Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Public Forum Brings Some Controversy, Lots of Agreement, and Promises to County Residents

“This is probably the only political forum where none of us are fighting with one another,” Mary Janacaro Hensleigh, candidate for Jefferson County Commissioner, said with a laugh before the October 27 Jefferson County Candidate Forum began.

And it may be true. The candidates (Jefferson County Commissioner: Hensleigh and Dan Hagerty; Sheriff/Coroner Chad Cross and Tom Grimsrud) were nothing but cordial to one another, mainly because of their agreements of what is important in their elected positions: upholding the Constitution, keeping an open-door policy, and transparency of communication on all levels.

Hagerty noted that he felt Whitehall had not been properly represented in recent years, to which current Southern Jefferson County representative Leonard Wortman spoke his disagreement to. Hagerty added that the southern representative, especially for the Whitehall area, should live in Whitehall, which both he and Hensleigh do.

Length of the term was discussed, as Hensleigh, who currently sits as Whitehall’s Mayor, had previously said she would not run for the reelection of Jefferson county Commissioner if she won this year, making her term “one and done.” When asked whether this was his stance as well, Hagerty said “the people will determine my term length” and that he has more service to give to the county, but will take things day by day if elected.

Madison County resident Eric Olsen questioned whether Cross could recite the first articles of the First Amendment, which he did without flaw. Olsen questioned Grimsrud on the Third Amendment, but Grimsrud questioned the necessity of these questions. Later Olsen questioned rumors of theft from the county on Grimsrud’s part, which Grimsrud clearing shut down, adding that “if I was suspected of something like that, would I be sitting here right now?”

Cross was questioned whether Whitehall would lose representation by the Sheriff’s office were he to be elected, to which he clarified that he would remain in Whitehall with his family and had no intentions of leaving the area, although did note that residents may not see him out and about as often.

A Zoom attendee question asked whether the extra-curricular activities of the candidates (i.e. drinking, vacation, etc) would hinder their ability to serve. Both candidates stated that they are only human, time off is always scheduled, just like with any other job, and that no one should worry about that.

The forum is available to listen to in its entirety at https://bit.ly/3DPXshZ, the password is jeffcoforum22.

The 2022 Election will be held Tuesday, November 9. Election locations are throughout the county, but locally at the Whitehall Community Center.

 

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