Jerry Marks: 45 Years with Missoula County

July 14, 1969. As was recognized March 5 at the Missoula County Employee Service Awards, Weed/Extension Department Head, Jerry Marks, first began his employment 45 years ago; currently the County’s longest serving employee.

                                  

“Jerry has been amazing to work for and with,” Weed District Manager Bryce Christiaens said. “Jerry is not afraid of taking on big, complicated projects and he is often successful in those endeavors.”

This tenancy and desire to work with others started very early on, Marks explained. Growing up on a farm taught Marks how to deal with people to solve an array of issues. His mother encouraged Marks and his siblings to learn from others, and their cultures, by hosting students from the International youth Farm Exchange Program. Marks’ upbringing instilled the values of acceptance and a lifelong passion to learn from those around him.

“When working on a complicated issue, you can never have enough resources,” Marks said. “It is important to listen to those involved and identify what their values are and the issues that are based on those values. Once all have an understanding of each other you can begin to move forward towards shared goals.”

Marks’ mentality has been exceptionally beneficial to his 45 year tenure at Missoula County. Throughout his time, Marks has been able to bring groups together to establish programs “by and with the people.” During the 1908 he built the Biological Weed Control Program, the first of its kind in Montana to manage noxious weeds and plants. This program involved bringing together land owners, environmental groups and concerned members of the public; all of whom had different interests.

 

Jerry with Commissioners Jean Curtiss (left), Bill Carey and Cola Roley (right). The walker pictured was given to Jerry by his Weed/Extension staff. All in attendance of the Missoula County Employee Service Awards were smiling ear to ear.  

“This came as a result of the shift in the Missoula County agriculture community. In the 1970s Missoula was being discovered and subdivisions were created without being ready,” Marks said. “Moving forward in the 80s we needed to manage noxious weeds for the community to continue growing.”

Within the past 25 years, Marks has also created the Noxious Weed Trust Fund, which required the facilitation of community hearings to best serve the public. Most recently, Marks played a tremendous role in the development of Montana’s Invasive Species Management Program. Governor Steve Bullock signed the council into creation on Dec. 4, 2014, as both Marks and Christiaens proudly witnessed.

“Jerry has played a huge role in the management of the city of Missoula’s open space program,” Christiaens said.  “He helped create a number of watershed groups throughout Western Montana - one of which is the Blackfoot Challenge - by working to bring together landowners, researchers and other land management agencies/professionals to find ecologically based solutions to common land management problems.”

Marks’ accomplishments throughout the past 45 years have been of tremendous benefit to the community and especially to those with whom he has worked more closely.

“Missoula is a diverse and passionate community, which means that it can be a struggle to find answers to issues,” Marks said. “But because people are so invested in the betterment of their community, great work gets done. My best memories are of helping people think through issues.”

It is because of the diversity of issues that Marks has continued his career at Missoula County. He explains that every new challenge comes with an education that creates the opportunity to reinvent himself based on what he has learned.

“People allow you to change and make mistakes,” Marks said. “It is important to take risk and put things together to keep life invigorated and challenged. You don’t have to do the same thing the same way.”

More than anything, Marks’ time at the County has been fueled by a simple concept: the people.  Whether working with various community groups or with his colleagues at Missoula County, Marks is still excited about his career 45 years later and is driven to continue working for the public good.

“Missoula has a special willingness to try things. The people are passionate about what they do and where they live,” Marks said. “At the County, I have had the opportunity to work with people who encourage new ideas and who care about their community.”

His contagious smile, determination and dedication are well-recognized in the County.

“Jerry always supported and encouraged me and all his employees to think big, provide leadership where it is needed, support others when you can, to always listen to others’ points-of-view,” Christiaens said. “He has been one of only a very small handful of people that I consider mentors.”

Congratulations to Jerry Marks. Missoula County is fortunate to have such an outstanding employee.

Meet Our New Chief Operating Officer

A friendly and familiar face now fills the previously vacant position in the Commissioners office. Chris Lounsbury was hired as the County Chief Operating Officer in late December, after serving as Missoula County’s Director of Emergency Management since 2012.

His recent promotion has been Chris’ goal for three years. When hired as the OEM Director by former COO, Steve Johnson, Chris happily accepted the promotion but told Steve that he would one day be gunning for the role.

“I knew Steve was going to move on in 2018 and thought that I had a few years before I thought about applying,” Chris said. “But when Steve left early, and the position opened up, I knew that this was the time to stretch myself and apply for new challenges.”

The transition from OEM Director to COO has new and broader responsibilities, but Chris explains many similarities between both positions. As the OEM Director, Chris worked collaboratively across many departments and agencies. The job requires coordination with various forms of leadership. As such, Chris says that good relationships are the foundation of success. He sees being the COO in the same way. Instead of working with a handful of departments, as he did as the OEM Director, Chris now works on a “larger scale” across the County.

“In both roles, but now especially as the COO, I want to help departments when they’re interacting with other agencies or other departments,” Chris said.  “I think they all have the same goal: to best serve the public. I get to work with people who ask the right questions and who find the best and smartest people to answer them. I think that’s how government should operate.”

Chief Administrative Officer, Vickie Zeier, also attributed these qualities to Chris’ selection for the position and one of the many reasons why she believes he will succeed in the COO role.

“Chris’ experience as the Director of Office of Emergency Management was an important component to selecting him,” Vickie said. “He has demonstrated the ability to bring different agencies together to improve communications and work together to provide the essentials duties of public safety during emergency events.  

Chris is excited to have the opportunity to work on projects such as the Fort Missoula regional park, where he and his wife, Heather, and their two kids, Connor and Georgia, can enjoy the family venue.