Update: Powell Mayor Don Hillman dies

Posted 2/7/17

Hillman, who’d been diagnosed with cancer in 2014, had just started his second term as mayor. He was 74.

John Wetzel, president of the Powell City Council, said Hillman always acted in the community’s best interests first and foremost, and …

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Update: Powell Mayor Don Hillman dies

Posted

Next mayor to be chosen from city council

After a lengthy battle with liver cancer, Powell Mayor Don Hillman died Saturday at Spirit Mountain Hospice House in Cody, leaving both a literal and figurative hole at City Hall.

Hillman, who’d been diagnosed with cancer in 2014, had just started his second term as mayor. He was 74.

John Wetzel, president of the Powell City Council, said Hillman always acted in the community’s best interests first and foremost, and his knowledge and leadership will be greatly missed.

“Don came from a utility background, and he had great foresight into the infrastructure of Powell and how to maintain it,” Wetzel said. “It seems as if he’s always been serving the community’s needs, making sure the sewers flowed the right way, the electricity was always on, that kind of thing. Talking about issues, figuring out how to approach individual problems and scenarios facing the city — those were his strengths.”

Hillman’s overall approach to planning served him well during his two terms as a city councilman and one full term as mayor, according to Wetzel. A devoted friend and a family man, he never met a challenge he shied away from.

“He was just a great guy who always had the city’s best interest at heart,” Wetzel said. “He was fun to be around, and was just a solid member of the community. He was a good guy, good friend.”

City Administrator Zane Logan agreed, saying Hillman’s death would take time for the community to process.

“The best that you can hope for with someone who represents the community is that they always put the community first,” Logan said. “That was Don. Whenever he made a decision, it was with the thought of Powell first. You may not always agree with him, but you respected him. When he decided to do something he thought was best for the community, he had no problem getting that done. I totally respected that.”

When he decided to run for re-election last year, Hillman said his doctors planned to treat the cancer as they would a chronic disease and use treatments to keep it from growing.

“Just because you have cancer, you can’t quit living,” Hillman told the Tribune last May.

He defeated two challengers and won re-election in November.

However, his health had worsened recently; after being sworn in for his new term on Jan. 3, Hillman announced to the City Council that his treatments were going to sideline him indefinitely.

“Hopefully I’ll get to come back. But there is that possibility too,” Hillman told the council then.

Hillman appointed Wetzel to act on his behalf during his absence; that will continue until a replacement is selected.

Moving forward, the council will elect an interim mayor from within its ranks in the next few weeks. (The city will then seek applicants to fill the council seat that opens up.)

The interim mayor will serve in that capacity until the next general election in November 2018, when the seat will be open again. Should he be asked by the council to assume the responsibility of mayor, Wetzel said he would be honored.

“If the council wants me to, I will step up,” Wetzel said. “We thought Don would rally and we would have him back for a while. We were hoping we wouldn’t have to make this decision right now, that’s for sure.”

Hillman — a longtime Montana-Dakota Utilities employee — served as a Powell city councilman from 1986-93 and was elected to the council again in 2008. He took office as mayor in 2013.

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