Dispatch plan should be dropped

Whitefish city manager Gary Marks, responding to my Jan. 26 letter in the Pilot, laments that neither he nor the Whitefish City Council can take credit for the idea that Flathead County's 911 dispatch center should be moved from its present location in Kalispell.

He's right about that — and I never alleged otherwise. His lament is a red herring.

But he and the city council can, and should, take credit for scheming to move the 911 dispatch center to Whitefish. Without first discussing the matter with Flathead County commissioner Gary Hall, a member of the county's 911 board, Marks presented to the Whitefish council on Jan. 17 a resolution, adopted by the council, that concludes: "The Whitefish City Council hereby respectfully requests that the Montana congressional delegation assist the city in securing federal funding to aid in the construction of an Emergency Services and Multi-Agency Critical Incident Coordination Center that would support the emergency services operations of the city of Whitefish, combined Flathead County 911 emergency dispatch operations, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, U.S. Forest Service, and the Montana National Guard."

Moving the 911 dispatch center to Whitefish is an idea for which Marks and the Whitefish council can claim prime ownership.

As Richard Hanners reported last week, this attempt to steal a march on the rest of the county — a maneuver that looks and quacks like a scheme — has raised eyebrows at both the state and local levels. Which is not surprising — it's the political equivalent of insider trading.

Unless the council and Marks return to working in the sunlight — a good start would be rescinding that resolution (which makes some astonishing claims that the voters of Whitefish would be well advised to examine) — this incident could become a political disaster that blackens Whitefish's hard-earned reputation for clean and progressive politics.

As for moving the dispatch center to Whitefish, I still consider it a bad idea.

James Conner

Kalispel