City Council 2025: Earnest Hammer

I want to be a city council member because I have lived in Billings most of my adult life, I have worked here, raised my children here and now some of my grandchildren also live here.

I believe having worked at 3 utility companies will benefit the city in helping to restore trust in the city’s water department. I believe there is a need for changes in policy and procedures especially in responding to customers’ needs and complaints. I have done policy and procedures in previous management employment.

I have friends in both political parties ranging from far left to far right and everything in between and I consider myself an independent. I will base my decisions on what I belief would be best for the city of Billings as a whole.

#1 Public Safety.
A crime rate that is 139% higher than the national average (as I read in the Center for Public Management Report) is unacceptable. I believe our biggest priority is making Billings a safe place to work, play and enjoy life. I recently spent a day riding along with Sergeant Winden of the Billings Police Department to get an idea of what a day is like for our police officers. It gave me a much deeper insight into the workings of the Police Department. It also brought good suggestions and ideas that could benefit that department.

#2 Affordable Housing
For many people in our community, finding a rental or a home to buy within their budget is difficult. Homeownership has become a stumbling block for many families. Part of this equation is the need for good paying jobs. We need to encourage businesses to come to our community that would provide a living wage.

#3 City Infrastructure
If the time comes to consolidate the Heights water department into the city, changes need to be made on how the water department addresses high bill complaints and other items to be more in line with what the Public Service Commission requires. I know and understand what needs to change and if you’d like more information on my thoughts, I can give these thoughts to you any time you’d like to discuss it. For residents living along Yellowstone River Road, a chief complaint is the odor coming from the treatment plant. I understand this has been discussed before. I would like to work toward a solution.

After reading the 210-page report from the Center of Public Management Report, a couple of things stood out to me. One is that we are paying $3,000,000 in overtime which makes me believe that we do not have enough officers to handle the work load, and second, the clearance rate of the following crimes: robberies, rapes, and burglaries are significantly below the State of Montana average for being solved. I agree that we need more detectives to clear these issues. I think that we need to look at the cost of overtime into putting more officers on the street or looking at ways to have more overlap between shifts. After spending the day with Sergeant Winden, I was told that every detective has a homicide on their case load and obviously homicides take precedence. Another problem they are experiencing is officer retention so therefore our police department is turning into a training department more than having long term officers. Other cities in Montana are paying up to $7 more an hour.

At this time, I am only in favor of item (d). I think that reducing fees as stated in Section (d) would be very helpful because some of my contractor friends have told me that if a house is in the city limits, they raise the price of building a home by $10,000 because of dealing with the city requirements.

It’s a great idea, especially if it helps optimize resources and unnecessary costs and maybe there will be synergies of more departments being willing to work together. One example of unnecessary spending is that last winter we got less than an inch of snow at the end of the season and it got plowed. I heard on the news that the city said, “we had the money in the budget, so we did it”. The city should save what budget is left from one year and add it to the next year and then put it aside for unexpected emergencies rather than just spending it unwisely because it’s there and available.

Areas of town have benefitted from these funds. Some of the projects I feel like have been a waste of money. I support any efforts that have to do with better roads, streets, sidewalks, street lighting and other infrastructure needs. Any project that looks like it will benefit the public and provide a tax revenue that would exceed the money given over time, then I would support that as well.

First of all, Alberta Bair is very well supported by our community. It seems to be managed very well with great entertainment, donations, and it is supported by volunteers. It’s a great nonprofit organization.

Billings Depot has a unique atmosphere. I’ve enjoyed several weddings there. It has a rich history in the city. I think we could market it more to generate more income for the use of the property.

The Babcock Theater ran under my state boiler’s license for several years. I have first hand knowledge of the disrepair and neglect of this building. It didn’t surprise me when I recently saw on the news that the ceiling fell down inside. My personal opinion is that this facility will continue to be a money pit and if the city owns it, we should sell it. When the lease is over for the Art House Theater, I believe we should sell it. It should be turned into a private entity.

I recently spoke to Debbie Havens of the Helena Regional Airport as well as John Faulkner of the Great Falls Regional Airport. After my conversations with these individuals, I see that going to an airport authority would be a win for Billings, especially if we could do it without the financial support of the city, county or tax payers. After speaking with to 2 maintenance people in the shop recently, they shared their concerns as to how their retirement and pension benefits would be handled under an airport authority and I don’t have the answers to those questions. I would be interested to know if there would be a benefit into bringing customs back to facilitate passengers flying here from Canada.

Yes, I do support that. I believe that tourism dollars are important for our local economy. This is a good resource for the Chamber to promote tourism in Billings.