Second class is a stigma Havre wants to avoid

The city of Havre doesn't want to be second class.

A state law says a Montana city that has fewer than 10,000 people has to be classified as a second-class city. Havre's 2000 U.S. Census was 9,621.

"There is a stigma to being second class," Mayor Bob Rice said Monday. "I don't want that to be attached on my watch."

City officials are trying to figure out ways to get around adopting the new designation. The Havre City Council on Monday night delayed the first reading of a resolution reducing the classification of Havre from a first class city to second class.

Rice asked the council to table the...