Checks and balances

Your issue of Aug. 2 features a letter/editorial by Eric Young which basically attacks Sean Frampton and those who have hired him for disagreeing with city rules or city proposals.

I'm an attorney who practices law in Eastern Montana, and I have owned property on Whitefish Lake for about 50 years. I'm not acquainted with Mr. Young or with Mr. Frampton, so I probably qualify as an independent observer.

Whether it's a city council, or a county commissioner group, or state legislator, or even a state governor, there are times when government takes action that adversely affects some citizens. Mr. Young seems to feel that city council decisions must be written in gold, and neither attorney Frampton nor who Mr. Young calls those "in the real estate industry or are developers" seem to be bad guys if they have the nerve to oppose a city council decision.

I respectfully suggest that those "in the real estate industry or are developers" may be very interested in the future of Whitefish, and they may have special knowledge and experience that makes them especially qualified to help guard that future.

As to attorney Frampton, isn't it reasonable to assume that he, too, is looking toward a long-time future in Whitefish and toward policies that will enhance that future?

If we connect the dots, as Mr. Young suggests, don't we actually find that attorney Frampton has very good success in convincing juries and judges that he and his clients have been right and officials have been wrong on the various issues taken to court?

Certainly city councilors and city employees may be hard workers and may have the best of intentions, but they are not anointed. If decisions are made that are harmful to particular citizens, isn't it to attorney Frampton's credit that he has helped such citizens by obtaining appropriate court orders?

Isn't it to the credit of attorney Frampton and those "in the real estate industry or are developers" that they are on the alert, that they apparently may organize, and that they apparently attempt to correct or mitigate harm that otherwise results to Whitefish citizens on particular issues?

Shouldn't our forefathers get credit for giving us a system of government where these checks and balances exist and where attorneys have a big part in making that system work?

Robert Hurly lives in Glasgow.