Bachmeier, Burns, Sivertsen face off in HD 28 race: Bob Sivertsen, Independent

Independent candidate for House District 28 Bob Sivertsen is running against Rep. Jacob Bachmeier, D-Havre, and Libertarian candidate Conor Burns for a seat in the Legislature.

"I don't care about politics," Sivertsen said, "all I care about are the issues and I've always done my background work on issues so that I knew what was going on, and I think that's what's really key."

Sivertsen, 80, was born and raised in the Bear Paw Mountains on a ranch 50 miles south of Chinook, he said. He graduated from Chinook High School in 1955 and from the Western School of Auctioneering in Billings in 1968, he added.

After graduating high school he left home, at the age of 17, to start his life and career, rodeoing and building his own ranch.

In 1974 Sivertsen ran as a Republican for the Montana House and won, serving eight years as a representative.

While in the Legislature Sivertsen served on the Transportation Committee from 1978 to 1982 and the state Water Task Force from 1978 to 1981.

He said that before being elected in 1974 he was already very active in local politics and encouraged everybody to get involved as well. When the seat opened up in the Legislature, Sivertsen said, people asked him if he would run. At first he told them no, he said, because he had a lot on his plate already, but reconsidered after thinking about it, he said.

"I've been telling people that you've got to be involved and I was telling them no," he said.

Participating in local government is the responsibility of a citizen, he said. There cannot be a government by the people and for the people if people do not participate.

"Same as today," Sivertsen said, adding that it didn't take him long, this time, to say yes because he said it's his responsibility as a community member to be involved.

Sivertsen said that as an independent he will be able to work with anybody and everybody.

"I'll let the people determine if I am the best candidate," Sivertsen said, "but I can tell you that Havre and the Hi-Line has some grave issues here, number one being the economy."

He said if Havre doesn't get a handle on its economy it will continue to lose people, adding that Havre has the same or even fewer people living in the area as it did in 1974.

"Very few people, including our politicians, will acknowledge that," Sivertsen added.

Some say the decline in the economy is due to online shopping, causing traditional brick-and-mortar stores to close, he said, adding that is just not the case.

"When (Interstate) 94 was completed in the '70s we lost 40 percent of the traffic on U.S. Highway 2," Sivertsen said, adding that was when the community began to die.

Businesses closed and people left, he added, "and we have never recovered."

But, Sivertsen said, he has a plan, adding that no other politician on the docket or in the Legislature has a plan on how exactly to bring back the Hi-Line's economy except for him.

The plan, he said, starts with building an adequate highway, the first step in economic development.

If there is not an adequate highway, the Hi-Line cannot compete for business, Sivertsen said, adding that businesses looking to locate, relocate or expand will do so near four lane highways.

U.S. Highway 2 is the only segment in the Great Northern corridor, from Seattle to Chicago and Rochester, N.Y., that is not a four lane, Sivertsen said.

He said a study done in 1981 proved that Highway 2 is considered the shortest, most efficient route from Seattle to the Twin Cities with fewer elevations to traverse. But commerce and trade avoid the highway, "skirting the Hi-Line," because of safety issues, he said.

Sivertsen said the routes that the truckers take may be longer, but companies will always use the safer highway.

He added that Havre is sitting on a "gold mine," the Hi-Line being a gateway to three of the strongest economies in North America, Alberta, Saskatchewan and North Dakota.

Sivertsen said concerns about programs being cut in the special legislative session held last fall to address projected revenue shortfalls might have been due to a "misnomer."

A lot of the budgets were not cut that much, Sivertsen said, the programs just didn't get as much money as they were asking for. He added that a few programs were cut but the majority of them just did not receive the funds requested.

Montana has a constitutional requirement to have a balanced budget, he said. Because the budget that was passed in the last session was not balanced after revenue projections dropped, a special session was required. Sivertsen said the Legislature had to find another $237 million and there was cutting, transferring and "raiding" of funds in the state in order to make up for the shortfall.

He added that the next session will be tough. Because of the budget ending up not balanced last year, money will have to paid back into those funds.

"It's all about common sense," he said.

Sivertsen added that the Legislatures also voted last year for $160 million "over and above" the budget approved. He said there is a fundamental problem with that because it does not display fiscal responsibility.

"That's why I don't care about politics, because they are not being truthful with the people," Sivertsen said.

"I've spent six decades dedicated to defending and fighting for our middle class, our hard-working families, our working people, our main street businesses and our farmers and ranches," he said, adding that the middle class bears the brunt of this fiscal responsibility.

Sivertsen said he believes his greatest attribute is that he has the knowledge.

"I know how the government works," he said. "I know about balancing budgets. I've been in the private sector for all my life and I think that I could contribute a lot to the main objective in Montana, and that would be to improve our business climate, broaden our tax base. So we can fund education to the extent that it needs to be, so we can repair our streets and build an adequate highway and infrastructure."

"When are we going to take, really take, a hard look at what it's going to take to grow our economy rather than playing politics with it?" Sivertsen asked.