Commissioner congratulates club, tribe on donation

The Lake County Commissioners would like to congratulate the Boys and Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County on the very generous donation they received from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council. We wholeheartedly agree with Chairman Trahan when he expresses what an important program this is for our area youth.

In 1999, as the new Sheriff, I was asked to join the Boys and Girls Club board of directors. I was in this position for approximately 10 years. Before accepting the offer, I wanted to learn more about the organization. I discovered that the Boys and Girls Club had strong support from law enforcement across the country, was very successful providing our children a safe environment during those critical after school hours and that our local clubs are nationally chartered as tribal clubs because they were based on the reservation.

The County Commissioners have a clear understanding of how important this club is and firmly believe it saves taxpayer dollars in reduced criminal justice services. The first year this club was in the current location there was a 30% decrease in Ronan’s juvenile crimes. Lake County donates $15,000.00 per year when possible because of the club’s benefits to the county, but unfortunately, we don’t have the resources to match Mr. Trahan’s challenge.

The tribe’s donation and $1.00 per year for the current building is huge! As supporters of the Boys and Girls Club we say, Congratulations to Arik on all your hard work and thank you, Mr. Trahan, for the generous donation! It is money well spent!

Bill Barron,

Lake County Commissioner