Letters to the editor
April 16
BBBS thanks
A big thank you to all the Bowl for Kids Sake participants at Big Brothers Big Sisters annual Ronan fundraiser on Sunday, April 5. The 65 bowlers, 16 team captains, more than 200 donors, and local businesses made it a wonderful event.
Special thanks to Lucky Strike Lanes, Ronan Dodge Chrysler Jeep, Sara Gunderson, for her beautiful painting, Catherine Thorp-Duffy, who raised more than $1,700 in pledges and Lindsay Dietz, our data angel volunteer. Ronan Subway, Ronan Stageline Pizza, Pepsi Bottling of Kalispell, and teams from First Interstate Bank, Polson and Ronan H and R Block, St. Ignatuis and Pablo Schools, the Cove Deli, SKC GearUp, DOVES, the Benson Family, among others, made the event a memorable and successful fundraiser. Pledges totaled $5,822, a 32 percent increase over last year. Raffle tickets for the painting raised $366. Your generosity helps kids all year long!
Sincerely,
Kevin Avison, Board Chair; Brenda Cook, Vice-Chair; Tina Begay, Treasurer; Jodi Hunter-Ivins, Secretary; Karen Dellwo,
Carrie Benson, and Heidi Trytten, Board Members; Julie Wenner, Executive Director and Julia Williams, Program Director.
Roles cause conflict of interest
I am a trustee for the Polson Rural Fire District. Recently a forum was held in Big Arm for the candidates running for two seats on the board, in which one of the candidates used me as an example. The candidates were asked if they considered being a Polson firefighter and being on the board was a conflict of interest. A local newspaper reported “Clapp took first crack at this by using Trustee Alison Meslin as an example. Meslin has been on the board for three years, and her husband Jeff is an active member (firefighter). There have been no problems.”
I am not a firefighter. The fire chief has no authority over me. I was appointed as a trustee before Jeff became a firefighter. I got involved with the Rural Fire District late in 2005 when residents learned about the proposed closing of the Big Arm fire station and became one of the Big Arm spokespeople.
The Polson District fire chief does have authority over Jeff, as he does with Jack Clapp, his wife Jane and their son, as they are all firefighters. If Jack becomes a trustee he will be in authority over the fire chief but also his subordinate. There will be board decisions for special training, allocating vehicles and paying compensation to the Clapps for leasing their barn to house the Irvine Flats Fire Station among many other potential conflicts.
As a trustee, I do my best to make decisions that will benefit the residents of the Rural Fire District, this at times is contrary to the wishes of the Polson Fire Department. Because of those decisions, my husband has been treated very badly by some of the Polson firefighters, yet he remains a dedicated firefighter helping protect the residents of Big Arm and the neighboring areas.
One would like to think that the plans of the board and the fire department would be one and the same as we strive to maintain and improve fire protective services. During this past year as the board renegotiated the inter-local agreement, continued plans for a new satellite station north of the Polson bridge and restarted the Big Arm Fire Company, the relationship between the board and some of the Polson Fire Department became very strained. Jack Clapp, an attorney by profession, became one of the key spokespersons for the Polson Fire Department and even headed up a committee to inquire if they could sue the board over the authority to establish fire companies and other issues. Last July, Jack Clapp and Paul Bishop gave a presentation on behalf of the Polson Fire Department in an effort to stop the new rural fire station. In this presentation, they advocated one central station south of Polson and advised hiring a consultant. They argued that satellite stations didn’t work and stated “. . . if you are using the Big Arm model as your concept to overlay the entire district it is a failed model” and “the big movement in fire service today all across the country is consolidation, consolidation.”
To answer the original forum question, it is my personal opinion that, although a trustee with firefighting experience would be of value to the board, being a member of the Polson Volunteer Fire Department would definitely be a conflict of interest.
Alison Meslin, Big Arm
Small town blessing
‘Twas Saturday night. I was sailing along as the poets say, Until a wall got in my way. T’would do no good to lay there and yell, So I pushed my button for Kalispell. My back wasn’t hurt, nor was my head. It was my collar bone I broke instead. It mattered not the time of day. Neighbors soon were on their way. The brothers Young and Paul Toussaint, amateurs is what they surely ain’t. I was collared and wrapped, and strapped on a board, And out the door we fairly soared. In the ambulance. The man inside knew just what to do. From side to side he fairly flew. At the hospital. Pictures to take, and questions to ask, Everyone there got right to their task. So soon, I was tucked in a hospital bed, With socks and blankets from my toes to my head, When he came through the door. Doc said, “We’ll not do a thing. Just keep your feet on the floor, And your arm in a sling.”
