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Letters to the editor Jan. 16

| January 16, 2022 12:00 AM

Kalispell kindness

A recent article I read in the Washington Post about Kalispell made me very sad. The article was dated October 25th, 2021. In it there was news about teen suicides and the divisions caused in the town due to politics and the pandemic.

I have a brief, very brief history being in Kalispell back in 1975. I was 22 years old, I had hitchhiked up the California coast to Washington and was headed east to Wisconsin where home was at the time. A man picked me up outside of Seattle and told me he was going to Kalispell. He wanted me to drive for him because he was always drinking.

We got to Kalispell in the morning, parked at a restaurant, he ordered food, then walked out to his truck and drove off with my backpack and wallet. I was a stranger in town, scared, no money, this man just took everything I had. I remember thinking when we were coming into town how beautiful it was.

Before my food arrived I called over the restaurant manager, explained what happened and offered to leave or wash dishes. He graciously told the waitress to serve me and then gave me a coffee to go. I’ll never forget his kindness.

I walked to the police station and asked to call my parents so I could get money for a bus ticket wired to me. The police were also exceptionally kind and gracious to me. My memory of Kalispell is of a beautiful town and kind people.

Don’t forget we are all created in His image. Love your enemies. Show kindness to strangers. Thank you Kalispell.

— Steve Kohler, Prescott, Arizona

Library director

The ImagineIF Board of Trustees should not offer the position of library director to any candidate who is not fully qualified to do the job.

The county library system is already chronically underfunded, and the loss of funding associated with state accreditation will further impoverish this institution.

Further, hiring an unqualified candidate to fill the position of library director devalues the requirements of that job. It is a professional career position, and the trustees should recognize the responsibilities of the incumbent in such a manner. Hiring an unqualified candidate will ultimately further destabilize the library organization if the candidate is not fully capable of assuming the leadership and managerial duties required of the position.

The county library system is a resource of educational and entertainment possibilities available to all county citizens. The trustees should be advocating to strengthen the library’s role as an invaluable community resource. Other county departments would not hire an unqualified candidate for the role of leadership and management, so no exceptions should be made for the ImagineIf Library.

In any position that is supported by the tax dollars of Flathead county citizens, the commissioners should strive for an excellent candidate that will serve the county well and thus give the citizens a good return on their financial investments.

Please do not make a reckless hiring decision that will cost the county library system money, stability and accreditation.

­— Sylvia A. Smith, Kalispell

Tourism promotion

Dear Whitefish residents,

The TPA or CSF on your restaurant, car rentals, lodging should state “optional” or “voluntary.” You can have this fee removed.

The visitor and convention bureau (Explore Whitefish) are re-branding this fee and now calling it “community sustainability fund.” They have given $75,000 to Whitefish Housing to hire a grant writer. They want us to believe that the million dollars they take in from this fee goes toward affordable housing. It does not.

Don’t be fooled by their marketing, and please tell your friends not to pay it. The only way to control tourism promotion is to cut their funding.

— Nancy Schuber, Whitefish