Democracy - necessary, not perfect
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Whitefish City Council for performing the thankless job of governing our city, and commend them for approving the first major projects included in the downtown master plan. For providing the leadership, and more importantly, the stewardship that will ensure the qualities that make this community the great place that it is will be not just maintained but enhanced for future generations.
On the first and third Mondays of each month, we as citizens ask seven of our friends and neighbors to make the decisions about not only how our community operates on a daily basis but how it will look in the future. That, I can tell you, is no easy job, as evidenced by the recent controversy surrounding the downtown master plan.
When making decisions that are far-reaching or long-term in nature, all governments use the planning process to help them make those decisions, as it is one of the most effective tools they have.
Those processes are slow, given their inclusive nature. In order to explore all options and gather all the information necessary often years go by before implementation.
I was struck by this just the other day while driving down the newly opened, finally completed U.S. Highway 93 between Whitefish and Kalispell. The first year I served on the city council, 1992, I was the Whitefish city government representative to the EIS committee. That was 17 years ago.
If 11th hour objections stopped construction every time a new section went to bid, we would not have a highway today. So, too, would local government be crippled with inaction if it didn't respect the planning process and fail to move forward with implementation.
No matter how inclusive, extensive and open a planning process is, there will always be objections to elements of the final plan. That is the nature of a democracy. We were given two great things by our founding fathers in this country. The first is the right to have, hold and express our opinions. The second is a process to take all of those diverse views and allow us to produce the laws and infrastructure necessary for us to move forward as communities, counties, states and a nation.
After having held elected offices for many years in this city, I would argue that our city government is a good example of what our founding fathers intended — a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Andy Feury is the former mayor of Whitefish.