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10/13/2025
Montana Free Press will host a mayoral candidate forum Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Brothers Tapworks, 40 S. Last Chance Gulch, at 6:30 p.m., with candidates Emily Dean and Andy Shirtliff. We want to make sure Helenan’s priorities and concerns shape the questions we ask. Please take a few minutes to share what issues matter most to you and what you’d like to hear the candidates discuss by filling out this survey.
Commission candidates weigh in on public safety, homelessness
Helena voters will soon choose a new mayor and two commissioners to the Helena City Commission. Montana Free Press spoke with candidates Haley McKnight, Ben Rigby, Shawn White Wolf and incumbent Commissioner Melinda Reed, asking them about their priorities and stances on city issues. We’ve also included a bit of biographical information about each candidate.
Note that the candidates’ responses were edited for length and clarity and appear alphabetically.
McKnight was born and raised in North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a degree in fine arts. She moved to Montana in 2017, where she worked in Butte as an AmeriCorps Vista member and later moved to Kalispell before relocating to Helena. McKnight is the president of Helena Young Professionals, manages the downtown small business Sage and Oats Trading Post and is the owner of her consulting and design business Morningstar Design. Among her top campaign priorities are improving the city’s public transit and trail systems.
Reed is running for reelection to secure her commission spot after being elected in 2021 and serving her first term. Reed was the former executive director for the Friendship Center and acted as interim city manager in 2020. Before moving to Helena in 2013, Reed had primarily been involved in international humanitarian aid work. Her top priority is to find additional ways to incentivize affordable housing. Other priorities include supporting local businesses and advocating for the city to be a successful community partner.
Rigby has lived in Helena for 10 years and formerly worked for the city as a water treatment operator and supervisor before taking the position as the executive director for the nonprofit Montana Rural Water. Rigby said he wants to return to the city as a commissioner to leverage the knowledge he gained as a city employee, while incorporating policy experience from his current job to give back to the community. Rigby’s priorities include ensuring sustainable city infrastructure and advocating for affordable housing.
White Wolf, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, attended the Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University in 2004, a program that focuses on students’ areas of interest for three months. He studied writing before returning and working for the Helena Independent Record, which he said helped him build relationships throughout the city. White Wolf previously ran unsuccessful campaigns for the state Legislature, U.S. House of Representatives, the Helena City Commission and justice of the peace. White Wolf’s priority for this election season is advocating for increased funding for police and firefighters.
Q1: The city has identified the need for additional police and firefighters to address the growth in Helena. Last year, the city asked voters to fund additional emergency services personnel and a third fire station. While the bond for a new fire station was approved, Helenans rejected the levy aimed at hiring more staff. As a commissioner, where do you stand on this need and would you consider another levy request?
McKnight: I love firefighters. I am always going to vote to give them more funding because they are always the first ones that show up. I understand that, yeah, police is a huge need, but I think that there are some issues that could be tackled with a street team, like a homelessness street team, which is another thing that I’m very passionate about developing for the city.
When it comes to money, I think that it should always go to firefighters first because they are always trained as paramedics. They have all the equipment that they need on their trucks, and they’re always quick to respond.
Reed: I think the data shows that the need is there with the fire station. The volume of calls and the growth in our community clearly indicate that we needed a third fire station, which we will now have. But what is the good of a fire station with no firefighters to staff it?
So I would support reintroducing those levies. I think we need to speak with our first responders and think thoughtfully about the best way to do it. And I am mindful that the community has just approved school bonds and we need to be thoughtful about asking people to pay more, while recognizing that we really do have needs to be met.
Rigby: I’m huge on public safety. So as the city grows, we put more stress on our emergency services, our first responders. Making sure that they have the tools that they need to protect and serve our community. I realize things are tight everywhere, but if we don’t have the responders in the emergency services to keep us safe and protected, we’ll struggle as a community, so we need to give them the tools that they need to protect and serve the city of Helena.
[As for another levy], there’s always more than one answer. Use the current elected officials that we have, see how we could work together to try to figure something out, instead of trying to put all the burden on the taxpayer.
White Wolf: My top priority is hiring more police officers and firefighters. I sat on a community volunteer staffing study of the police department. That study led to a proposed levy to add officers, but it failed. We learned that this process was very eye-opening as the city had not funded a single new police position in over 20 years.
My goal is to do this without going for another levy. I think our priority needs to be our police and fire, and I don’t think that’s been a priority for the past 10, 20 years. I think we can do it by finding savings in our current budget and reallocating resources and looking for grants and things of that nature.
Q2: Where do you stand on the city’s role in federal immigration enforcement? As a commissioner, what specific changes, if any, would you advocate for regarding current standards?
McKnight: Considering that none of our facilities in town that our law enforcement use, including the sheriff’s office, are rated for immigration activities, I don’t think that they should have any part of it at all. We saw some really upsetting lapses in judgment from Helena police and the sheriff’s department with regard to people’s rights in the Christopher Martinez Marvan case.
That shouldn’t happen. I would be more than happy to see our law enforcement officers receive extra training around this because I think a lot of them would maybe think, “Hey, there’s a federal agent telling me what to do, I have to do it.” But that should never, ever come at the cost of one of our citizens’ constitutional rights. Our federal employees pledge allegiance to the Constitution. They do not pledge allegiance to an administration or a president.
Reed: I’ve asked for an update in order to have a public discussion on specifically that issue. We have released a frequently asked questions document that I think addresses some of the concerns being raised, but I think it’s time to have a real dialogue about what we have, what people would like to see, and identify places where perhaps more is needed or we need to review policies or revisit them.
I think what happened in our community with Mr. Martinez Marvan highlighted things that we had not anticipated, but now that it’s happened, it is time to look at our policies and procedures and make sure they are adequate in the event that something like this happens again. I very much look forward to having a discussion about this and identifying areas where perhaps we do need to do more work.
