HELENA — Ben Rigby says a decade working for the city of Helena gave him an understanding of how government works, that he would bring to the Helena City Commission.
“I love Helena, and being able to see the inside being a city employee was really fun to me and eye-opening,” he said. “Working for the citizens already – being in public service is my calling, I’m a third generation water professional – I really want to stay involved in the community.”
(Watch MTN's full interview with Rigby.)
Rigby, 36, has lived in Helena for about 11 years. He spent much of that time as a city employee, starting as a water treatment operator and eventually becoming water treatment superintendent. He’s now the executive director of Montana Rural Water Systems, an association that provides services and assistance to hundreds of municipal and local water utilities across the state.
“I managed a multimillion-dollar budget at the city, and I continue to do so now,” said Rigby. “Being able to understand how the budget works from the inside, being able to make those decisions – I understand that every decision that we make at the commission affects everybody across town, whether it be on a water project or affordability.”
In light of his own experience, Rigby says water, wastewater and other infrastructure are top priorities for him. He says Helena needs to grow, but in an intelligent way.
“The water treatment plants is one of the biggest investments that the city has, and I think sometimes it gets a little overlooked,” he said. “Critical infrastructure from water, wastewater, streets and emergency services is what I really focus on.”
Rigby says the city should look at reducing barriers to adding housing, saying that could include addressing zoning and encouraging things like accessory dwelling units. He says he’s learned more about parking in the last few months campaigning than he ever imagined, and he wants to listen to stakeholders, especially in downtown Helena, about how the current parking system could be improved.
Rigby says city government went through “tumultuous times” while he was an employee, but he believes leaders have done a good job of turning that around and making the city of Helena a better environment for employees.
“It's a great place to be; it's a great place to work,” he said.
Still, he says there’s room for the city to do more to hear from the public about what they want to see. For the rest of the campaign, he says he’ll be working to get connected with as many voters as he can.
“I'm a people person, and I think being able to connect person to person, face to face, and really asking the questions to them – like I’ve referenced before, I like to ask questions,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third of our four profiles on the candidates running for Helena City Commission. The profiles are being published in alphabetical order based on the candidates’ last name. On Thursday, you will be able to see our final profile, on candidate Shawn White Wolf.
Ballots will be mailed out to Helena voters on Friday. Each voter can choose two out of four candidates, and the top two vote-getters will win seats on the commission. You must return your ballot by Nov. 4.
