Whitefish is not a corporation

Recently, I was having a political conversation with someone I had never before discussed politics. As we were talking about some of the issues facing Whitefish, they repeated "Whitefish is a $27 million corporation" to me several times during the conversation. This person went on to criticize how our current city government was running the show.

I am the kind of person who cannot really watch TV because I get a commercial in my head and I can't get it out. The next day, I was trying to paint a room and all I could hear in my head was, "Whitefish is a $27 million corporation."

I am also one of those folks with a liberal arts degree who occasionally gets to use my training as I peddle coffee and vegetables. My sociological training helped as I tried to reconcile the sound-bite playing in my head.

I started thinking about someone who would say "Whitefish is a $27 million corporation" as a person from another culture. Once I did this, I was struck by the importance of this statement and how it sheds some transparency on the division that seems to be facing Whitefish right now.

So let me offer a little insight into my culture: Whitefish is not a $27 million corporation. Whitefish does not owe anyone huge profits at the expense of the things Whitefish is.

And this is what Whitefish is: It is our home, our refuge, our sanctuary. Whitefish is an amazing community where we can ride our bikes, ski, hike, look at the stars and truly love and appreciate our life.

Whitefish is a place where a person can make an honest living if they are willing to work hard and care about their neighbors. It is a community with a great library, a community hospital, a cultural center, health and fitness center, two farmers markets, an ice-skating rink and a skateboarding park, good access to clean water and, soon, even a public place to let our dogs run free.

Whitefish is a place where dozens of people donate hundreds of hours to govern, build and sustain a high-quality place to live. Our community members donate this time freely without expecting personal gain except, perhaps, the personal gain they willingly share and envision — to help make Whitefish one of the best places to live a quality life.

Whitefish is a community that is fortunate to have a $27 million budget. We have become the envy of the state in our ability to translate dollars into action, to facilitate good services to people.

And we should be proud of our collective achievement. It has not always been easy, nor should it be. Honest disagreements are valid. But we seem to have an uncanny ability to work through difficult times for the greater good — to make our community a home.

If you are one of those folks who think Whitefish is a corporation, give me a call. I would love to have some coffee with you. Let's talk. (If it was summer, I might try to wrangle you to work in my garden.) Communication is so important.

I would love the chance to plant a new sound-bite in your head: "Whitefish is our home." Let's try this message in our heads as we do something more fun than paint a room.

Pam Gerwe lives in Whitefish.