Qunell speaks to Bigfork sustainability group

By ALEX STRICKLAND / Bigfork Eagle

A month after Republican candidate for county commissioner Jim Dupont spoke to the Olduvai Forum in Bigfork, his challenger, Steve Qunell, got the chance to talk about issues of sustainability and growth with the group.

The small crowd at Clementine's was unabashedly friendlier toward the Whitefish Democrat, as Qunell laid out some of his ideas and hopes should he be elected for the six-year term to replace outgoing Republican Gary Hall.

"The kind of government we have isn't the kind we need," Qunell said. "The government we have has not looked out for clean water, clean air and open space."

Qunell said that were he elected, more effective planning and work on transportation issues would be among the top tasks on his list.

Qunell said that the current commission has "consistently favored the rights of a few with deep pockets," rather than making sound decisions regarding growth.

He gave examples of water pollution in area lakes and rivers as a direct side effect of rapid construction without proper restrictions such as those that regulate stormwater retainment.

On transportation, Qunell said that a first step toward improving travel around the valley in this era of high gas prices is creating a well-signed and easily accessible bus system. With that, however, would have to come a "big thought change" in people around here. He cited a bus route that ran for a few weeks between Whitefish and Kalispell that had very few riders.

"Right now we're a long way from having any system in Flathead County," he said.

Qunell also proposed that an upcoming challenge for the county was a way to make agriculture more viable and attractive both for farmers and other residents of the county.

"We need to make sure farmers can keep farming, that's where a lot of our open space comes from," he said.

He proposed instituting programs in which locally grown food is used in area schools.

"That's one way to stimulate interest in farming and put a face on the food," he said. Qunell stressed the importance of young people realizing how foods are produced and that they don't just "come from the grocery store."

Qunell took Dupont's main campaign stance head on when he addressed his views on property rights, asserting that his opponent's view on property rights "is dying, and dying quicker than my opponent thinks it is."

The view of property rights Qunell said he ascribes to is that whatever you do on your property, it cannot adversely affect neighboring property.

"I think the average person gets that," he said.

He contended that Dupont's view held that property owners had absolute control to do whatever they want on their land.

He said that for farmers or other large landowners who's land is their most valuable asset and in many cases retirement account, that the county "owes it to them" to have a wide variety of options on the table, including conservation easements, purchase of development rights and other possibilities in addition to simply subdividing.

"That's not socialism, its not communism, that's the Flathead Valley. That's what makes this place special," he said.

Along that vein, Qunell expressed unequivocal support for the $10 million conservation bond issue that goes before voters in November.