Irrigation candidates discuss issues
Nicole Tavenner
Flathead Joint Board of Control election candidates share their views with the pulic. From left: Ray Swensen, Jerry Laskody, Wayne Blevins, Janette Rosman, Boone Cole and Shane Orien.
Nicole Tavenner
Folks listen as FJBC election candidates explain their views on issues concerning irrigation.
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
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POLSON — Candidates running in the Flathead Joint Board of Control district elections got together to take questions and share their views with the public on Thursday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting hall before mail-in election ballots are due on May 3.
The panel included Mission district candidates Ray Swensen and Jerry Laskody. Flathead district 2 candidates included Wayne Blevins and Janette Rosman. Flathead district 4 candidate Shane Orien attended, and Jocko district Chairman Boone Cole was on the panel.
Flathead district candidate David Lake and Jocko candidate Jennifer Kaplan were unable to attend.
Moderator Gerry Banzet organized the speakers asking the candidates and audience to be respectful. Verdell Jackson kept time, limiting speakers to 10 minutes.
Flathead district candidate Rosman was the first candidate to speak. She said she wanted to start with her most contentious point which is the support of the Montana-CSKT Water Compact. She was the only candidate on the panel in attendance to support the compact. She said she was running because she believes the compact needs more support from the FJBC.
She said the low-cost block of power that creates lower power bills in the Mission Valley is in the compact, and she doesn’t believe that irrigation tax dollars should be spent on legal fees to get the low-cost power in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing for the Selis Ksanka Qlispe Dam.
Flathead incumbent Blevins was next to speak. He stated that he wants the compact vote in the Montana Legislature overturned because it didn’t pass with a two-thirds majority vote.
He said that the joint board utilizes lawsuits as a way of disputing issues they don’t think are right and are a necessary expense including the litigation concerning the FERC license.
“If (the low-cost power) is not in the FERC license, who knows what will happen,” he said.
Flathead district 4 incumbent Orien talked about some of the things the board has done including voting down a $7.50 charge per acre on water use fees. He also stated that the board has been on budget as far as expenses.
He added that putting money towards FERC litigation will pay off in the future if it preserves the low-cost power.
Mission district candidate Ray Swensen said he wasn’t running to take Laskody’s place. He only wanted to give people a choice.
“I’m not running to take Jerry head-on,” he said.
Management of the irrigation project from the Bureau of Indian Affairs back to the irrigators was an important topic on his list.
“It’s one things everyone in this room can agree on,” he said, adding that it was important for irrigators to find middle ground on issues.
Laskody took his turn at the microphone and said he was against the water compact. He said he felt that irrigators would get less water with it. He also said that the water compact puts irrigators under tribal law without the ability to resolve issues with U.S. government. He said it was important to have the low-cost power in the FERC license.
Chairman Cole stated his opinion as a member of the Jocko district. He also said that the low-cost power needed to be in the FERC license. He said he believes the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project was built for the benefit of everyone, tribal and nontribal, to help the communities thrive.
He doesn’t support the water compact. He explained that he believes individuals need to retain water rights.
“A promise of delivery is insufficient for me,” he said of the compact. “I don’t begrudge CSKT for their rights, but we have to do the same thing.”
