Passieri's record includes extremism, intimidation

In the race for Montana House District 91, big money is funding billboards in which a smiling David Passieri tells us, “Because I care.”

Let's ask: exactly what does Mr. Passieri care about?

The answer is clear in his long record of extremism and intimidation, including videotaping testimony offered by citizens at numerous public hearings. A few years ago, Mr. Passieri became so belligerent at a meeting between Lake County and the CSKT at Tribal Council chambers – even claiming that the building somehow belonged to non-Indians – that he had to be escorted out by security and law officers.

Mr. Passieri has a long record of sowing division. In the early 2000s, the Lake County Planning Department conducted extensive public meetings to determine what residents wanted for the future of this area. Nearly everyone – Indian and non-Indian, Democrats, Republicans, Independents – expressed a love for this land and a desire to keep it the way it is.

In 2006, the Commissioners passed a Density Map and Growth Plan allowing for development while limiting sprawl. Meanwhile, the Tribes implemented a nearly identical plan for lands under their jurisdiction. The result was a miraculous period of the County and Tribes working together to protect the land we love.

Mr. Passieri, then a newly-arrived realtor, attacked the land-use plan and eventually succeeded in getting it gutted by a new slate of County Commissioners. Mr. Passieri has been enriched by the resultant boom in subdivision.

Even as he tries to destroy respect and working relationships between the County and the Tribes, Mr. Passieri shamelessly erects billboards with backgrounds displaying CSKT-protected mountains and waters and even tipis – all of them the products of the tribal sovereignty he opposes.

If you want a future of needless conflict, endless lawsuits over water rights, and the transformation of the Mission and Jocko Valleys into suburbs of Missoula, vote for Mr. Passieri.

But if you want a future of increasing understanding and respect, reasonable solutions to our many challenges, support for education and environmental stewardship, and a proven record of leadership and care for all citizens, then vote for Shelly Fyant.

– Thompson Smith

Charlo