BUTTE — Montana’s unique constitution allows citizens to take a look at how their local governments function through a government study commission that was approved by voters in 2024.
The group of elected officials has been interviewing Butte-Silver Bow department heads since they began meeting at the beginning of the year. On April 23, the group heard from an expert from Montana State University about the difference between an appointed city manager form of leadership and an elected chief executive.
Watch the story here:
"We know that we’re changing, and we know there’s a future in front of us, and are we going to change the structure of government that goes along with our bright future in Montana?" asks Dan Dennehy, the vice chairman of the study commission.
Dennehy is one of nine elected officials for the government study commission who are diving into a two-year research process that looks at every aspect of Butte’s local government to evaluate how it functions.
"We are working hard to come up with some recommendations for the voters," says Dennehy.
The study commission is gleaning information from other Montana cities and towns from experts like Dan Clark of MSU’s Local Government Center.
"I'd much rather have something for you to look at and respond to than creating something out of whole cloth," says Dan Clark, the director of the center.
Clark says by looking at the governing laws that guide local governments across the state, Butte-Silver Bow may find valuable information that can help make a more effective government.
Clark shared a packet filled with charters from across the state. Butte’s consolidated city and county government is one of only two in the state. Also unique to the Mining City is the number of B-SB commissioners. Butte has 12 commissioners, whereas most other large cities in Montana have about half that representation. The role of an elected Chief Executive versus an appointed city manager is also a unique aspect of Butte’s governance.
According to the Montana Code Annotated, a collection of Montana's state and local laws, a city manager is appointed by a city's council of commissioners "for an indefinite term on the basis of merit only and removed only by a majority vote of the whole number of the commission.
Butte's Chief Executive is an elected position.
"I don’t think anyone has jumped on which is better or which is worse. I think the most important thing that the commission can get out of this is to get the public involved, to listen to what the people say," says Dennehy.
The study commission is holding a series of listening sessions for members of the public who want to provide input every Monday at the Butte courthouse at 5 p.m. in May and June. The study commission will put forth recommendations for Butte-Silver Bow's government structure based on its research that will be voted on in November 2026.
"If the voters are coming up on these listening sessions and say, 'I think we really have a structure that should open the government a little bit and be more transparent on some of the actions we’re doing,' I think we should listen to that. Now, can we do that in this structure? Well, that’s yet to be seen, but that’s what we’re hoping to do," Dennehy says.
