Stanley appointed as Lake County commissioner
Kristi Niemeyer
Lake County’s new commissioner, Steve Stanley, was sworn in by District Court Judge Kim Christopher last Thursday, July 29. He officially took office Aug. 1, replacing retiring commissioner Dave Stipe.
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Steve Stanley, who was appointed Lake County’s third commissioner effective Aug. 1, says he’s missed the courthouse since his retirement three years ago.
In fact, commissioner Bill Barron joked during his swearing in last Thursday that Stanley’s wife had called him the week after her husband retired, asking if they couldn’t hire him back.
Stanley, who lives in St. Ignatius, will fill the remainder of retiring commissioner Dave Stipe’s six-year term, which expires in 2022, and says he plans to run for election.
“It’s only fair to the commissioners and the county,” he said.
“I would never have dreamed of running for commissioner but this was a great opportunity,” he added, saying he enjoyed working with the commissioners and courthouse staff during his long tenure.
Stanley served as coordinator of Disaster and Emergency Services from 2000-2018, and was deputy coordinator from 1987 to 2000. He was also Lake County’s fire warden and his department took over management of the county’s 911 dispatch center in July 2017.
He began his career in emergency services in 1978 as an EMT for Polson Ambulance, and also served as a volunteer firefighter from 1987 to 2007 for the Polson Fire Department. He spent 22 years as director of facilities and building services at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Polson.
“There’s going to be a huge learning curve as far as county operations and staff and budgeting,” he said. “There’s just a lot of stuff that I’ve never dealt with before, but we’ve got a great staff in commissioners office. Monday will be a busy day.”
When announcing his appointment last Wednesday, Barron said his new colleague “brings a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience” to his post. Out of the three candidates for the job, “I think he’s the one who would be most apt to step in and take off the quickest.”
Fellow commissioner Gayle Decker also emphasized the candidate’s knowledge and experience as primary factors in supporting Stanley.
Since Stipe is a Republican, the task of finding a slate of candidates to finish his term fell to the party’s central committee. According to Barron, the committee originally had eight people express interest in the job, a list that was winnowed to three. If the two commissioners weren’t able to agree on a final appointee, the committee would have been tasked with coming up with three more names.
The other two candidates put forth by the committee were Frank Delgado, of St. Ignatius, owner and operator of Central ChemDry, and Dan Kramer, of Ronan, who currently works in sales and support for a Belgrade firm, Advance Pump and Equipment.
Decker praised the committee’s groundwork. “They did a very thorough job of investigating and interviewing the people they brought forward to us and I think any of the three would have been a good commissioner.”
Both men acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding Stipe’s retirement – he has terminal cancer – made this a bittersweet announcement.
“I’m excited about getting a new commissioner on board, but at the same time, it’s hard losing Dave,” said Decker.
“Dave loved this job, he loved coming to work. I guarantee you, he didn’t want to leave,” said Barron. “He’s been a great commissioner and I really enjoyed working with him.