On Monday, I’m home now, and by the way I actually enjoyed my stay. So now its meals on wheels and rides galore. I’m sure I could not ask for more, thank each one of you for being one of the blessings that shower down on all of us here in the valley.
Rita Senkle, Charlo
Trustee, member is not a conflict
As a candidate for the Polson Rural Fire Board, I feel compelled to respond to an earlier letter raising concerns where there should be none.
The letter questions whether someone on the fire department should serve on the board. Not only has there historically been someone from the department on the board (the seat I am running for was previously Ross Hoyt’s, who was a long time member of the department), but in these difficult financial times, having someone with knowledge of the department help decide how best to rein in spending is in everyone’s best interest. While the chief directs operations at emergencies, as the department is strictly volunteer, he/she does not exert the same control over personnel as would occur in a paid department. While I have the utmost respect for the chief, I do not see him/her as my “boss” except at emergencies.
The letter goes on to question my agreeing to house fire engines at my ranch in order to provide protection to a large rural area that previously had none. At the outset, I would state that we have housed vehicles in a heated shop for two years and have not asked for nor received any payment for anything. These vehicles respond to calls throughout the district and are a major factor in keeping wildland fires in check. Recently, the board determined that they wanted a lease in order to afford protection from potential liability. During that process, the board decided that they would help pay part of the utility costs associated with keeping the vehicles in a heated shop year round. If this arrangement continues and it needs to be addressed by the board, I would obviously recuse myself from any discussion or decision making. We have never, nor will we, charge “rent” for housing the department’s vehicles. Given the board’s recent inclination to spend several hundred thousand dollars for a new station at the fairgrounds, I am happy to be able to house the vehicles at a potential minimal cost to the taxpayers.
In summary, while I feel there are many legitimate issues confronting the board and the taxpayers of the district on how best to continue to provide a high level of service and spend scarce resources, we do not need to create a conflict where none exists.
Jack Clapp, Polson
Easter greeter missed the point
I am curious why only 3 schools participated in the MV Easter Greetings insert.
I am also curious what restrictions you put on their pictures that other schools opted to not participate. It is also curious that no pictures/greetings exemplified the true meaning of Easter, which I might have expected from at least a few of the children. I’m sure if the Christian school had participated, you might have had a better representation for Easter. I doubt our local businesses chose to eliminate the significance of Easter from their “ads.” If this is not a result of new Leader “policy,” then how sad in our culture today that children are brought up not knowing what Easter is really all about!
If this is the result of new Leader policy, shame on you.
Jim and Lora Pearson, Elmo
ACORN scandal continues
We have an outrageous attack on our system of accumulating census information! Remember the $4.9 billion for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now in the “stimulus” bill? ACORN is being partnered with the Census Bureau to use these funds to hire 1.4 million census takers!
Why should we be alarmed? The census count determines congressional, state legislative, county commissioner, city council, school board and other representative-type districts. It provides raw data by which government allocates spending on everything from roads to schools. We can’t afford to have this in the hands of an organization notorious for voter fraud.
Remember the boy in Cleveland, Ohio who was registered by ACORN 70 times prior to the November election? Disguising itself as an organization providing low income housing, it commingles funds from housing into political projects such as voter registration and get-out-the vote drives.
According to Investor’s Business Daily from Sept. 26, 2008, ACORN had been implicated in voter fraud and bogus registration schemes in Missouri, Ohio, and at least 12 other states. In July, 2008, ACORN settled the largest case of voter fraud in Washington state history involving 2,000 bogus voter forms.
It is imperative that we have responsible citizens collecting the data for the census! Take this on as your patriotic duty in 2010! Contact your local census recruiter now!
Tell our U.S. Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, who voted funding for ACORN, that we must have honest citizens who do not report to the White House collecting accurate census information.
Mary M. Milheim, Dayton
Vote for those who plan
I believe that rural fire board decisions should be made with the primary focus of the decisions effect upon the delivery of emergency services to the citizens of the rural fire district. My hope is that you consider this when choosing a rural board candidate.