Rigby: The police department does not participate in the 287(g) program. They do not do immigration law enforcement. The HPD has a policy that they will keep the public safe no matter what. I think Helena’s approach should be lawful, practical and humane by not participating in 287(g). HPD protects and serves all of us on the local level. So not getting involved with immigration stuff, I think, is where we stand and where we need to continue to be that way.
White Wolf: The city of Helena and the police department have already made their role clear when it comes to federal immigration enforcement and the portion of illegal immigrants in our area. I support their current position, and I don’t believe additional policies are necessary. Our job as city commissioners is to focus on Helena’s immediate priorities: public safety, housing, water and infrastructure, and not to weigh into political debates that don’t change how our city operates.
Q3: The city commission reserved $100,000 for a community-driven project to address emergency shelter needs. Several attempts to utilize the money have been made, but none were successful, and Helena’s unhoused population still faces a lack of resources. How do you think city funds should be used? What ideas or solutions would you advocate for to bring tangible changes to Helena’s homeless community?
(Note that the city commission approved allocating the funds to the Helena Area Community Foundation during a meeting on Oct. 6. Read more in 5 Things)
McKnight: I would absolutely love to see us open up an emergency shelter or at least have a space that’s designated as one for when the temperature drops to 30 below, like it does every year, or when it gets too hot or too smoky for people to be living outside.
I think that should definitely be a priority. The issue is finding a space, especially after the heartbreaking loss of Our Place last year. I think we could also do some work with zoning and to approve more group homes and transitional facilities.
Reed: I think as a community we need to understand that we have a shared responsibility here. So I look forward to the project that will help build the capacity of local nonprofits to address this issue. Because what I’ve learned over the last two years is maybe we have ideas, but executing those ideas has been thus far unsuccessful. So if we have to take a moment and take a step back and work with nonprofits in order to be able to address it, then I’m all for it as long as we are beginning to move forward in addressing what is clearly a serious community issue.
Rigby: No one’s an expert in everything, right? So one thing that I know is that other people are better at issues like this. So to be able to use the groups that we have here in town and the other elected officials that we have here in Helena to be able to address these issues and leverage that money that we have set aside to help the homeless community in getting a warming shelter and emergency situations and things like that.
I think it’s the role of a commissioner to be able to talk with the other officials, who may have more knowledge on the situation since they’re currently on the commission and have been there for a few years. Obviously, I don’t have a perfect answer for it, but it’s definitely a topic that we need to discuss and take care of.
White Wolf: I have some pretty strong opinions about the homeless situation. The way I see it, there are two groups of homeless people. There are people who have been here for 10 years and 20 years, even 30 years, who have been on the street corners, and we haven’t been able to change their lives or get ’em off the streets or help ’em in any way. They just continue to live, and they don’t want to participate in society as we live it here. So I think with that group, we just need to find them a location where maybe somebody else can help them better than we can.
Now, the second group is the people who are struggling here. We have 253 students and youth in this community who have housing issues. We have mothers and families that are struggling to pay rent and things like that. So that is the group that I think we need to really focus on. The city can be in a position where we can help with resources, help with guidance, or something along those lines. But the people who really need to focus on that, I think, are non-profits and churches. I think that’s where we need to go.
Public Notice
The Greater Helena Metropolitan Organization will host two open houses to gather public feedback on its long-range transportation plan as it prepares for future investments. The first open house will be Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the Helena Civic Center Ballroom, 340 Neill Ave. The second open house is planned for Wednesday, Oct. 22, in East Helena at Fireman’s Recreation Hall, Second E. Pacific St. Both events will run from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. A virtual open house is also available here.
5 Things to Know in Helena
The Helena City Commission initiated the recruitment of the next city manager by entering into a $20,000 contract with Communication Management Solution, a consulting firm, during a meeting last week. After City Manager Tim Burton announced his plans to retire by the end of the year, the city commission manager relations committee, comprised of Commissioner Sean Logan and Mayor Wilmot Collins, began discussions with CMS and recommended the next city manager’s salary be increased to a range between $175,000 and $205,000. (Burton’s current salary is $180,000.) Other recommendations include hosting public town halls as part of the interview process. While no definitive timeline was provided, Collins said that if the city hasn’t hired a manager before the end of the year, the newly appointed commission will continue the process.
After two years and several unsuccessful project attempts, the city commission agreed to allocate $100,000 to the Helena Area Community Foundation to fund its project aimed at addressing barriers that local nonprofits face in finding solutions to the city’s homeless crisis. In a meeting last week, the commission unanimously approved supporting the foundation’s proposed program, Collective Capacity, an initiative that provides resources, training and education to participating nonprofits in Helena.
The Lewis & Clark Library will host New York Times bestselling author Mary Roach Thursday, Oct. 30, at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 512 Logan St., to discuss her book, “Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law.” Roach’s visit to Helena is part of the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read program, which connects authors and their books with a community to promote discussion and education. The Lewis & Clark Library was one of 62 organizations selected nationwide for Big Read funding. The event begins at 7 p.m.
Two businesses in Helena announced closures. Hardee’s, located at 320 Euclid Ave., closed its doors last Monday, and Scenic Brew Coffee House, at 3091 N. Sanders St., is set to close Tuesday, Oct. 28, according to IR reports.
The Greater Helena Food Systems Collaborative and Resilient Helena will host the third annual Longest Table community meal Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The dinner will feature locally sourced and sustainably grown ingredients, prepared by local chefs. The event will be held at Ten Mile Creek Brewery, 48 N. Last Chance Gulch, and tickets are available to purchase here.
Queen City Views
As you all know, we got our first snow of the season over the weekend. Be sure to drive safe!
