Citistates Group

Kemmis’ worldview has been forged, however, in the real world of politics. He served in the Montana Legislature, rising to be House Speaker, and subsequently as the Mayor of Missoula. Starting in September 1996, he served for over a decade on the staff of the University of Montana’s Center for the Rocky Mountain West, first as its Director and now as a Senior Fellow. He also serves on the board of directors of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, the Northwest Area Foundation, and the Missoula Redevelopment Agency.

Kemmis has written three books: Community and the Politics of Place, The Good City and the Good Life, and This Sovereign Land: A New Vision for Governing the West. In 2002, This Sovereign Land was the top choice for the Interior Department’s Executive Forum Speaker Series. His numerous articles in national magazines and journals cover topics ranging from community building to Western politics.

Awarded the Wallace Stegner Prize for sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West, Kemmis is a popular lecturer and teacher, speaking frequently on livable communities, city design, regional environmental cooperation and the future of public land management.

Speech Topics

• Community — The places we inhabit reflect and affect who we are. How do those dynamics play themselves out in real places, among real people? How can we create sustainable, livable places for ourselves, where we can live in genuine community with each other?
• Regionalism — The earliest European explorers in North America advised that human communities should settle along the natural lines of rivers, valleys, watersheds. We now recognize these lines make the most sense economically and ecologically, too. What are the regions emerging in North America, and how can communities best ready themselves to take advantage of new, regionally-based, economic opportunities?
• Devolution and Decentralization — Power is being moved down from the national to state and sometimes local governments. But are existing jurisdictions the best recipients of that devolution – or should we be creating more organic regions, sometimes larger than states, sometimes smaller, to take on the challenges of governance in the 21st century?
• The West — The western U.S. has long been treated, and thought of itself, as a colony of the east. How can the West best prepare itself for the many changes coming its way, including growth in population, economic development, and changes in natural resource management? Are there uniquely western dynamics between city and countryside? And how does the emergence of regional thinking apply specifically to the West?

Last updated February 15, 2010