Republican Liane Taylor said she will be a voice for the public if elected to the Lewis and Clark County Commission on Tuesday.

Taylor, a real-estate agent and 40-year-old mother of two, will square off against Democrat Andy Hunthausen in next week’s race. The winner will join Mike Murray and Ed Tinsley, both Democrats, on the commission.

“I think that the biggest issue is that we get some balance on the commission, and somebody that makes sure that the public can have a forum and that they’re involved,” Taylor said.

In campaign advertisements and a recent debate, she has said her politics and her gender will bring diversity to the commission. She’s running to replace Commissioner Anita Varone, who didn’t seek re-election. Varone, a Democrat, has at times broken step with the other two commissioners.

Taylor has made the most noise about the commission’s proposed zoning regulations — she said she and a few others visited Helena Valley property owners and collected signatures to protest the rules — but she said she’s not opposed to zoning. She called the county’s regulations an “emergency” package and said the commission needs to do the job right.

“My issue really isn’t zoning, it’s that we have a government that’s open and honest and listens to the people,” Taylor said.

“The people were not involved in the process,” she said. “The majority of the people said ‘We don’t want this’ … and I think you have to listen to that as an elected official.”

Taylor also said the regulations’ five-acre minimum for septic systems on new lots is troubling.

“(The lot size) is not based on any science,” she said. “I think when you’re putting private property rights at stake, there needs to be a factual basis.”

Taylor said commissioners need to listen to some county residents who’ve said they’re opposed to any type of zoning.

“You keep them in the loop the whole time and see why they don’t want it,” she said. “Maybe there’s allowances.”

She rejected Hunthausen’s assertion that she’s a one-issue candidate whose ties to the development community will present conflicts of interest.

Taylor said any elected official in a community as sparsely populated as Lewis and Clark County might deal with friends and neighbors in government business.

She said she’s demonstrated her independence from special interest groups — citing her break with the Helena Building Industry Association, which supported the county’s zoning proposal after it was revised, and the Helena Association of Realtors, which she said didn’t support the protest of the regulations.

She said rural citizens in the county’s outlying areas, such as Lincoln and Augusta, want basic needs like road maintenance and health care taken care of.

“They deserve to be represented … they want to know that they’ll be heard and that their issues will be addressed,” Taylor said. “I think a lot of people (in rural areas) would like to have some representation on the commission.”

Taylor was born in Wolf Point. Her family moved often and she grew up in Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska and other western states. Helena has “always been home,” she said, because her grandparents lived here.

She attended the University of Colorado and earned her bachelor’s degree in Russian from the University of Texas. She also attended graduate school at the University of Montana.

Taylor, who lives in the Helena Valley, owns a realty business here and serves as the local director of the Helena Association of Realtors, where she also co-chairs the Government Affairs Committee.

A former hunting education instructor, she considers herself an outdoor enthusiast.

Taylor, who’s never run for office, said she’s pursuing the commission seat because she wants to be involved.

“I just felt the people needed a voice,” she said.

Larry Kline can be reached at 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com.