Lake County Consumers First?

Editor,

Fifteen years ago my parents and several other people in their Polson neighborhood had an unrestricted view of the lake and mountains. Among my parents' neighbors were the late Jerry Paul, Wanda and Roger Wendt, Jack Coggshell and Betty Kirscher. The late Earl Whittington had almost an acre of land where his home sat in this little development.

When Mr. Whittington sold his property it eventually wound up in the hands of a local developer who despite the protests of everyone in the neighborhood went ahead and built an enormous six-unit, three-story condo building in what had been Earl's back yard. The condo effectively destroyed about half the view for each of the residents of this little enclave.

During that time did I see Greg Hertz at the planning board or city council meetings speaking out against the "open spaces and scenic views" that would be destroyed by the insertion of this building into what had been a single family residential neighborhood? No, I did not.

In fact, I didn't see any of the enlightened letter writers opposed to the new Polson Wal-Mart at any of the aforementioned meetings speaking out for the stopping of this condo project that not only wrecked views but also dropped property values.

So it's perhaps just a little hypocritical of the opponents of the new Wal-Mart to talk about the view destruction the new store would cause, when some of them did nothing to stop the view destruction of several Polson residents over a decade ago. They would do well to spare us the pious platitudes about preserving our views and way of life because their past performance in that regard is woefully lacking.

The psychology of the Lake County Firsters is of interest. Beyond the obvious economic motive, I suppose it has a self-satisfying reductionist appeal to band together into a clique of neo-Luddites who in their minds are stopping the monster corporation from destroying Lake County. Never mind that they are misguided and wrong.

Yes, Lake County First, the proposed new Supercenter is about our children's and grandchildren's futures. Are they going to have to continue to drive dangerous Highway 93 to Kalispell or Missoula for an encompassing first rate shopping experience, when the same could be provided right here in Lake County by the proposed new Supercenter, added to our existing quality business base? I sure hope not.

You know 'cheap' is a word the Lake County Firsters throw around a lot … It must be one of their talking points to rally their base, as it were, by suggesting their members use the word 'cheap' whenever referring to Wal-Mart. But fair minded Lake County citizens may conclude that the only thing really cheap in this process is the cheap shots being taken against Wal-Mart, its products, and employees by Lake County First.

How about an organization of the people called Lake County Consumers First? Bring on the Supercenter.

Virgil Hess

Polson