KALISPELL — Around 30 community member attended the first “Town Hall Conversations” event Monday night hosted by Kalispell Mayor Ryan Hunter, City Manager Jarod Nygren and Kalispell City Council Members.
“I mean it’s a great turnout, more people will show up for this than our usual meetings, so that’s always a sign that I think it’s something people want," said Kalispell Mayor Ryan Hunter.
Kalispell City Council Member Dustin Leftridge said the town hall created an open dialogue between council members and the public in a more informal setting.
“Everybody has an opinion but sometimes the city council meetings don’t really offer the opportunity to be able to have those one-on-one conversations,” added Leftridge.
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Kalispell resident Joseph Biby said he wanted to attend the town hall so he could talk to council members about reckless driving he’s witnessed on main street and in Kalispell neighborhoods.
“I’ve run into a brick wall in the past with council members, I think this is a fresh start, so I’m fired up, I think we got a chance to do something about Friday night reckless driving,” said Biby.
Topics discussed varied from city growth, traffic concerns to lighter issues like the mayor’s dancing skills.
“I got to see Ryan dance at a fundraiser in the fall for the Flathead Warming Center, and I was interested in kind of talking with him about that because we are going to be hosting a fundraiser of our own coming up later this year,” said Kalispell resident Bri Camillucci.
Hunter said the plan is to have these informal town halls on the last Monday of months with a fifth Monday, with the next one coming in June.
“We will continue to make the effort to engage with the public and show that transparency and that commitment to it, commitment to both transparency and engagement, so it’s really important," said Hunter.
