GREAT FALLS — Great Falls is experiencing economic growth with retail, industrial and military projects in the works, and a grassroots nonprofit says that means the city needs more public safety resources.
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Electric City Citizens for Public Safety is a citizen-led effort to inform and educate the community about the challenges facing public safety providers.
"They're understaffed. The call center is overwhelmed," Electric City Citizens for Public Safety President and Chairman Shane Etzweiler said.
The group has been making the case for a public safety levy. The most recent effort in 2023 came up almost 3,500 votes short — falling 3,475 votes shy of passing.
ECCPS has been taking its pitch to groups and organizations and raising money along the way for a poll to gauge public interest in another safety levy. The group has raised enough to get the top-line results.
"55 percent of the people were favorable for a public safety levy. Okay, but what does that mean, exactly? Well, they would like that to be at 65 percent. So honestly, I still feel good at 55 percent when we haven't really started our education and information campaign," Etzweiler said.
On Tuesday, the group presented its findings to the Great Falls City Commission.
ECCPS has raised more than half of the $30,000 needed to get the full results of the poll.
According to the group's data, Great Falls has never passed a public safety levy, while Billings, Missoula and Kalispell have each passed one in the past 6 years.
With companies like Janicki Industries and projects like Malmstrom's Sentinel adding more growth, the group believes now is the time to act.
"We're supposed to have 15 people on staff at the fire department? We have 13. So we're again below the national standard, the national standard response time. If there's a fire for a minute there at four and a half," Etzweiler said.
Another public safety levy is still a long way from making the ballot. Getting there is up to the city commission, and then it would be up to voters. Great Falls Development Alliance President and CEO Brett Doney said it can be done.
"I'm confident that the voters in Great Falls and Cascade County, if you make the business case, and there aren't any bells and whistles, it's just, you know, the, the fundamental, the voters tend to support that," Doney said.
