Townsend Mayor Mike Evans Retires
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Townsend Mayor Mike Evans Retires
MT 43 News Staff
Mike Evans is easy to talk to. When it came time to interview him about his retirement as mayor of Townsend, he fell right into his life in Townsend, what he most enjoyed, what was most difficult, and where he goes from here.
Evans served the city for 24 years: sixteen on the city council and the last eight years as mayor. His final day on the job was December 29.
He said that getting the new sewer lagoon built was his proudest accomplishment. “The old lagoon was 20 years old. I worried about dumping bad water into Canyon Ferry Lake causing the city’s share of algae in the lake.”
Evans said he looks forward to the city’s next big project which is getting more water into the system. “I’ll be glad to see better water pressure in people’s sinks and showers,” he said.
Evans is especially pleased with the council’s updating of city ordinances, which had not been done for many years. But to this day, one ordinance still refers to hitching an animal, such as a horse, to a fence or railing. When asked why that outdated ordinance was not removed, Evans told the story: “John Flynn was city attorney at the time. He insisted we keep that ordinance intact to remember the old west, so we have left it in for his sake,” Evans explained.
How Evans came to Townsend was interesting. He was working in Helena as a contract lineman with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union and had met Montana Power Company area manager Chuck Holling. When Holling retired, the Montana Power supervisor asked who should replace him. Holling responded, “Hire that big Indian from the contract linemen’s crew; he’s good,” Evans related. Evans ended up working 33 years for Montana Power and its successor Northwestern Energy.
Evans was born in Butte, grew up on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and graduated from Winnifred High School. He is the oldest of seven siblings. He is a member of the Little Shell Chippewa Nation.
Evans and his family loved Townsend from the start. His daughter Chelsey was in kindergarten, Josie was a baby and his son Jayden was four months old when they came. One day soon after they arrived, the principal at the school, Jerry Rodacker, “chased me down” to ask if he would coach the kids’ basketball and football teams. He coached girls’ basketball for 24 or so years. “I really enjoyed coaching the kids. They called me ‘Mister Evans’ when they saw me on the street, even when they were 30 years old,” he laughed.
Evans said he had no real experience with city affairs when he joined the city council. He was on the council when the city hired Tim Rauser as public works director whom Evans felt was very good at his job. “That made it a lot easier for me,” Evans said.
Evans said the worst time for him on the council was when city clerk Diana Mell passed away. “We all depended on her knowledge of how things ran. She really knew the history of the city,” he said.
What comes next? “Well for sure I’m not leaving Townsend. My brother Dennis is moving back to Montana from Seattle, so we’ll be doing some fishing with those big boy toys instead of floating across the river on a log like we did when we were kids,” he said with a smile.
His feelings about Townsend were evident: “This is my kids’ hometown. That’s important to me because when I was growing up, my family was always moving, so I’m not going anywhere.”
Evans said he plans to take his four-year-old granddaughter out to catch her first fish.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Nancy Marks
Image 1 Caption: Mike Evans
Photo Credits: Nancy Marks
