Lightning rod for lawsuits

The citizens committee currently wrestling with the technicalities of ticklish land-use proposals might bear in mind two ancient lessons which resurfaced in recent court activity.

As Caesar explained to soon-to-be ex-wife Pompeia, appearances matter, and at the top they matter a lot. Furthermore, what you do speaks so loudly that folks often can't hear what you say.

When the Whitefish city attorney maintained that an administrator lacked the power to grant excess-slope exemptions to one builder even while denying another builder, the clang of apparent unfairness drowned out his argument to the jury.

Similarly, the billboard argument of Montana Supreme Court precedent but limited legal resources may do little to reassure a Missoula Federal District Court and a very liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck by the jarring inequity of past enforcement selection favoring large corporations.

Those that ignore history often get to repeat it.

Andy Palchak

Kalispell