Letters
Truth or consequences
What evil force is it at work within this beautiful valley? What is the name of this beast that seeks to destroy the lives of all within? What is the name of the beast that would deliberately publish the names of the people who oppose the water compact, then turn right around, and publish the names of the people who support the compact for all to see? Who is this beast that lives among us who is working so hard to inspire hatred to the point of bloodshed, who is this evil force?
We refuse to fill our minds with truthful knowledge, we refuse to understand, we refuse to ask meaningful questions, we refuse to recognize who we are and why we are the way we are. Our valley is adrift like never before, who is this beast, who would be so low as to seek the destruction of all, through distraction? Lies, lies, lies, who is it that refuses to come forward with the truth?
Where, is common sense in all this? Honesty, Integrity, are these simple words not a part of our lives anymore? Who seeks our destruction and why do they seek it? Truth is the only way we are going to destroy this evil force. Has Truth become the new word for lie? I pray it has not, seek truth as though it were a precious jewel, because it is, hang onto it as though your life depended on it, because it really does.
Robert L. Starks
St. Ignatius
Judge grudge
Filling the vacancy soon to be left by outgoing District Court Judge C.B. McNeil will be both a challenging and serious endeavor for the Judicial Nomination Commission. Given that Judge McNeil has presided over 27,000 cases over his distinguished 29-year career on the bench and given that he has been the first and only 20th District Court Judge for both Lake and Sanders Counties makes this decision all the more daunting. It is imperative that every one of the candidates submitted for final selection by Governor Bullock possesses a record that is as unblemished and as exemplary as Judge McNeil’s. The public has been encouraged to evaluate these applications and to provide some feedback for this important selection process, which is the reason for this letter.
Having reviewed the applications of all six people, which are available online at http://www.courts.mt.gov , I find that five of the six took this application process very seriously and professionally tantamount to their responsibilities as our future judge. Lawyer applicants Steven Eschenbacher, JoAnn Jayne, James Manley, Mark Russell, and John Schulte all made concerted efforts to present themselves in the best possible way. If there are five nominees to be chosen from for this position, then they should all obtain full consideration. However, the application submitted by our current City Attorney James Raymond, seriously lacked professionalism, was written in a haphazard and often bizarre manner, and was clearly inferior to the other applicants. Actually, it was quite offensive to examine the casual and lackadaisical way in which Raymond apparently threw this document together. Lastly, Raymond’s submitting of literary prose from 1997 rather than formal legal writing was totally inappropriate. My recommendation is that James Raymond not be considered for this position.
Steven Palmieri
Polson
Pollster question exam
On the local news Thursday morning, the newscaster asked the question: ‘We want to know if you think that the US should use military force in Syria?’ - Then invited the viewing audience to reply with a ‘yes or no’ answer. I just can’t wait to hear the results. I can’t imagine that the top military leaders in our professional armed forces are standing down until they hear from Missoula residents on this global decision.
Who are the respondents and what are their qualifications?
OK. If we expect to govern by polling the populace, here are a couple of poll questions for you concerning local issues. Let’s see how we do.
Do you think that it’s a good idea for the Rural Fire Board Trustees, which recently sold the mil levy property tax extension to us, to cover projected needs – like equipment, training, and yet to be determined real estate with facilities - be allowed to approve using your tax money to hire one of its own Trustees and the son of another Trustee, at an hourly wage for three weeks, to do unspecified work? Yes, or No?
If the Trustees involved happened to both also be volunteer firemen, how would they supervise themselves and family members in the event the unspecified work is not done on time or correctly? (a) Real well (b) Not so well (c) I just can’t decide.
I’d hope that the Board’s shenanigans aren’t overlooked by the community. After all it is in control of a very large sum of public trust tax money for the next 7 years.
Jim Sisler
Big Arm
Appreciate our ancestors
We are the inheritors of both a rich cultural heritage and some pretty amazing feats performed by our ancestors, here in the Flathead, Mission and Bitterroot valleys. Has anyone really looked at the pictures that adorn the walls of the Missoula airport and noticed the lack of vegetation prior to the irrigation projects of the early 1900s? This part of the world was a desert - simply a seed buried under the snows of winter and hard, dry summers waiting for the right conditions to grow and reproduce.
Seems to me we’ve forgotten how much work and foresight it took to create these lush valleys. The words, “we scratched out a living from the land”, were common place back then; pre-irrigation. If you didn’t grow it next to a somewhat seasonal river or creek, you didn’t grow it.
My favorite picture is the one of an Indian woman, holding the reins of the photographer’s horse, standing in a field of mud next to a teepee with mud and dirt 1/3 of the way up its side. The mud was not the result of heavy traffic use….there was no traffic, there were no crops, there was no lush agriculture; there was dirt and rocks and brush and some wild roots and berries. There was famine, disease and malnourishment. There was life, hard life.
That all changed, for better or worse. There’s no going back to those “wonderful” times of hardship and pain. We inherited electrical power, irrigation projects that created reservoir systems that support flowing rivers, irrigable land for agriculture and the abundance we see around us.
Do you honestly believe that it will remain this good after those who wish to control it are done? This place is the headwaters; everyone else is “downstream” and waiting for your Blue Gold to arrive.
Michael Gale
Ronan