HELENA — Wednesday night’s city administrative meeting brought hot topics and discussion to the table, including filling vacancies for both the commission and city manager.
The open city manager position following Tim Burton’s resignation drew 63 applications.
The city has narrowed applications down to nine semi-finalists and three alternates that will be interviewed over Zoom. As interviews are scheduled, a timeline will be decided.
Following Emily Dean’s election as mayor, a seat on the city commission has opened up for the new year.
The commission decided Wednesday that applications will open on November 19 and the first round of interviews will be held mid-December.
However, filling vacancies was not the only topic of discussion; a presentation by the Helena Police Department and their operation standards on immigration-related matters stirred discussion and public comment.
The discussion comes after heightened attention nationally and locally around immigration arrests.
“Immigration enforcement that is not our role,” Helena Police Department Lieutenant Adam Shanks said. “If we were to participate in any operation they were doing in town, it would solely be for keeping the public safe while the operation is happening.”
The Helena Police Department does not participate in the 287(g) program, which allows state and local law enforcement to partner with ICE.
Also, HPD does not enforce ICE administrative warrants and interacts with undocumented individuals as it would with a citizen of Helena.
Shanks said, “If we identify them, we treat them like any other citizen in the city of Helena and go about our business.”
The public asked for a resolution to be made to lay out these policies, and the city commission all agreed to move forward with writing a resolution.
For more information on HPD immigration law compliance, you can visit this link.
