Editor's Note: Government officials refine the art of the 'no call'

Life in many ways is a grand sport.

Recent actions by our local government officials remind me of my years as a high school basketball official. I spent over 25 years pounding the hard court, working for the players, coaches and a betterment of the game.

In my tenure as a referee I learned the subtleties of interpersonal communication (letting a coach rip on me while I maintained a non-confrontational body language) and game management (how to toss out obnoxious fans).

Often times in refereeing a contest, the “no call” was the best call. If there was obvious contact between two players but no advantage was gained, you learned to make the “no call.”

Our Flathead County commissioners and other government officials seem to have mastered the art of the “no call.”

I’ve watched how the commissioners have balked at most every important local community issue that has evolved in the last year, making the most out of this important, but overused “no call.”

About 10 years ago Montana high schools adopted a three-person crew for officiating boys and girls basketball. The three-person crew is a better way to ref hoops, but learning the system led to some glaring mistakes.

It divided the officials’ duties on the playing court three ways, rather than two.

A foul that you saw in the other guy’s area sometimes wasn’t called. “How can you not see that! There’s three of you out there!” coaches were fond of yelling.

“Not in my area, coach.”

That approach does not build teamwork among the crew, and lacks accountability.

And the no call can only work so long, too. In reffing I learned that coaches, players and fans tended to get irate over lack of air in the whistle. Sometimes you just had to call something.

Here are some similarities between the no-call, “not in my area,” and local government.

Let’s take them one by one.

Solid Waste: the county has hired an out-of-state firm, C2HM, to perform consultant duties related to the county’s desire to consolidate the trash-collection sites. The county’s solid waste board is in charge of running our trash-collection system for county residents. The county commissioners oversee the solid waste board, whose members are appointed, not elected. The county’s consultants are proposing to build, at county expense, a consolidated garbage site between Bigfork and Somers, and then allow a private business to transfer the garbage to the county landfill north of Kalispell.

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. The county would build the site, and a private business would run it.

Through the inaction and poor planning of the solid wasteå board, local residents may have to pay more for what is an essential service, similar to fire, water or law enforcement. The county sees it otherwise. They see taking care of our environment as a place to cut costs. You would not do that with fire department or law enforcement. Why would you consider garbage collection, and its effects on the environment, a budget line-item?

Residents are fuming over the proposed loss of a trash-collection site near Bigfork and will get their say at a meeting with the solid waste board May 29 in Kalispell.

The consolidation was not just a no-call, it was a bad call.

Sliter Park

Here’s a classic case of the “not in my area.”

The county parks department oversees recreation in the outlying areas of the county, including Bigfork.

The parks board is demanding that Bigfork pay for Sliter Park’s maintenance, although residents of the entire state visit Bigfork and use the park.

Last Friday the local Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork found out that it had a $3,500 lease payment due in 11 days. The CFBB was under the assumption it was abiding by its memorandum of understanding with the county, finalized in April.

The county parks board completely dropped the ball on this.

FEMA funds

The county commissioners had the chance to help residents of Evergreen receive several hundred thousand dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to fix a slumping embankment near Village Greens golf course.

The money was approved by FEMA and all the county had to do was act as the pass-through for the funds to be administered. They balked, though, and withdrew themselves from the process late in the game. They said they feared legal liability over fixing the slumping embankment.

After a huge uproar from the Evergreen residents, Flathead County district court intervened and issued an injunction that stopped the county commissioners from rejecting the federal funds.

Dockstader Island

This has to be the biggest no-call AND “not in my area” excuse of the year.

A Seattle man’s plans to build a bridge from his own land, then across Flathead Lake, to more of his own land, has drawn the ire of local residents.

Roger Sortino wants to build a bridge from his land on the north shore of Flathead Lake to Dockstader Island, which he owns.

Turns out, because of unforeseen obstacles in the ground, Sortino has had to re-route his bridge to the island, making it about 100 feet longer than originally permitted.

The county commissioners will hear his case Thursday at 9 a.m. on whether they will amend his permit to allow for the longer bridge.

Everything that Sortino had sought to build, on his own land, was entirely within the Flathead Lake protection laws. However, the county commissioners allowed the Flathead County planning board to use its permit-issuing authority, rather than requesting public hearings and putting the issue into the light of day.

Although the result would likely have been the same … Sortino would have gotten his bridge permit … public perception of the county commission might have improved.

Good lesson in game management, commissioners.

Flathead Lake

Last month the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes began their lake trout suppression program on Flathead Lake.

The tribes gill-netted about 8,000 lake trout, and one unlucky bull trout (which the tribes are trying to save). They also caught about 3,500 Lake Superior Whitefish.

The tribes manage the south half of Flathead Lake, while Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks handles the north end. Up until 2010 the tribes and FWP were under a co-management plan, working together to manage the fisheries.

Since the two parties could not come up with a new management agreement in 2010, the tribes forged ahead and are now seeking to kill about 100,000 lake trout a year, on their own, until their management goals are met.

The state completely dropped the ball on this one, and the entire complexity and biology of Flathead Lake hangs in the balance while the tribes pursue their own political goals.

Part of a democracy is an informed and participating electorate. We have to know what our elected (and otherwise) officials are doing with our public resources.

In basketball I pretty much accepted that most fans didn’t know the difference between a block-charge and player-control foul, or what a correctable error was.

Life’s a little different than a basketball game though. We “the people” know what we want, and we expect our elected officials to listen to us.

It’s time for county residents to pay attention to what’s happening in their neighborhood, or accept the consequences.

Our government officials also need to learn how to make the big call. The one that’s the right call, even when the game is on the line.

The other option is a new crew. And this being an election year, we get to choose. Let’s watch the game.