BUTTE, Mont. — Mining City voters have spoken when it comes to proposed revisions to Butte-Silver Bow County’s charter, the legal document that establishes and defines how our local government functions.
Watch — Butte voters reject changes to local government:
Voters were given several options to change the local government, beginning with the first proposal: keep the status quo or revise the document that has been in place since the 1970s.
With 14,088 votes tallied for that option, 54% of voters opted to revise the charter.
"And then those sub-options are now triggered, and you are able to vote on those sub-options independently," said Rayelynn Brandl, the study chair.
For two years, Brandl served as chair overseeing the work of nine elected government study commissioners who met weekly to investigate how the local government functions.
"You know, the study commission did its job. We came out with some options for everybody. We swung for the fences, maybe in terms of offering a lot of different options for the voters to consider," said Brandl.
Options included a revision to the executive branch with the choice to adopt an appointed city-county manager, but 54% of voters opted to maintain the current form of government with an elected chief executive.
Voters also rejected the option to revise the council of commissioners, fire services, and create neighborhood councils.
"It looks like the voting public has made their choices. You know, they said we don’t really want any other changes than the reclamation and environmental services department to be added to the charter," said Brandl.
In the end, Brandl said confusion around ballot language, or simply not providing enough education to voters, may have affected the outcome, but she encourages people to keep participating in their local government.
"If you are dissatisfied with the results, make sure to reach out to your county commissioner and make sure that you are participating, and, you know, democracy is amazing," Brandl said.
