Is Whitefish all glamour, no soul?

My heart belongs to Whitefish. That is the way I feel about this town, though I see it becoming divided.

I realize that this community is made up of many diverse personalities. Some whom have lived here all their lives and many more are choosing Whitefish now to raise their families.

Yet, the feeling is, they are not being heard or represented. All of us should have a voice in what happens in and to the town. The latest controversy has created communication that is tearing us apart.

I wrote a letter to each of the city council members when the City Hall drama started. I received a call from the Pilot editor about putting the letter in the paper. I reluctantly said yes.

But from that letter, I received numerous and positive responses on my view. However, the council members I wrote the letter to chose not to reply.

The mayor responded, in the Daily Inter Lake, about the City Hall not costing the taxpayers money. That really bothered the simple economics side of me. I have never heard of a government entity being an income producer. Simply put, their money comes from taxes and fees.

We have a beautiful town that represents the varied cultural and sports interests of its people. The citizens, visitors and friends are the ones who have built an ice rink, a wonderful theater complex (O’Shaughnessy Center) and the more recent Whitefish Performing Arts Center, to name a few. These builds did not cost the taxpayer any money unless they wanted to donate. They had a choice.

We are now in the process of a $15 million City Hall and parking structure — one-third City Hall and two-thirds parking structure. We the citizens are going to be charged through the tax-increment district and the Whitefish businesses again are hit with an extra fee per size of the business for parking spaces.

I have a different solution.

We could reach across the aisle and propose a collaboration with BNSF Railway, the city and the O’Shaughnessy Center to build a parking structure for all three entities, as well as public parking, by the viaduct, which would be visually less intrusive, and then sell to a developer the other two-thirds for tax-based income.

It is right on Central Avenue and very convenient. City Hall is still downtown, but with a more common sense application.

Is it too late for this? Have we spent the money yet? Are we making Whitefish all glamour but no soul?

For my part, I want to give our new candidates an opportunity to serve. If they are willing, let’s see what they can do.

— Pat LaTourelle, Whitefish