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Vote to stop bottling plant

It is clear that the editorial board of this paper has lost sight of the fact that we are a nation of laws and not of men. To suggest that an elected official or officials can make decisions which are in contravention of the law and then can not be challenged under the laws that govern decision making by said officials is ridiculous.

The Montana Legislature has passed laws that set legal standards for political/governmental decision making and they must be followed. When a county commission acts against the legal standards, which require that they consider public need along with other factors in their decision making, and not act arbitrarily and capriciously, those decisions are subject to legal review by our courts. It appears that this newspaper needs a solid civics lesson in how our democracy was set up. One wonders whether he would have said that the decisions of the British Parliament and King George in the 1700s were beyond reproach and that we should just have accepted those decisions and not created a better democracy here in America.

And the suggestion that the public was demanding something that was “after the fact” is equally ridiculous. No final permit had been issued and this entire matter was working its way through the established review process. Weaver clearly acted at his own risk in any investment he made to set up a plant that was so overwhelmingly opposed by the citizens of this county. For the editor to side with this unparalleled greed is not surprising. Mr. Weaver has paid a lot of advertising dollars to the Inter Lake in order to convince the readership that he is just setting up a small family business to leave his grandchildren.

And let us all remember this: The water underlying this valley belongs to all of us. Not to one person to suck it all up and sell it out of state for a profit. —David Eychner, Kalispell

Close the primary

Montana Dems want Green Party candidates off the ballot. There is a way to solve this problem: Close the primary.

The Democrats for years went to vote in the primary, and because they only run one candidate, they go to the primary and get the Republican ticket and vote for one of the candidates that best matches their Democratic thinking.

By closing the primary, if you are a Republican, you can only get the Republican ticket, same for the Democrats. People wanting other parties must wait till the general election. —Fred Hammel, Kalispell

School levy a matter of trust

How does one decide to make an important decision that involves other people?

To me this is frequently a matter of trust. Some people we trust, some we don’t.

Some people earn our trust, some don’t.

I do not offer my trust blindly.

In the case of the Kalispell school levy, please know that I totally trust Superintendent, Mark Flatau and our school board.

Mark is a gifted and dedicated professional, who takes care of details and who would never waist a penny of the taxpayers money.

When he and the board put together a proposal, it is well well thought through and based on the care of our young people.

We are lucky to have Mark. He cares about kids.

Let’s show Mark our gratitude and trust, and let’s show our kids how important they are. —Steve Eckels, Kalispell

Fagg is best choice to oppose Tester

Before we know it it will be time to choose a Republican candidate to run against Jon Tester in the fall.

While all the candidates are rock stars in their own way if you are a Republican you have to ask who has the best chance of beating Jon Tester. This race comes down to two choices — Rosendale and Fagg.

We worked hard to get Matt Rosendale elected to the state auditor’s office. He has lived here for around 15 years and has spent much of that time running for different political offices. Rosendale should finish his term as state auditor rather than hand his seat on the Land Board over to a Democratic Bullock appointee. 

After listening to the Missoula Republican Senate forum, some things became very apparent. Two candidates are running to the hard right. Dr. O is farthest to the right with Matt Rosendale following close behind. Troy Downing is running as a businessman outsider. His problem is he is also a Montana outsider, having only filed a Montana tax return for the past two years and will get torn apart by the Democrats over his hunting snafu.  

That leaves Russ Fagg, the judge from Billings. He is a fourth-generation Montanan, he understands Montana issues, he is a strong conservative and will support the president’s agenda, and Russ has a great depth of knowledge gained from serving in our Legislature and over 20 years as a judge. 

Russ Fagg is thoughtful and articulate. He is a fiscal conservative, he is pro-life, and Russ Fagg has my vote. —Susan Lake, Ronan