Letters to the editor May 19
Wenz committed to justice
A justice of the peace serves an incredibly important role. While many of us will never have to navigate the waters of district court, there are few who will not have some sort of interaction with justice court, whether through landlord-tenant disputes, a traffic ticket or small claims actions.
Tim Wenz has served as a prosecutor, defense attorney and civil attorney. He has the legal background, knowledge and measured decision making that is well-suited to the bench. Tim is both professional and deliberate, treating all parties with grace and respect.
On a personal level, I have known Tim for over 20 years. He is deeply committed to justice, his family and his community. Flathead County could not ask for a better candidate.
— Angela Jacobs, Whitefish
Sprunger cuts red tape
Please join me in supporting Republican Rep. Courtenay Sprunger for House District 7 for the primary election.
I own a business in her district and she is easy to contact and is always interested in my opinion. She returns calls and emails in a very timely manner.
One of the most important reasons I support Courtenay is because she is committed to making our land use and DEQ regulations more user friendly and less burdensome on property owners.
Courtenay is determined to cut red tape in an effort to provide more housing supply. Courtenay understands that bringing down housing costs for our children and grandchildren requires adequate housing supply. I support her 100% in her efforts.
Please join me in supporting Courtenay Sprunger in the primary election for House District 7.
— Ardis Larsen, Lakeside
Federal benefit cuts
This morning, I was reading an article about how the Trump administration is pursuing changes to Medicaid and Medicare and other benefits that allow disabled individuals to live at home with their family.
It looks like about 400,000 people are going to lose about $330 per month worth of benefits. I know many people who supported this administration that are going to lose benefits, and I wonder if they thought this out when they were supporting this administration.
Either way, no blame here, I didn’t hear anything about this happening. But if this is happening under somebody that I supported, I would be furious. This is end stage capitalism at its finest. All of these people were warning us of socialism with their hands over their eyes, following the straight line toward what this is become. Extreme wealth inequality, corporate dominance, and extreme financialization.
This is going to take a long time to dig our way out of this, and this situation is no better than what many people were warning us would happen at the other party won. It is worse.
— Jeremy Phillips, Kalispell
Sterling has skills, knowledge, character
This letter is written to endorse Sheena Sterling in her campaign for the office of Clerk and Recorder of Flathead County.
It has been my privilege to practice law in Flathead County for over 50 years and in that time it has been an honor to work with a good number of people elected to this position. It has been a pleasure to work with the staff members in the office when recording all types of documents and they have been most gracious in pointing out mistakes I have made from time to time before a document gets recorded which attests to the thoroughness and efficiency of the department.
As manager of that office for years, Ms. Sterling has shown she has the skills, knowledge and character to operate one of the most important offices in the county. Further, as manager of the department which includes the GIS, Plat Room, Records Preservation and the recording division within the department she has been at the forefront of bringing new technologies to the office all to the benefit of the public.
This county has had the good fortune to have excellent people in that office and, in my view, electing Ms. Sterling as Flathead County clerk and recorder would continue that tradition. I encourage you to vote for her.
— Thomas Hoover, Kalispell
Responsible growth
In a recent article “Flathead Lake stewardship is a generational responsibility,” the author emphasized the need to protect one of Montana’s greatest natural resources. I agree. But stewardship also requires local officials to use the authority they already possess instead of approving growth first and dealing with the consequences later.
In Somers, Flathead Lake is within 100 yards of the Burlington Northern Superfund Site, where EPA restrictions remain in place due to documented creosote contamination, groundwater concerns and long-term environmental risks. Residents have repeatedly raised these concerns during planning board hearings, yet development approvals continue moving forward.
Somers Road is already under increasing strain from large residential projects, commercial growth, a new state park and expanded services. Citizens have questioned the adequacy of traffic impact studies and warned about cumulative impacts on infrastructure, safety, groundwater and Flathead Lake itself.
Despite these concerns, approvals continue while responsibility for future roadway improvements is effectively pushed onto taxpayers and future governments. This is not opposition to growth; it’s inevitable, but responsible growth is important. But responsible growth requires transparency, realistic infrastructure planning, and respect for environmental limitations that cannot simply be engineered away later.
The Burlington Northern site remains environmentally sensitive decades after remediation began. Any major excavation, roadway expansion, or groundwater disruption near the contamination plume carries real long-term risk. Once damage occurs to groundwater or Flathead Lake, recovery becomes extraordinarily difficult and expensive.
County leaders should pause, reassess and determine whether continued high-density development near a federally regulated Superfund site truly serves the long-term interests of Somers, Flathead Lake and future generations.
— Jim Mathieu, Somers