Mercer selected chairman of Board of Regents

Former legislator from Polson a unanimous choice by peers

Former legislator John Mercer of Polson, who served as speaker of the state House of Representatives for an unprecedented four terms, was unanimously elected by his colleagues to serve as chairman of the Board of Regents on Friday.

By ALLISON FARRELL Missoulian State Bureau

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/01/17/news/local/news02.txt

Mercer is filling the last five months of the chairmanship previously held by Regent Ed Jasmin of Bigfork. Jasmin resigned as chairman Friday because his seven-year appointment on the board ends Feb. 1.

The board, divided by a Mercer-led coup last May that stripped former chairman Richard Roehm of Bozeman of his title, united on the choice of Mercer and nominated no one else for the job.

"We don’t need a power struggle to divert our attention," Roehm said. "We need cohesion and cooperation. We need to work together."

Mercer, who was appointed to the board by Gov. Judy Martz, has served as a regent nearly three years. He previously served as a Republican lawmaker in the House of Representatives from 1985 through 2001.

Since last spring, Mercer has led a charge to position the Montana university system as a leader of economic development in the state. On Thursday, after months of development, the board approved a conceptual blueprint for a university system led economic revitalization. The governor’s office has also given the nod to the project.

"In my capacity as an ex-officio member of the Board of Regents, I look forward to working with Chairman Mercer and the entire Board to strengthen not only our higher education system but also the Montana economy," Martz said Friday.

Mercer has said the board needs to build a coalition of university, business and government leaders that will develop a state economic model and brainstorm ways to "turn the economy around."

As Mercer sees it, the state’s economy can’t grow without help from higher education, and higher education can’t expand without the money a growing state economy would generate. The state’s funding for higher education will remain flat over the next two years, leaving students to pay an additional $39 million in tuition over 2004 and 2005.

Mercer has also led a push to heal the chasm of financial mistrust that divides the university system and the Legislature. The university system and the Legislature routinely spar over budgets and tuition increases.

Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns said Mercer’s institutional knowledge of Montana and its political process will benefit the board as well as the university system.

"He brings immense actual leadership experience," Stearns said Friday.

Martz is expected to appoint a new member to the board to replace Jasmin at the March meeting.

Mercer, who turns 47 next week, has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Montana and a law degree from Northwestern University.