Gravel pits and the spin machine
When Rep. Mike Jopek called a public forum at Flathead Valley Community College to gain input from the people of Flathead Valley about gravel pits, open-cut mining, etc., he was surprised down to his barefoot Birkenstocks to find the auditorium filled with the honest hard-working citizens who wear working boots and whose livelihood depends on the industry.
It was obvious that his intention was to have a mutual pit bash (gravel pit, that is) by the fact that none of the other elected officials in Flathead Valley were invited except for Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman and a senator from Missoula.
No industry representatives were invited and only learned of the forum from the newspaper ad. So the consternation on Mr. Jopek's face was obvious as he was forced to listen to almost two hours of remarks about the advantages, benefits and necessity of open-cut mining and the ecological concern of gravel pit owners, operators and employees. So his plan of having a staged event for press and cameras was thwarted by the power of the people.
Consequently, in a recent editorial, Mr. Jopek has tried to put a spin on the event with a rambling dissertation about how solutions are possible when we listen to others. This is definitely true, but actions speak louder than words. And the actions of Mr. Jopek speak for themselves.
Mr. Jopek is the guiding force behind the "doughnut" of the Critical Land Ordinance that would have disenfranchised thousands of hard-working people of Flathead Valley who live in the surrounding areas of Whitefish.
Despite large numbers of the residents of that "doughnut" protesting being included in the ordinance when they could not vote for the Whitefish City Council, Mr. Jopek urged the council to adopt the ordinance with the "doughnut" intact.
When the District Court ruled against the city of Whitefish, and the city council appealed to the Montana Supreme Court, Mr. Jopek did not urge the council to drop its appeal to the court and thus save thousands of taxpayer dollars. If he was listening to the people, he would hear that they oppose this waste of time and money.
So now the attention is turning to gravel pits. The question in this writer's mind is how is this "ear of the people" going to "doughnut" gravel pits?
The actions of Mr. Jopek belie his claim to be a listener. I would urge the good people of House District 4 to be careful, be very careful, if you wish to believe what he says and then look carefully at what he does.
John Fuller is a former member of the Montana State Board of Public Education, a teacher at Flathead High School and the Republican candidate for House District 4.