Councilor hopes for anti-hate measure here

Columbia Falls City councilwoman Jenny Lovering hopes to see a kinder, gentler city in 2017. At the last council meeting of the year, Lovering urged her fellow councilmembers to pass a resolution denouncing hate and bigotry.

“I wanted to take moment to express admiration for our sister city of Whitefish for making a strong statement against hate, bigotry and discrimination,” Lovering said, reading form a prepared statement. “I wish resolutions and ordinances of that nature were not necessary in our society, but unfortunately, I think they are.

“Perhaps the city of Columbia Falls could consider following suit with Whitefish, Missoula, Bozeman, Billings and Butte. Please note that I am not saying this as a response to something or city has or hasn’t done, but in light of the recent social media hate attacks against citizens and businesses of this valley, I think it is important that we stand in solidarity against hate. Words matter.”

After she read the statement, the rest of the council made no comment. In fact, they just went on to the next topic.

Contacted after the meeting, Lovering said she wasn’t going to let the matter die. She said she wants to bring a formal resolution to council next month, particularly in light of events that have happened recently in Whitefish. Richard Spencer, a self-proclaimed white nationalist lives in Whitefish and has indicated he may run for the open congressional seat that will be vacated when current Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke is appointed as Secretary of the Interior.

Since Spencer’s recent rise to the limelight, members of the Jewish community in Whitefish who have been critical of Spencer and his mother, Sherry, have been targeted by a neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. Sherry owns a commercial building in the Whitefish’s Railway District.

The matter has gotten downright ugly and even, perhaps, dangerous. Gov. Steve Bullock was scheduled to visit Whitefish last week, but then canceled it.

The Daily Stormer post on Friday included the names and contact information for three local Jewish families, even including a photo of one family’s child, along with the headline “Jews Targeting Richard Spencer’s Mother for Harassment and Extortion.” It encouraged followers to spam Love Lives Here, an affiliate of the Montana Human Rights Network.

Sherry Spencer, in turn, has said she does not support her son’s views.

Last week, the Daily Stormer site was calling for an armed rally in Whitefish.

Lovering said her intent with a resolution in Columbia Falls is to be “proactive rather than reactive.”

The Whitefish resolution, passed in 2014, says, in part, “The Whitefish City Council declares its support of Whitefish community values that recognize and celebrate the dignity, diversity, and inclusion of all of its inhabitants and visitors, and protect and safeguard the right and opportunity of all persons to exercise their civil rights, including the rights of free speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom from discrimination.”

The resolution was later incorporated into an ordinance by Whitefish.