It is time to fully examine the idea of combining Missoula with the county to streamline our governments. Communities such as Butte - Silverbow have done this successfully and dramatically reduced government costs by increasing efficiency.
There is only one incorporated town in Missoula County, the City of Missoula. How hard would it be to re-constitute our local governments? Conduct a poll and ask the residents and I’ll bet they will agree - combined fire, water, sewer, road, police and school systems would eliminate a ton of expensive duplication and make for more sensible infrastructure development. Most of the little local burgs in Missoula County have a community council that could be expanded to insure a local voice for residents and facilitate a government tailored to meet local needs. The combined city-county government could be made up of representatives from these community councils or the county could be divided into five pie-shaped districts representing the five valleys with equal parts of rural and urban population.
As it is now, many of us in the rural areas feel the one-size-fits-all county government favors the urban areas at the expense of we rural residents and the current county government does not, cannot, efficiently address the variety of (growth) needs facing the rural residents. Remember, most of rural residents choose to live where they do to escape urban life. Also, the rural areas in this county are the fastest-growing. And, finally, Missoula County officials are notorious as being more heavy-handed, expensive and autocratic than their neighboring counterparts.
Part of the high cost of housing is the high cost of government. And, a final bonus, we could institute term limits across the board and get some new, fresh political leadership. It is time to start this much-needed review.
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