County needs open, honest leadership

We’re glad to see the Flathead County commissioners adopt a written policy about how items for discussion and/or votes may be added to or removed from their daily agenda.

It makes sense that the consensus of at least two of the three commissioners should be required to place something on the agenda or take it off. As one commissioner aptly put it, without the consent of two it becomes a dictatorship.

The formal policy should eliminate the confusion caused earlier this week when Commission Chairwoman Pam Holmquist single-handedly took a scheduled discussion and public-comment session about the tribal water compact off the agenda.

Her reason for doing so, she said, was to hold the meeting in a bigger building to accommodate an anticipated large crowd. However, when she learned that a bigger venue — the Expo Building at the fairgrounds — was available for the same time slot, Holmquist still opted, by herself, to postpone this very important discussion.

Was it a political maneuver on her part to stave off the water compact discussion until after the midterm elections? Perhaps. We certainly don’t know because she is not saying.

Regardless of the motive, the end result was that many, many Flathead County citizens were disappointed they couldn’t weigh in on the compact, on the record before further negotiating is done on the compact. Some people showed up Wednesday because they hadn’t heard the meeting had been postponed.

We believe these public discussions are a vital part of our local government. We need to hear not only from our citizens but also our three commissioners.

It’s no secret there’s been ongoing tension among the commissioners. Certainly there will always be a difference of opinion among them on some decisions, and that’s fine as long as the discussion leading up to those decisions has been thoughtful, thorough and open to the public.

At the end of the day, we trust that our commissioners are capable of working together for the greater good of Flathead County and its citizens, and are not making decisions based on who’s bending their ear or trying to influence their vote. 

But ultimately that trust needs to be backed up with results.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.