Speech

Sidney Leadership

Remarks of Governor Judy Martz
Sidney
5/8/2003

*** Check Against Delivery ***

Thank you Senator McNutt…and thank you Karen for inviting me to join you all tonight. It is so good to be here in Sidney. It is such a beautiful community, with all the trees and parks.

This area has great diversity, and its own type of raw beauty that people do not always recognize. You have the influence of the Yellowstone River here in the valley.

And to the west are the bench farmlands towards Lambert, and eastward are the rugged badlands and canyons that extend into our neighboring North Dakota.

You also have about the friendliest residents of anyplace that I visit, and I am always impressed by the positive attitudes, spirit and persistence of people from Richland County. Sidney truly is a “Can Do Community”…always has been, and because of people like you, always will be.

You are a creative, energetic and evolving community – definitely a shining example of what’s good and right about our state.

Much like my hometown of Butte, I like to think of Sidney as a survivor – a “Rocky Balboa” of communities, for you movie buffs.

You have adapted to major and minor setbacks, such as several years of drought, the oil bust of the 1980s, even the fire a few years ago at the LaLonde Hotel and last fall’s darn football loss to Whitefish.

I should explain that reference. Many of you know that I have an Olympic sports background and a true love of athletics. So, in my travels around the state, I do my best to keep up with area sporting activities.

Let me mention something that you probably already know, but I do not want anyone to overlook: You have such a tremendous sports tradition here, and that can be a great boost to the local economy as well as to community pride.

Sidney is one of our state’s top ‘sports towns,’ and I truly believe that fact is directly related to the broad examples of leadership being demonstrated by you as parents and grandparents; as employers and alums;
and as community boosters. Congratulations, and give yourselves some applause!

The strong leadership examples that all of you are showing to our young people today will continue to extend into future generations of strong leadership in your community. ... Just like they have extended from your parents, aunts, uncles and neighbors to you and your peers.

I’m going to stick with my sports theme for a moment to describe another Sidney attribute.

Much like a “team,” your community seems to rally around its businesses, and thus you rally around and support each other … from your sugar facility, MDU power plant and Blue Rock Beverage companies … to your hospital, agricultural research service, implement dealers, electronics businesses, freight delivery service … and even your wrestling and girls basketball teams. Congratulations to coaches Melby and Prevost on fine seasons.

I also want to take a moment to extend congratulations and heartfelt thanks to Senator McNutt and Representative Steinbeisser for the leadership examples they set during our recent legislative session.

Unless you have spent extended time at the Capitol during the Legislature, it is hard to explain or visualize what these citizen leaders experience in terms of challenges to their personal lives, as well as the challenge of their legislative work.

I certainly appreciated the professionalism and cool demeanor exhibited by both Walt and Don. You served your constituents well, and I value your place among our state’s leadership team.

I now want to spend a few moments discussing another way in which residents here are being well served, and that is through your Leadership Program offered through your Chamber of Commerce.

We are here tonight to honor and recognize 14 members of the Program’s fifth graduating class. That means that since 1998, this organization has helped guide nearly 100 residents toward making their leadership mark in the community, and being comfortable in doing so.

You know, so often in life people have the skills and abilities to shine, but they may lack the confidence, understanding or opportunity to know when -- or how -- to step forward.

That is what is so exciting about these leadership programs. They teach. They help establish comfort zones. And they provide opportunities for people to do very special things with their lives for the benefit of those around us.

I have heard people use all kinds of different phrases to illustrate their “place” in society in comparison to those around them. One of my personal favorites is, “I put my pants on every morning just like everyone else … no different from the garbage collector or the governor.”

Well, those of you who know my background know that I’ve done both, and am equally proud of each. The sanitation business that Harry and I have established in Butte gave me opportunities I never could have dreamed of.

I was also fortunate to have had a strong family influence in my youth. And, anyone who has a sense of Montana history knows about the enthusiastic community leaders who built Butte.

It was through these elements that I gained the confidence to try different things and make my mark to help others.

Earlier, I commented about the resiliency of the people of Butte and Sidney. Now … if a garbage collector from Butte can become Governor, who is to say the same thing won’t happen here? Do we have any garbage collectors among us tonight?

In all frankness, it is not a far stretch to consider one of you becoming a Governor, or Legislator, or Mayor, or Judge, or Chamber leader.

In fact, I have made that comment repeatedly about one of my staff members – who happens to be one of your own people – Kris Goss. He is an example of the type of leader that your skills are producing for Montana.

And, most everyone from this part of the state is already aware that Sidney has produced one Governor. Most of you probably know the story of Don Nutter better than I do, about his rise from Sidney native to Montana Governor.

It was so sad that Governor Nutter did not have the opportunity to fulfill his work before his tragic death. Based on his philosophies, he may have been able to create an economic recovery model for others to follow today.

Governor Nutter faced a budget dilemma similar to what we now face, and he approached it in much the same way that our administration is facing it – head on with that gritty Sidney perseverance.

I have been told that this leadership class has, for the first time in the history of this program, taken on a class project. In fact, you jumped right into two projects. See -- you are already asserting your leadership niche in the community!

The statue project in memory of Governor Nutter, for which you are raising funds, is such an admirable choice. And, using a “Richland County specialty license plate” as a funding source is a wonderful idea.

As I understand it, your fund raising is about halfway complete, with about $8,000 already donated. And the license plate isn’t even ready for use! What a great indication of support!

I do not know if this is new information for all of you, but before I left Helena, our Department of Justice informed me that the license plate request had been received. The next step was to make a digital version of the license plate design so employees of the Highway Patrol and the motor vehicles division can make sure it meets “visibility standards.”

I cannot wait to see one of those plates on a vehicle during my travels in the coming months.

The second project that the class chose involves the picturesque Richland County Courthouse – truly one of the state’s hidden treasures in terms of architecture and design.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you have this structure added to the National Historic Preservation Registry. I would be honored to write a letter of support for this effort.

I applaud each of you who have stepped forward to participate in the leadership program, and I sincerely hope that you will encourage your friends and neighbors in Sidney -- and elsewhere -- to consider taking that same step.

Montana is facing some difficult times, but we are poised to build a healthier economy in the coming years. Despite what some of the naysayers have to say, the just adjourned legislative session passed some far-reaching laws on tax reform and economic development that will help to stimulate our economy and create new higher-paying jobs in the future, so we will have the revenues to provide more for our schools and human services programs.

And I cannot help but make note of the good news just reported a couple of days ago about Montana’s average income growth, which grew last year at a pace well ahead of the national average.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the average income in Montana in 2002 increased 4.3 percent, second only to our neighboring state to the east…North Dakota, which was 4.6 percent, while the national average was only l.7 percent.

But, we still need to do much more and to make that happen we need good leaders….good leaders like each of you, who will make a mark in Sidney and throughout Montana.

I look forward to being on the receiving end of your good ideas, and your good works. Speak up. Think out loud. Build on the ideas that others share.

Remember: There are no dumb questions if you have good intentions. Those are some of the simplest, yet most powerful, examples of leadership that I can leave with you tonight.
Thank you, and God Bless.