Vote Blackler
Be an informed voter! Voters in House District #9, which includes the East Lake Shore, Bigfork, Swan River & Creston areas, I'd like you to become acquainted with Democratic Candidate Edd Blackler.
We know Edd is committed to make a difference in Helena as he is involved in our community. He has taken the time to attend meetings and study the issues concerning Highway 35 truck traffic, land banking the 440 acres of state trust land in the Estes Lake area and much more. He is concerned about adequate funding for education in a fair and equitable way.
Edd is a native Montanan; he knows Montana and its people. Educated in Montana, he believes Montana can become a leader in alternative energy and educational opportunities. He believes we can protect, as well as use, our natural resources to promote sound economic development. He believes keeping air and water quality a top priority is in the best interest for all Montana citizens and our economy.
Montana's lifestyle is Edd's lifestyle. He is a hunter and enjoys time with his horses. He is a thrifty/no waste kind of guy, an independent thinker, with no personal agenda. It is time we have a person like Edd represent HD#9 in Helena. He has the time and he does not have to have party members tell him how to vote. Montana and its citizens will be his priority. Elect Edd!
JoLynn Yenne
Bigfork
Vote Reichner
It is indeed a rare find when one discovers a person who is seeking public office with the noble purpose of service to his or her neighbors and community. It is rarer still to find a person who does so with the conviction of principles and moral reasoning.
As a concerned member of the community and someone who happens to be deeply committed to the future of our republic and the promise of Montana for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, I am more than thrilled to share the discovery of such a person. His name is Scott Reichner.
Scott is running as the Republican candidate for the House of Representatives for District #9. He is a highly respected local businessman with an office located in Bigfork. He served the community as a member of the school board for eight years, two of which were as the board chairman. He is the proud father of nine children and shares that parenthood with his wife of 15 years, Jill.
Scott exemplifies his devotion to the community through his faith and service to our youth as a Boy Scout Leader. In fact he earned the highest honor in scouting; that of an Eagle Scout. His reputation as a man you can deal with on a handshake, his integrity, his work ethic and his commitment to the fair treatment for all of us, is a badge of honor he wears well.
As I came to know Scott, I was delighted to discover his unwavering fidelity for the promise of America. His concern for a better place to raise our children, to live and work in peace and harmony and to realize the greatness of this great State and it's fit into the structure of America. It is evident in his continuous efforts to make our neighborhoods an integral and viable part of this last best place.
Scott is tireless in his commitment to the community and the people who reside here. He understands the importance of working with his elected colleagues in the Assembly to make certain the needs and desires of the people are addressed.
I would hope my friends and neighbors will take the time to look into the candidacy of Scott Reichner. I assure you it will be a refreshing look into the commitment, determination and dedication of a man for all of us.
If you are concerned about energy, taxes, roads, schools, water rights, 2nd Amendment rights and our very freedom as Montanans then a vote for Scott Reichner will help ensure each of these concerns.
On November 4, vote Scott Reicher, Republican, Montana House of Representatives.
Jerry Molen
Bigfork
Vote Dupont
To maintain the county's bloated budget and excessive staffing, taxpayers now face new property tax increases in the coming county budget. The excuse for these new tax increases was given by the county commission's $100,000 a year administrator, Mike Pence: "Growth has slowed significantly." Until now, Pence has been telling us that growth doesn't pay for itself. I guess he was wrong!
Lets hope he continues to be wrong when he predicts an, "even more dramatic reduction in growth numbers," next year.
This would translate to fewer jobs in the construction building trades and wholesale and retail sales — in other words — what has recently been driving the most positive economic period in the Flathead's history. No, I don't mean a few tourists snapping pictures of grizzly bears, or what may in the future prove to be an already fatally wounded natural resource industry in Flathead County. I mean the obvious: Growth!
As they are beginning to say on Wall Street: Now is the time for a reality break. Because of the downturn in the national economy and the dramatic drop in county growth aided by the county's attacks on property rights, the county's budget is beginning to dig itself into a hole that will only get deeper.
As should now be obvious for all to see, for the sake of county taxpayers, our next county commissioner had better be someone with knowledge and experience necessary to hit the ground running when he takes office. There is only one candidate in this commissioner's race that fits that bill: former sheriff Jim Dupont.
When first elected to office, Jim inherited a Sheriff's Department that was in shambles, much like the county government today. At that time, using his management skills he turned that Sheriff's Department into a law enforcement agency that was and still is the envy of the state. He did all of this without breaking the budget or the trust of the citizens of Flathead County.
Dupont's unheard of 90 percent vote for re-election his last term in office as Sheriff, speaks volumes for the high esteem citizens had for his service and leadership. This is the kind of leadership that is presently lacking but desperately needed in the commissioners office today.
This is the kind of leadership that only Jim Dupont can provide!
Cindy Inabnit
Kalispell
Dupont Part II
As a Flathead County Republican Central Committee member I take great exception to Democrat Steve Qunell's recent comments that: "The issues in the commissioners race are neither Republican nor Democrat."
That may have been true years ago when we had Democrats in the commissioner's office like Alen Jacobson or Ken Kruger. Today, times have changed.
The long respected traditions of the Democrat Party and the mainstream local people that served that party with distinction, have been co-opt by extreme and politically far-left interests that no longer represent mainstream thought or opinion.
For this reason, beware of the Qunells and other Democrats that to get elected cannot honestly represent themselves or their views for what they really are.
In recent years Flathead Democrats have been noted for trying to appear to be more "Republican" than their opponents, when running for public office. If they are successfully elected and once in power, however, they quickly act on their extreme out-of-the-mainstream beliefs.
The Flathead's legislative delegation highlights the significant difference between "Republican" principles and the extreme principles of the far-left now represented by the local Democrat Party.
During the 2007 Montana legislative session every Republican Representative voted in favor of George Everett's "Property Rights" bill. The Flathead's Democrats in the House, Douglas Cordier and Mike Jopek, voted "NO" to protecting private property rights.
A recent Montana Chamber of Commerce grading of legislators by their pro or anti-business voting records during that session gives pro-business ratings to the Flathead's Democrats as follows: Cordier 21 percent; Weinberg 0 percent; Jopek 0 percent.
The lowest rating given by the Chamber to any Flathead Republican was a 78 percent pro-business voting record. Three local Republican legislators, Blasdel, Sonju and Barkus, each received a 100 percent rating. The remaining Flathead County Republican Representatives received pro-business scores in the 80-90 percent range.
Contrary to what Qunell and other Flathead County Democrats running for political office would like you to believe, there is a difference between local Republicans and Democrats. Simply look at their poster child, Democrat county commissioner, Joe (property rights are "silly") Brenneman.
Unfortunately for local Democrats steeped in the mainstream traditions of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy, those Democrats have been pushed aside by radical leftist politics and political agendas. Such is the state of Flathead's Democrat Party and its candidates being offered up for public office today. Steve Qunell appears to be no exception!
Russell Crowder
Marion