Most of the questions centered on topics that interested students and young professionals, such as affordable housing, low wages and marijuana.
After all, a majority of the 40 or so people in attendance at Monday's third Candidates Gone Wild forum held at the Badlander were under the age of 30 and holding a cold beverage.
The presidential election has occupied the limelight so far this election season, Singer said. Hopefully forums like this remind people that there are a bunch of the primary races closer to home, he said.
The three Democratic candidates running for the county commission are:
Dennis Daneke, 53, a representative of the Local 28 Carpenters Union, which covers laborers in much of western Montana.
Michele Landquist, 52, of Lolo, raises sheep and has worked for numerous nonprofit agencies over the last 25 years.
Jeff Patterson, 51, of Turah, works as a private investigator and certified fraud examiner.
However, when it came time for the audience to ask questions, more than one focused not on the issues, but on party affiliation and loyalty.
Some at the forum picked up on the fact that Patterson was one of three Republican finalists for the commissioner job a year ago when longtime Republican Commissioner Barbara Evans retired, but is now vying for the Democratic nomination.
Patterson said he has been interested in running for the county commission for some time. Members of the Missoula County Republican Central Committee who knew that asked him to apply when Evans retired.
Ultimately, the commissioners chose Larry Anderson as Evanss successor.
Anderson is the lone Republican in this race for the open county commissioner seat. The winner of the Democratic nomination will face Anderson in the general election in November.
“I've never called myself a Republican and I've never called myself a Democrat,” Patterson explained Monday. “There are good people in both parties. It's time to put parties aside and work together as a team.”
That answer did not satisfy former state Democratic Senate Minority Leader and chairman of the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission, Steve Doherty, who continued to challenge Patterson's decision to run as a Democrat.
“If you are not a Democrat, why are you running in my party?” said Doherty, surprising some in attendance with the bluntness of his question.
Patterson responded by saying, “Missoula County is primarily Democratic. The majority of the people I'd represent are Democrats, so it'd be the appropriate party to run for.”
Although the county commissioners are affiliated with a party when elected, the actual job of county commissioner is not political in nature, Patterson said. “It's not an issue.”
On other topics, the candidates all said they'd be willing to support moving the county's weekly public meetings to the evening to allow more working citizens to attend.
They'd all also support co-locating the Missoula City Police Department with the county's proposed Emergency Operations Center together to save taxpayers money - but the questions didn't mention anything about where the building would go, which is the controversial part in that matter.
Daneke applauded the City-County Office of Planning and Grant's study of lands in the urban fringe areas to help map future growth, but also said, “it's too little and way too late.” He'd like to plan, zone and develop the areas closest to town and allow the rural areas to stay rural.
Landquist would like to develop a program that makes larger tracts of land in the county more affordable for people interested in farming, she said.
Patterson doesn't agree with the way city-county staff are approaching the Urban Fringe Development Area study. The report predicts 15,000 new homes in Missoula by 2027 and that many of them will be occupied by retirees or families with fewer children than in the past.
Patterson takes issue with that notion.
“I'm a family man,” Patterson said. “I don't like the idea of planning for a nonfamily population. I'd like to plan for a generation-balanced demographic.”
The first Candidates Gone Wild event was held last October prior to the general election and highlighted city council candidates. Turnout for that event surpassed 100, but Singer said it's difficult competing with the recent streak of nice Missoula weather.
Another Candidates Gone Wild event, “the finale,” is scheduled for Thursday, May 1, at the Elk's Lodge. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event begins at 7 p.m. It will host the candidates for attorney general and state superintendent of public instruction.
Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com.
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