No signatures without answers first

A lone Kalispell woman has decided that the months of work and public input on a new Kalispell growth policy don't suit her, so she is trying to substitute her own.

Why is that?

She won't say.

Is she part of some kind of grass-roots effort or organized campaign to derail the official growth policy?

She won't say.

What part of the public process followed by the city of Kalispell does she find improper? What aspect of the growth policy does she think did not reflect the wishes of the community that participated in the public comment process?

She won't say.

About all that Roxanne Brothers has said so far is that "we're not a secretive organization; we're just some concerned citizens."

Not secretive? Then why not answer questions? Why not say who you represent?

There is in fact only one reason why the city's growth policy for its north end is being challenged, and that reason is Bucky Wolford's mall proposal.

It turns out the city's policy would actually envision commercial growth north of Reserve of just the kind that Wolford has been proposing for years. That is also what the county commissioners - the true governing authority - approved for the area years ago.

But a variety of organizations have sprung up out of nowhere to fight Wolford at every step of the way. Behind all of these organizations has been the unspoken but undeniable presence of Citizens for a Better Flathead, a nonprofit organization which purports to speak for the public, but more often seems intent on forcing its views on the public by whatever means are available.

In this case, the city has gone through the state-mandated process for developing a growth policy, and has diligently listened to public input and taken comment from a variety of quarters. The City Council then approved the policy on an 8-1 vote. There was no hint of controversy or skulduggery in the adoption of the policy, which was long overdue.

But along came Brothers, first with a proposed ballot referendum to repeal the new growth policy, and then with an initiative to install her own eight-page growth policy - with not one public hearing and no public input. Most notable about the substitute policy is that its provisions would not allow anything like the 750,000-square-foot-mall that Wolford has been trying to build for the past six years.

No chance that this growth policy is just one more stall tactic to use against the mall, is there?

The odd thing is that the growth policy is supposed to be advisory only. Kalispell does not have planning jurisdiction outside its borders. This policy merely informs the neighborhood and the county of what Kalispell would like to see take place in areas which very likely will someday be annexed.

Brothers and her unnamed but "not … secretive" organization think they have a better idea… but they don't. And until they come clean about who they are and what their intentions are, no one should sign their petitions.