Letters to the editor July 19

I’m going to ask you to do some things for me, and I’ll do the same for you in return.

I’m going to ask you to be stone cold sober behind the wheel, to protect me and my family. And I’ll do the same for you.

I’m going to ask you to not drive 70 mph down my residential street, to protect my kids and neighbors. And I’ll do the same for you.

And I’m going to ask you to take just one little step back from me in that grocery store line, and to wear a mask, too. And I will absolutely do the same for you.

I’m strong. I will climb mountains and run trails and paddle rivers and I will keep up with the best of you.

But I have a weakness. All of us do. Mine happens to be my defective immune system – it just doesn’t work right, never has. And unfortunately, I’ve passed that along to my kiddo.

So when you see us wearing our masks in public, please don’t assume we’re making a political statement. Instead, consider that you don’t know my weakness any more than I know yours, and just show some kindness. Maybe even some respect.

I get it. I don’t like rules either. I prefer personal responsibility. But when persons aren’t responsible, then we need a few ground rules between friends.

Honoring our obligations to one another doesn’t make us communist China. It just makes us decent neighbors.

I’ll do that for you.

— Michael Jamison, Whitefish

I would like to express my disappointment in the handling of the face mask policy vote by the Whitefish City Council.

Every business owner in Whitefish should have received notification of the closed door meeting on June 30 to discuss the proposed mask policy for the city. As it stands, only a fraction were invited. Closed-door discussions between the council and a small group of individuals about policy that effects every person in Whitefish have no place in our city.

It’s interesting to note that the 30 letters in the online packet for the Monday, July 6th council meeting were dated either June 29th or 30th. This indicates that only those who were invited to the closed door discussion the previous Tuesday had foreknowledge of the proposed mask policy and were able to submit comments to the City Manager 6+ days before the vote.

The remainder of residents learned of the proposed mask policy from the Daily Inter Lake article on July 4, leaving only 48 hours to alert others and submit a comment over a holiday weekend.

It’s hard to believe council members were able to read and thoroughly consider 500+ letters from the public within a few hours before the vote on Monday, July 6 — including a petition that gathered 400+ signatures against the face mask proposal.

Moving forward, it’s crucial the Whitefish City Council takes the time to represent the full voice of Whitefish residents in a transparent and accountable manner.

— Carolanne Wright, Whitefish

When President Trump is finished making America great again on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, I hope it’s still standing. I hope I’m still standing! But with every day that passes comes a new assault on those likelihoods by the most emotionally disturbed and intellectually deficient man ever elected to that office.

I don’t agree with much that President Ronald Reagan did, or tried to do, during the 1980s. But I do agree with what he said several days before the presidential election 40 years ago.

“Next Tuesday all of you will go to the polls, will stand there in the polling place and make a decision. I think when you make that decision, it might be well if you would ask yourself, are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was? Do you feel that our security is as safe, that we’re as strong as we were four years ago?

“And if you answer all of those questions yes, why then, I think your choice is very obvious as to whom you will vote for. If you don’t agree, if you don’t think that this course that we’ve been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have. This country doesn’t have to be in the shape that it is in.”

Truer words have never been spoken at a more critical time in our nation’s history, 40 years later.

—Roger Hopkins, Columbia Falls

A letter to the man who shot my dog.

Belle, will be fine, you did not kill her. The wonderful Dr. Edgren at Big Sky Veterinary said she is the luckiest dog in the world. Your bullet went through her right thigh out her right groin into her left groin and out her left thigh. It did not hit a bone or major artery or organ. I thought you might like to know she will be OK.

I am very sorry she got out of my control. I got to her in less than 10 minutes, I am sorry you felt the need to grab your gun upon seeing my beautiful Great Pyrenees running in your yard with her leash dragging behind her. I am sorry my yells for her did not stop you from trying to kill her.

I am sorry you chose the most violent way to get my sweet, loving, gentile dog off your property.

—Kim Baldwin, Kalispell