Article published Feb 24, 2008

Lawton leaving on an even keel after 18 years

By RICHARD ECKE

Tribune Staff Writer

Great Falls City Manager John Lawton is leaving the city's top administrative post like he came in — without noisy fanfare and in a low-key fashion.

In a Tribune interview, Lawton provided no firm plans for a second career.

"I still want to do useful work," Lawton said. But he said he wants to consider his options before diving into something new.

Meanwhile, Lawton plans to get more exercise, visit family, including a new granddaughter in California, and put more miles on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

His last day of work is Feb. 29, prompting him to joke he will leap out of his post after almost exactly 18 years as the city's manager.

Although his future plans remain clouded, Lawton said flatly there are three things he won't do after retirement.

"I'm not going to run the (coal-fired) power plant," he said. "I'm not going to lobby the Legislature, and I'm not going to run for the Legislature."

The proposed Highwood Generating Station power plant may have been the biggest controversy facing the city during Lawton's tenure, but Lawton said he was carrying out the directions of city commissioners, not dragging them along with him.

"I've never been out there on my own," Lawton said. "I've always had the backing from the City Commission."

City Commissioner Bill Beecher, who calls himself a fan of Lawton's, echoed that view.

"I have not ever been pressured by John," Beecher said. "He just gives the facts. He gives the options."

Beecher said it "just burns me" when critics claim commissioners are "a bunch of lackeys" of the city administration, when it's the commission calling the shots.

"We could have shot it down anytime," Beecher pointed out. The power plant's prospects remain uncertain as Lawton retires.

Even an opponent of Lawton's in the power plant debate, Dr. Cheryl Reichert, had positive things to say about Lawton.

"John deserves a lot of credit for the many good things he's done for Great Falls," Reichert said. "However, the coal plant isn't one of them."

City Commissioner John Rosenbaum said he believes the city made "lots of progress" since Lawton assumed his post.

Once the assistant city administrator in Billings, Lawton arrived in Great Falls in April 1990 sporting a dark brown mustache and hair. In 2008, on the eve of his retirement, Lawton shows more gray, but some residents are surprised when they learn he is 64 years old.

Lawton leaves at the end of the month. Assistant City Manager Cheryl Patton will fill in for Lawton until the new manager, Gregory Doyon, city manager of Franklin, N.H., takes over March 24.

A Yakima, Wash., native, Lawton has weathered storms along with some smooth sailing to become the longest-serving city manager in Montana history, according to the Montana League of Cities and Towns.

Lawton is pleased with the city's progress, and optimistic about its future.

When he arrived in the Electric City back in 1990, annual construction inside the city limits ranged from $20 million to $35 million per year, Lawton recalled.

"Last year, it was $135 million," Lawton said, adding that set a record for Great Falls.

Under Lawton's tenure, the Great Falls Marketplace shopping area, which he calls an "attractive, functional commercial development" rivaling any in the state, was built. The Holiday Village Mall on 10th Avenue South, once sickly, today is healthy and thriving, he said.

More 10th Avenue South development has occurred. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center was built. River's Edge Trail was dreamed up, developed and continues to grow. A new soccer park emerged on the city's east end.

"I don't ever want to imply that I did any of it," Lawton said. "I was very privileged to have been part of a great deal of it."

Lawton said the city has joined many partnerships over the years.

"We don't do anything by ourselves, but we do help others to get things done," Lawton said.

Lawton said he and his wife, Carol, plan to remain in Great Falls.

"I like it here," he said. Their two sons are Jack of Santa Cruz, and Matt of Los Angeles, both in California.

Lawton figures a sense of humor was one of the qualities that helped tide him over in the Great Falls job.

"If you can't laugh, I think you're in deep trouble," Lawton said.

Another skill he used was trying to anticipate trends.

"What I like to try to do is anticipate the future and try to develop responses and solutions to upcoming problems," he said. For instance, Lawton assisted the Montana League of Cities and Towns in developing its insurance programs, which emerged starting in 1986 after cities found themselves without liability insurance.

"It's worked very well," Lawton said. "We have one of the biggest insurance companies in Montana. Its balance sheet is very, very healthy."

The Montana Municipal Insurance Authority initially provided liability and workers' compensation coverage and expanded in the last 10 years to property coverage and employee benefits.

As city manager, Lawton oversaw city staff, the city budget and labor relations as the top city administrator. He also worked to move issues through the city's political process, and to forge partnerships with others on important community issues.

It's often misunderstood, but Lawton said his relationship with the City Commission is to provide options and facts to commissioners.

"Sometimes, it's obvious which option is feasible," Lawton said. But he said he doesn't tell commissioners what to do.

"I don't steer the commission," he said. "That's not how I operate."

In the case of the coal-fired power plant, "the political champion of that was (former Mayor) Randy Gray in the beginning," Lawton commented. "In the first couple years of that, there really wasn't any opposition. The opposition developed way late in the game."

Since the initial proposal, critics have decried potential mercury pollution from the plant, as well as emissions of carbon dioxide, which are greenhouse gases that most scientists believe contribute to warming of the Earth.

Lawton acknowledged that developers of the power plant have encountered "a very changing environment" in the last few years, but they have tried to respond to all of the issues.

"Absolutely, timing was not good," he said. But Lawton still thinks the project remains a good idea — building a coal-fired plant that would be much cleaner than existing coal plants.

"We hope to become the poster child on how coal can be used in a clean, responsible manner," Lawton said. Backers hope to obtain Department of Energy dollars for a pilot program that would work to capture carbon dioxide and then store it or sell it.

Interest is high in wind power these days, Lawton agreed.

"Wind is an answer but it is not theanswer," he added.

One advantage to working at the local level is commissioners are elected on a nonpartisan basis.

"You don't have to add a layer of partisanship," Lawton said.

Lawton received high praise from two former mayors.

"He was maybe the best manager I ever worked with in the public or private sector," said Great Falls attorney Randy Gray. "He was just extraordinary."

Gray, who served on the City Commission for a decade through 2005, said Lawton was a fair-minded manager who kept the city financially solvent.

"He just very effectively and quietly went about doing his business," Gray said. "He ran it with a real even keel."

Commissioner and then Mayor Joan Bennett, who served in the 1990s, said Lawton showed patience and perseverance.

Smoking rules were a hot issue in the 1990s, but the city's first ordinance passed on Lawton's watch, as smokers and health advocates lined up on opposite sides of the issue.

"Neither side was fully satisfied, I don't think," Bennett said. "It was just a wonderful compromise."

She added, "Part of John's wisdom was to make sure that everybody was heard."

At his last regular City Commission session Tuesday night, most in the crowd of about 30 people gave Lawton a standing ovation.

"It's an art to realize when you should leave," Lawton said. "I think that time has come. I'll miss it very deeply."