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Does ‘Montana values’ mean helping folks in Congress?

Well, boys and girls, it’s almost time for another election and we have a whole cadre of candidates in Montana vying for a seat in the U.S. Senate and a seat in the U.S. House.

All are now out stomping in the state for your vote and telling each and every one of us that they “will fight for us and Montana values.”

But just what are the Montana values that our folks in Congress are fighting for?

Well, for starters, how about 30 days paid vacation for members of Congress, two weeks more vacation time then the average working Jane or Joe in this country. How about a congressional system of medical insurance that has nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act (which has forced millions of Americans to buy a non-existent insurance policy since the premiums are so high and deductibles are so high, they are non-existent in the way of being cost-effective)? How about 70-plus days off for holidays that the average American doesn’t get (or gets one day off instead of a week as our elected officials do)? Depending on the fiscal calendar for Congress, the time off above the 30-day vacation can be 70 to 77 days!

And let’s not forget six weeks “congressional break time” over and above the 30 day vacation. That’s when our elected officials come out to Montana and pursue Montana values here instead of in D.C. Like a week off in Glacier National Park with the family? Or maybe they get lost and spend 11 days in the country of Israel with the family — looking for Montana values? Or working out on the farm plowing or cutting wheat out in Big Sandy and looking for Montana values? And don’t forget, Montana values include $3.2 million in senatorial discretionary money for six years and $1.4 million dollars congressional money for two years. This allows our elected officials to come out to Montana every week on our tax dollars to speak to the business community and special interest groups (lobbyist) and buy their votes in pursuit of Montana values. Meanwhile, while they are fighting for you and Montana values , at the same time they are able to move monies around in their congressional retirement system to improve their portfolio from information received from lobbyists. All of that means that after 25 or 30 years of public service, they will be able to retire with a yearly retirement of $175K to $186K and enjoy their waning years after pursuing Montana values.

And they will fight for you, too, but if a Cabinet position becomes available, they will take that position and leave the fighting for Montana values to somebody else.

Nearly 60 years ago (1960) before the Congressional Retirement System was put into place by the House and the Senate, Montana values and the values of all the other states perhaps really meant something. When 51 percent of the members of Congress today are millionaires, 47 percent make over $500K a year and the remaining 2 percent make over $250K a year, Montana values and other state values seem to be a lot of empty words. —Jim Garvey, Kalispell

County commissioners wrong again

Our county commissioners have now come clean that they unanimously oppose Kalispell’s vision for the city’s future. They actively oppose our city’s ambitions for a more pleasant and prosperous downtown area. Meanwhile the county commissioners also are at war with officials of Whitefish, the county’s second largest city.

The disagreement with Whitefish, while unfortunate, concerns an area slightly outside the city limits. In Kalispell the commissioners oppose well-considered plans for our Main Street itself.

According to the Daily Inter Lake (Sept. 9, p. A1), the commissioners sent a letter to the Kalispell City Council opposing the proposal for two lanes of through traffic and one turn lane on Main Street that city officials believe will create a more pedestrian-friendly downtown. Their letter said, “We encourage Kalispell officials to abandon any plans that have the potential to degrade the connectivity, efficiency and safety of highways, streets and roads within Flathead County … We will continue to urge MDOT (Montana Department of Transportation) to stay the course for Highway 93 through the Kalispell area.”

Connectivity, efficiency and safety? For what purpose was the U.S. 93 bypass built? Moreover, other possibilities also are being considered to streamline traffic flows through Kalispell. If the commissioners’ preferred four-lane design for Main Street is built with all traffic routed to the east of the courthouse, not only will the tranquility of residences on the east side of the courthouse be destroyed, but the vehicle count on Main Street could swell by a projected 70 percent to over 30,000 per day by 2040, 23 years from now. What folly! But these commissioners are known for such poorly considered decisions.

Isn’t it time to get rid of these commissioners — Holmquist, Mitchell and Krueger — and to replace them with people who are more constructive and cooperative in designing the county’s future? —Bill Cox, Kalispell

Let’s put new jail in South Kalispell

I am a resident of and mayoral candidate for the city of Columbia Falls who was strongly opposed to siting the Flathead County jail at the city’s doorstep. Fortunately the commissioners withdrew that proposal.

Here is my alternative. Put the detention center in South Kalispell on farmland adjacent to the U.S. 93 Bypass that will not be surrounded by schools, senior housing and residential areas.

1) Costs to purchase 24 acres of farmland with an access road from the bypass to the South Kalispell Detention Center is considerably less than the $2.6 million that was quoted for the Columbia Falls site.

2) Reduced costs for land, building, construction, and money saved by the county over the past several years toward a new jail eliminates the need for a mill levy increase. In addition, being one or two miles from the courthouse will dramatically reduce prisoner transportation costs compared to a site like Columbia Falls.

3) The South Kalispell Detention Center can contain a jailbreak using the resources of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, Kalispell Police and

Montana State Patrol. —John H. Rallis, Columbia Falls