An example is the new rural fire station currently being considered in a location near the Polson fairgrounds, which is a decision that will affect emergency services for decades to come. I have no issue with building fire stations. Properly placed, they improve protection and collectively save property owners significant amounts of money. In many cases, the insurance cost savings outweighs any additional tax burden. Fire stations can be a true win-win.
I became interested in the calculated effects of the proposed station including response times and insurance cost reductions for property owners when I realized that the proposed station is less than one mile from an existing rural fire station. The two stations coverage areas would almost entirely overlap. I sent the following questions to all rural board members before the December 2008 rural fire board meeting:
1) Does there exist an analysis of ISO (insurance) rating benefits for the citizens of the rural in regards to the proposed station?
2) Does there exist an analysis of response time effects for the citizens of the rural in regards to the proposed station?
I attended the meeting in the hopes of garnering responses to these questions plus a few more. The answer to both questions was no.
This establishes the fact that the board is now taking bids for a new fire station without having analyzed its effect upon two of the most basic reasons that you build fire stations in the first place. For the board to be moving forward without emergency services planning as a focus seems to be counter to the very reason that the board exists.
This was especially puzzling considering that in the previous month, the board had, on a split vote, declined to professionally study exactly those questions even though two-thirds of the $9,000 cost would have been borne by the volunteers and the city of Polson . Both recently resigned board members were clearly uncomfortable with this specific situation and had expressed support for professional planning in light of the fact that no one in the decision process has experience in emergency services planning.
We attempted to form this partnership as it would bring expertise into the process, the results of the analysis would benefit all parties involved, and the costs to each party would be reduced. As you know, spending without planning can be far more costly than you imagined and in ways that limit your options in the future.
My request to you, the citizens of the rural fire district, is that you weigh heavily each candidate’s willingness to analyze and plan before spending taxpayer dollars.
Chris McGuinness, Polson
Seriously consideration vote on rural trustees
Conflicts of interest go hand in hand when living in a small community such as ours. The rural Polson area when voting should vote for a trustee that is concerned with the area’s growing needs, volunteers safety, future financial planning, etc, etc, etc. The list is long.
Being a trustee is a daunting, thankless task. Most people don’t realize what is involved in order to do an accountable managing of the job. The peoples’ concerns should consider a trustee who can look to the future, help oversee finances, the needs of the firefighters, and make a point of working hand and hand with the fire chief and firefighters, who selflessly donate their time 24/7.
Presently, there are trustees leading the community into costly ventures, such as a new fire hall that would be looking directly at the back side of the present city fire hall from across the bay.
Donated land is not a reason for taking on a new building when they are running on a shoestring budget now. It does not make sense, especially when the city of Polson has helped carry the “Polson Rural Fire District, Big Arm Station.” Not Big Arm Fire Station with finances and manpower for years.
Yes, I am a taxpayer, in fact I have lived in Montana for more than 25 years. So, I have seen the changes made to our beautiful area, and know how paying taxes for the services can be very frustrating, but not paying enough to keep everything in running order could end in loss of LIFE or a structure.
You were promised that 8 mils would be a great plenty to run the rural district, well it might have 15 years ago, but now thanks to all the major world events, we can’t rest on our laurels. The prices for emergency equipment has more than tripled, and that’s base line. Even with grants and the firefighters generous fund raisers that take a fair burden off the tax payer, we need to stop sitting on the fence.
The trustees need to oversee the department’s budget, station and truck upkeep, and let the fire chief lead, as he was the one chosen to do the job. He does not need a trustee that goes behind his back with malice and attacking his every move and decision, with the simple mission of breaking off the Big Arm Station. If this trustee wants a department, buy your own! Better yet, if the trustee feels that it’s so costly here, we have an overabundance of Realtors in the area who could help find a less costly place to relocate.
Polson Rural is a large area, 104 square miles roughly, and having Jack Clapp and his wife housing the pumper tender at “no cost” to the taxpayer for two years now, plus on top of it they are both firefighters. Can we say win-win?
And, down the road the eastside of Polson Rural should be in line for a satelite station, everyone deserves the same services.
I have a vested interest in the area, with living here and having both my husband and son on the department. As for myself, I was a firefighter for 10 years and a trustee for six years, so I’m not just blowing smoke. Voting is a privilege, know your candidates and make sure their working for your best interest. We have a beautiful area let’s keep it safe for our firefighters.
Zoerene Gembala, Polson