Letter from the editor

The little people

Being one of the “little people” is tough. But it’s even tougher when regular homeowners must deal with county officials that simply don’t care.

Bigfork residents Sally Janover and Martha Oliver both find themselves the unlucky recipients of Flathead County’s poor excuse for “customer service.”

Their plight is recounted on the front page of this week’s issue, and it is a frustrating story.

They have been ping-ponged around and passed around to the point that they are dizzy. The state knows about the problem. The DEQ knows about the problem. Even the city of Kalispell knows about the problem. The common factor in all their responses: it’s the county’s problem.

The county’s response: sue Marina Cay.

Great. In the meantime, they are both in danger of being flooded off their property.

How exactly can the county pass off on this disaster? Everyone contends to the fact that when the sidewalk along Grand went in a decade ago, the entire project was supervised by the county. With the sidewalk came the catch basin, which has the pipe connected to Janover’s yard.

And the issue with Marina Cay still comes back to the county. After all, the county had to sign off on the project.

So round and round Janover and Oliver have gone.

The county has absolutely given Janover and Oliver the run-around. I know, because they gave me the same treatment: A rude secretary running interference, no returned phone calls and an attitude of complete disinterest.

Apparently, “The buck stops here” is not a slogan the Roads Department believes in.

If I was Janover or Oliver, my next phone call would not be to the county - it would be to a very skilled, very aggressive attorney. Someone like Matlock with a case of road rage.

The solution can’t be that hard. Marina Cay could be a good neighbor, and the county could at least act like a competent branch of government and somehow address the situation. But it needs to happen quickly because if the problem keeps being ignored, two homeowners who did nothing to create the crisis will be swamped.

What matters is that two residents need help, and the people making a living off their tax dollars have completely turned their backs.

The county could suddenly reverse course and do the right thing, but I’m not going to hold my breath. But if the Roads Department won’t fix their problem dealing with “acres of water,” Sally Janover and Martha Oliver will have to learn how to hold theirs.