Bob Horne will be missed

For awhile, I thought that, under Bob Horne's direction, Whitefish would lead us down a path of some form of sane, environmentally sound, growth policy that all of the rest of Flathead County, and even all of Montana, could learn and benefit from. After all, is Whitefish not the center of Flathead County intellectualism? (Perhaps not.)

But, sadly for me, Bob has been beaten down by an onslaught from the Realtors association and their clients and lawyers, and by the lack of support from Whitefish residents to protect their own chosen lifestyle, and he has resigned his position as the director of the Whitefish Planning and Building Department.

Whitefish residents can now look forward to seeing Whitefish grow at the same haphazard, reckless pace that Denver and Los Angeles realized. The capitalists have won a victory over the environmentalists and will control growth in Whitefish City-County.

Congratulations to the citizens of Whitefish for your apathy. Whitefish Lake will continue to become increasingly polluted, traffic congestion will become unbearable, and individual property rights will reign, to the detriment of neighbors' property rights.

The Golden Rule has officially changed from the Democrats' version "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" to the Republicans' version "He who has the gold rules."

So, it is with a sad farewell that I say good-bye to Bob Horne and wish him well with his next career move. Bob, you fought the good fight, you brought innovation and brilliance to your profession, but the very people whose lifestyle you tried to protect did not even support your efforts. Go figure.

It might be time to recall the members of the Whitefish City Council and the Whitefish City-County Planning Board. What say you, citizens of Whitefish?

Bill Baum

Coram