Separating the wheat from the chaff

Each year farmers in Montana harvest their crops and separate the valuable wheat from the worthless chaff. So too must Whitefish voters separate the valuable facts surrounding recent City Council decisions like the one to move forward with a much needed parking structure with an attached City Hall from worthless attacks based on misinformation and misleading statements.

I recently received an attack mailing aimed at councilors Frank Sweeney and Richard Hildner. I have confidence that Whitefish voters will remember the detailed and clear explanations of the parking structure/City Hall project provided to the public in response to similar worthless attacks. I’m also confident that Whitefish voters can see through this attack and separate the valuable facts about Frank Sweeney and Richard Hildner from worthless fiction.

Sweeney and Hildner have helped to keep and enhance Whitefish as a great place to live, work, and raise a family. They deserve your support for their reelection to the Whitefish City Council. The mailer I received last week was disappointing, but not surprising given similar outbursts from the same source that have appeared in the local papers. This attack was not what one would expect from an individual who purports to be a community supporter. Community brings people with different views together for good projects. This ad sought simply to be divisive, and could only be classified as worthless chaff.

Frank Sweeney and Richard Hildner have supported community projects that make Whitefish what it is, an authentic town where people have lived and worked for over 100 years. Our downtown is economically vital because of improvements that have resulted in the ability of small, local businesses to survive and grow. Sweeney’s and Hildner’s decisions have attracted new businesses to town. Our river is once again clean and safe for families and recreationists. Our access to top-notch schools, and world-class recreation opportunities has been enhanced as a result of their support for projects like the recently completed Whitefish High School, the soon to be completed Skye Bridge, the Whitefish Trail, and because of their overall service to our community.

With each city election, Whitefish comes to an important crossroad where voters have an opportunity to exercise their right to choose their representatives in city government. With each city election, Whitefish voters should also take seriously their responsibility to be informed when choosing the candidate for whom they cast their vote. Treat your vote for Frank Sweeney and Richard Hildner as the valuable wheat, and treat unfounded attacks against good representatives as the worthless chaff.

— Chris Schustrom, Whitefish