Correcting political misinformation

I would like to correct a misrepresentation that is circulating within our community concerning the role that Rep. Mike Jopek had in relation to the development of the Critical Areas Ordinance.

I met John Fuller, who is running against Jopek for House District 4, on my front steps while he was campaigning. He informed me that Jopek was somehow responsible for the creation of the Critical Areas Ordinance.

Having been to many of the CAO meetings, I knew that this was not correct and told Mr. Fuller that this was not true. He then said that he remembered Mike Jopek standing up at a Whitefish City Council meeting in support of the CAO.

Yes, I said, I remembered that, too. It was one time. He spoke very briefly. Given that he was the chairman of the Whitefish City-County Planning Board for several years before being elected to represent us in Helena, I think that was appropriate.

I told Fuller that that was about the extent of Mike Jopek's involvement. I then asked Mike about it, and he concurred — he said he was working on statewide issues as our representative at the time, not local issues.

So I called Mr. Fuller at home and told him that he really should quit trying to blame the CAO on Mike Jopek just to win votes, because the premise was false.

Yet, in this last week's paper, there it was again, a political spin that was inaccurate.

So what are the facts? The city of Whitefish had two departments that generated the idea of the CAO — the planning department and the engineering department — in response to a need to plan for the way that water flows through our landscape.

They developed a committee of citizens to work with two consultants to create the CAO. It went through numerous revisions and is still being worked on. The intent of the ordinance is to allow water that is brought to our landscape through natural means to stay where it will naturally flow, so our water quality remains intact. This type of infrastructure is basic to all cities as they grow.

It has been controversial because there are new building requirements.

Our politicians are essentially problem-solvers. They need to be able to get along with people, and not insinuate that difficult community issues are anyone person's fault.

This is a community and we all get a voice and we are all, on some level, responsible for our future as a city. Truthful representation of the facts is a very basic requirement for anyone in public service. I appreciate Mr. Fuller's willingness to serve our community and urge him to get more involved on a local level, but this year Mike Jopek gets my vote.

Rebecca Norton lives in Whitefish.