Time to choose is at hand

Editor,

We will choose, this spring and summer, whether to make Lake County like every other place that has started chaining themselves to a big box store economy, run by people out of the area over whom we have no control. The real big money interests, the billionaires of the 19th largest economy in the world, Wal-Mart, will dominate our town. They have already begun the process of dividing our community.

This is an issue of local control. Do we auction off this amazing wealth of location, location, location for the sake of cheap prices? Do we hurry through the process to let them tell us how to meet their timing, cooperate with their plans for our community, our shopping, our development? Or do we follow our own planning process, with respect to our Polson Master Plan?

Does our city make decisions about proposals and applications, based on the direction in which citizens want to see Polson grow or based on developers' best interests? Is the city appropriately protecting citizens from paying the costs of providing services to Wal-Mart and the new strip that might be on Highway 93?

Growth and change are inevitable and will affect our community. But they don't have to be haphazard, uncontrolled. We can make our decisions from inside out, evolving a community built on the truly spectacular place we live, or we can sell out to the cookie-cutter, one-stop shopping model, so that we are like everywhere USA.

Local control matters. Local economy allows local control.

Let's not regret this decision the way many Montanans regret energy deregulation.

Our money will go to support the largest corporate economy in the world, rather than our neighbors and our own community. Though Wal-Mart donates ostentatiously now, once guaranteed their opportunity to rake in our dollars, their money will mostly go back to Bentonville, Ark., or to buy goodwill in the next community they choose to enter.

The choice is ours. By giving up, we guarantee that the decision has already been made. Unless we express our concerns, we will have no influence.

Please voice your opinion at the City County Planning Board public meeting, 6 p.m., next Tuesday, May 9, at the Polson High School Auditorium. At least, plan to be there.

Carolyn Beecher

Ronan