Editorial viewpoint

One city's gain is the city's loss characterizes Whitefish City Council's recent decision to withdraw from the Tri-City planning office. Council absolutely acted in the best interest of Whitefish - three proposed full-time planners will give Whitefish the resources necessary to properly prepare for growth. Yet the Tri-City planning office, and the three-city collective awareness that it brought to the valley, was a unique example of collaborative effort that is not present in many counties in the United States.

Talk of efforts to create a regional planning board are encouraging, but there is nothing like three cities sharing resources and knowledge for a common goal.

Though the end of the Tri-City planning office may indeed be inevitable, as city manager Gary Marks pointed out, it is in everyone's best interest to consider the collaborative effort that it fostered, and seek to create it in other arenas.

It also means that if we want our valley to reflect the viewpoint of all of its residents, then Whitefish residents need to be more involved on the county level. After all, we're all county residents.