Name: Pete Anderson

Age: 30

Occupation: Small business owner

Party affiliation: Republican

Experience relevant to position sought: Financial management, planning and zoning, housing development, and customer service experience gained as the founder and owner of a local real estate investment contracting company. Years of interaction with county and city departments as they relate to construction, as well as education experience in architecture and sustainable growth.

Campaign website/social media accounts: Anderson for County Commission on Facebook

Q: Why are you running for county commission?

A: Keep the county running sustainably while making changes to increase the affordability and housing security for local residents. The small business sector must be supported and guided to lead development, create high paying jobs, and provide high quality services and products. People need to think of cascade county when they are looking for the best quality businesses and standard of living. We need to remain the last affordable place in Montana to live, and to do that we need to take care of our current citizen base.

Q: What do you believe is the role of a county commissioner?

A: Sets the tone for development and growth, maintains key budgets to keep basic infrastructure and safety operational, leads changes in local rules and regulations to create a regionally specific socio-economic sector.

Q: What do you believe are the top three challenges facing Cascade County? How do you think you could address those as a commissioner?

A: I think the county is faced with the same basic three challenges our country is faced with: low value of dollar, high costs of products, and income stagnation. It’s a tough reality to face, but the county must find ways to keep being able to pay for basic services to keep the infrastructure from falling apart, it must find ways for the citizens to pay less at the same time. The county might need to start operating more like a department of commerce and gain revenue through the regulation of food supply, tourism, and convenience services. Essentially, we need to get more money than we currently have in the local economy. My goal would be to make Cascade County the place where everyone else in the state wants to come to spend their money.

Q: If elected, what would be your initial priorities and how would you accomplish those goals?

A: Work with local developers and landowners to identify roadblocks within the county zoning and regulations. I believe there are creative paths forward to almost any project, instead of stopping growth and progress I am more interested in helping developers grow our spaces in sustainable and beautiful ways. I agree with approaches that give individuals permission to build their dream property or business as long as they do it in a way that looks good, feels good, and is good for Cascade County.

Q: If elected, how would you approach the decision-making process on items before the commission? 

A: I would discuss the issue privately with each other respective commissioner before the item is on the table so that I can learn their agenda and position on the issue. Knowing the other commissioners’ intent is key to successfully moving forward. I won’t be afraid to disagree with one or both of the commissioners, however I will not disagree in a way that is unproductive or futile. If I cannot sway the overall decision, I will instead find ways to make the best of what comes to pass. This is a team and we will have to work together. That being said, I would bring a sense of creativity and compassion for the common man that would bleed into the fabric of the commission in general.

Q: How would you conduct public outreach on controversial matters before the county, or to promote a general understanding of the county’s public process?

A: I would host press releases to the public in person, probably at a rotating venue of local coffee shops to help bring more customers to our local roasters.

Q: How would you approach working with the City of Great Falls staff and the City Commission to address broader community needs and goals?

A: I have a great working relationship with city planning, Joe McKenney on the City Commission, and Mayor Cory Reeves. My goal would be to use our existing friendship and connection to create a like-minded synergy between the city and county. We would naturally fall into a common goal of ‘getting to yes’ when it comes to supporting local projects and development.

Q: What do you believe is the role of the county commission in economic development? 

A: I believe the County Commission can restrict or encourage housing, business, livability, and safety. It’s hard to do even one of those well, which is why we need a diverse commission that can handle all aspects. My main priorities fall under housing and business, and I recognize that we already have two commissioners that are experts in safety and livability.

Q: What do you believe are the core services a county should provide to residents? 

A: A county should provide roads and their maintenance, planning and permits, a jail and sheriff’s dept, a fire-fighting network, resource monitoring, health and testing services, public works/land, and should provide many other services contingent on the county’s ability to generate income.

Q: How would you approach the budget process to ensure the county is making the best use of taxpayer dollars?

A: I would treat the county like a business with the taxpayer dollars as projected income. Then go through and balance the costs of all necessary departments to the operating budget. If the budget falls short, I would then audit the expenses to find any possible savings. The main goal is to make sure our county can function as a civilized society, everything else should be looked at as secondary. Once the budget is balanced, the next priority is increasing the budget by expanding income. Issuing more permits, creating and issuing licenses, planning fundraising events, and using land the county already owns to make money. I see so much potential for the county to increase its budget to be able to do way more for the citizens instead of solely relying on taxes. The people can only give so much, the county really needs to use what it already has to generate more income.

Q: What is your opinion of the tax cap on counties set by the Legislature? 

A: I don’t know anything about that. I would appreciate it if a knowledgeable member of the public could reach out and explain it to me.

Q: How would you work with the sheriff’s office and other agencies to ensure public safety? Do you think current public safety funding is adequate?

A: I would seek to turn the jail into a farming operation where inmates could earn a limited salary through working. The inmates would ideally produce enough farm product for the jail to earn income, and would also be able to earn educational credits for different farming skills learned. I have heard so many different stories about the safety funding, I really would need to look at the numbers for myself. Pretty much every person I know is under-funded right now so I would assume public safety wouldn’t be much different.

Q: What do you envision your working relationship with county staff would look like? 

A: Me and the bros just big chillin and making the county a better place. I might come off as radical or intense at times, but honestly I get along with everyone in a work environment and am committed to acting professionally and being nice to people.

Q: Any additional comments on your plans if elected (but please be concise)? 

A: Don’t vote for me, not unless you are prepared for a highly creative, development-minded, and frugal odd-ball to start transforming our county into something truly impressive. I will try to use farming to solve all our public problems. I will try to allow everyone to be able to do something meaningful with their land. Seriously, if you vote for me there is no going back. I will create a County that will be so self-sufficient it will continue to run in perfect order long after the rest of the world has collapsed.