and has lived here 58 years. Funke was involved in the community softball program and has been president, vice president, and secretary/treasurer of the bowling leagues.
Funke has served on the Polson City Council/Polson City Commission for 16 years and is a past president of the council.
Both candidates were asked what top three issues they felt should be addressed by city government and how these issues should be resolved.

Funke said the first issue would be to make Polson a better place to live and work by improving the infrastructure — water, sewer and roads.
A second issue Funke said he thought was important was “furthering our grant possibilities.”
“Our economy is so touchy,” Funke said. “We need outside money, if we meet their (grant) requirements.”
A third issue Funke brought up was good communication with the public.
“There has not been good enough communication in the past,” Funke said.
Funke’s opponent is Ken Siler. Siler, 74, is retired and lives in Polson with his life partner of 20-plus years, Agnes Rinehart.
Siler completed one and one half years at the School of Mines in Butte, which is now Montana Tech. After college, Siler was self-employed for five years. Then Siler was a civilian contractor for the Air Force Satellite Control Facility in Sunnyville, Calif. for 30 years, 29 of these overseas. Siler was a logistics supervisor.
Siler is a member of Polson Rotary and his community activities are mostly confined to the United Methodist Church.
Siler said, “ Infrastructure is what I consider one of our (Polson’s) top problems – roads, water, sewer. We need to develop a long-term plan and seek grants to help us pay for it.

A second issue Siler mentioned was growth.
“I think (growth) should be controlled,” Siler said, “But we have to build a better tax base to pay for all this stuff that we need.”
Siler said jobs were another important issue.
“All we can do there is seek industry,” Siler said.