Likes Sweeney
I was motivated to write after reading some very negative letters to the editor in the Pilot in the past few weeks and after receiving Tim Grattan's inflammatory and erroneous political mailer.
Ever since my grandparents moved here to work on the railroad back in the early 1930s, people have been grousing about city council decisions. But I ask you to please hold your tongue if you can't say anything nice about our city council members and candidates.
All the city councilors, past and present, volunteer their time and do the best they know how to represent a diverse community. Not everyone is ever happy with the city council, ever, but why say nasty things about the people who are willing to, and do, serve us?
My husband and I live in the doughnut, and it irks me not to be able to vote in city affairs that directly affect us and our property, but I am hopeful that one day soon we will have representation on city council. Yet I still appreciate the city council's efforts in creating and protecting some of Whitefish's most important assets — clean water, a vibrant downtown, light pollution, our roads and bike paths, to name a few. These things contribute greatly to our excellent quality of life and protects our property values.
I encourage you to vote for Frank Sweeney because he listens, he is fair in his decisions, and he has lots of local experience serving our community. See, that wasn't so hard. I said positive things about my preferred candidate for Whitefish City Council. Won't you please do the same?
Finally, let's all be thankful and respectful for all our city councilors' service and hard work, whether we agree with their decisions or not.
MaiBritt Bennett
Whitefish
Donut politics
I write this letter not as a representative of the Whitefish City-County Planning Board but as a very concerned citizen of Whitefish.
I have lived here in Whitefish for only 25 years, but within my extended family are five generations of Whitefish citizens. As I travel, I've always been very proud to say I'm from Whitefish. I even have Whitefish license plates on my vehicles. So to say I'm not proud of our town would be wrong.
My wife and I live in Whitefish's two-mile planning and zoning "doughnut" area. By now you have read or heard all about the different views on recent issues going on in our town regarding the doughnut zone. We have a very important election coming up in our town, but because I live in the doughnut, I cannot vote for the city council members.
Remember, we in the doughnut zone are told what we can do and what we cannot do with our property by the very council that we will not get a chance to vote for. I feel, with the slate of candidates running, my/our property rights will be best represented by Phil Mitchell, Chris Hyatt and Bill Kahle.
The city council, of late, just does not seem to be listening to the wants and needs of the majority of citizens they represent. Maybe we can get back to a little of that old "by the people, for the people" thing.
I would like this letter to stand as my open invitation to any concerned citizen of the city of Whitefish to vote in my place (because I can't vote) as my proxy for the council members to represent those of us that live in the doughnut. The citizens of the doughnut need representation. Please represent us with your vote. I hope everyone who can vote does.
Ole Netteberg
Whitefish
Supports Sweeney
I think we owe a lot of respect to anyone who runs and serves in local office, even if their decisions or votes aren't always exactly the ones we would make ourselves. The truth is always more complicated than the chatter.
Serving on the Whitefish City Council is essentially a volunteer effort. Beyond the Monday night council meetings, councilors spend many more hours each week reading and studying documents, in meetings, talking to people in the community and otherwise doing their "homework."
For the most part, our city councilors volunteer their time because they believe in our community and they want the best for our town.
The least that we can do as voters is to make our decisions when we vote based on fact and reality, and not get taken in by spin, sound bites and outright misrepresentations, especially when the dubious information is coming from professionals representing special-interest lobbyists and other self-interested parties. There is something particularly unseemly about professional lobbyists willfully misrepresenting the work of volunteers.
This is one reason why I support Frank Sweeney for Whitefish City Council. He is his own man. He won't be there to do the bidding of any special interest. He will consider the issues based on the realities and facts and not the dictates of ideology or special-interest lobby.
John Frandsen
Whitefish
Oktoberfest
On behalf of the White-fish Golden Agers, I would like to extend our thanks to the community for making our Oktoberfest fundraiser a fun, memorable and successful event.
The Golden Agers provide valuable health and social services to our senior population, and the support we received from both businesses and individuals was very gratifying.
We'd like to thank the following businesses for their support and/or donations: Glacier Bank, First Interstate Bank, Whitefish Credit Union, SM Bradford Co., Crystal Winters, NorthWest Trading, Whitefish Gift and Gear, Nelson's Hardware, Purple Pomegranate, Sage & Cedar, Northwind Shirt Co., Flathead Electric Co-op, KOFI radio, KAJ-TV, Wendy Ostrom Price radio show.
If the public would like to learn more about the Whitefish Golden Agers, please visit online at www.whitefishcommunitycenter.org or call the Whitefish Community Center at 862-4923
Jerrel Hudson, president
Board of directors
Whitefish Golden Agers