LETTER: Commissioner Krueger's logic questioned

I had previously thought that County Commissioner Gary Krueger was a man with strong convictions about individual liberty and personal property rights and used his position to loudly proclaim such views, even though often misguided.

Such would explain his absurd opinions against mandatory rabies vaccination for dogs and cats and his proclamation at a recent Board of Health meeting that we shouldn’t get our undies in a twist over a little cyanide and arsenic in settling ponds at the old CFAC plant in Columbia Falls.

But I’m beginning to think that his problem is much deeper. An article on Sept. 5 in the Inter Lake described a logical proposal by Commissioner Pam Holmquist on the advice of county Fire Service Area Manager Lincoln Chute to lift Stage 2 fire restrictions because of reduced risk with the recent rain while maintaining Stage 1 restrictions due to large amounts of fuels which could dry out quickly and burn as they did in the grass fire in Evergreen. With the third commissioner unavailable to vote, Krueger voted against the proposal because he felt the county had no right to impose ANY restrictions on what one can do on one’s own private property.

Now, I believe that the county should have the right to protect its citizens from behavior which puts others at risk. I know there is an element in the valley who believe you can do whatever you want on your own land, regardless of its impact on others. Unfortunately, these are usually the same people who can’t afford to pay for damage to others as a result of their bad behavior. I guess Mr. Krueger believes that if some drunk fool wants to flick his live cigarette into the grass or set off fireworks next to your house, it’s your responsibility to stand at the property line with a fire hose. Is that what you believe, Mr. Krueger? You shouldn’t have the right to report him for his dangerous activity?

What I don’t understand is Krueger’s all-or-nothing, my-way-or-the-highway approach. Rather than ease restrictions giving everyone a bit more freedom, he preferred to be stubborn (somehow believing a no vote to relieve Stage 2 restrictions sets a precedent that the county has no right to relieve restrictions and therefore no right to impose them either) and continue all restrictions.

He could have voted yes, eased restrictions, and still proclaimed his belief that the county had no right to impose them to begin with. But instead, maintaining all restrictions until Mr. Mitchell returned and cast a sensible vote, Commissioner Krueger made his point to the detriment of the very freedoms he supposedly was espousing. Feel better, Mr. Krueger? —P. David Myerowitz, Columbia Falls