Letters to the editor April 22

SB 442 helps keep Montana special

I moved to Montana to be close to mountains, lakes, rivers and a wide array of healthy public lands. I’ve worked closely with nonprofits to maintain public lands, especially trail systems throughout my lifetime. 

A healthy public lands system benefits all Montanans, by keeping our water and air clean and giving us beautiful places to visit and bond over. I’m grateful that our public lands stretch across the state, supporting rural and urban areas alike. This year I’m aiming to visit more of the rural areas than I have in the past, and I’ll definitely use county roads to get there. 

The argument that tax revenues contributed by residents of urban counties in our state, such as Flathead County, shouldn’t be used to support the upkeep of roads in our rural counties is preposterous. The upkeep of roads across our state is in the best interest of us all. Legislators seemingly understood that when they voted heartily to overwhelmingly pass Senate Bill 442 last year. May they put aside this new, silly argument that this bill is a veiled wealth redistribution mechanism. 

I support the use of my tax dollars to maintain our rural roads and fund our public lands — from Kalispell to Ekalaka. Flathead legislators: please stand up and support this bill that keeps our main reasons for living here intact.

— Jane Hamilton, Kalispell

Re-elect Sprunger 

I originally met Courtenay Sprunger when we served together on the Kalispell Chamber Executive Board. During our shared years of service, Courtenay and I collaborated on numerous strategic planning matters and community initiatives. 

I came to immensely respect Courtenay’s wisdom, insight and leadership skill.  She demonstrated, time and again, the ability to engage participants, synthesize input, negotiate respectfully, and move to a workable outcome. Those abilities have been particularly impressive in the context of large groups of differing opinion. In her 2021 role as the Kalispell Chamber’s Board Chair, Courtenay proved to be an articulate and exceptional officer.

As the Representative for House District 7 in her first session, Courtenay brought those same skills to the table and accomplished tremendous things for Kalispell including the SAFER Act, which will provide the state match dollars for the significant upgrade on West Reserve Drive starting this summer. 

She also passed legislation to bolster high school apprenticeships and education in the trades, and had three separate bills signed into law that will directly help fight rising crime and drug trafficking in Kalispell. These accomplishments alone are impressive to anyone who appreciates a problem solver. 

However, I know Courtenay would undoubtedly say that the Montana Adoption Tax Credit, which will make adoption more accessible for Montana families, was the most important thing she accomplished.

Altogether, Courtenay’s record stands as a testament to her commitment to our community and her ability to get things done — it’s an impressive resume. She is a powerful advocate for common-sense conservative values and has served her community faithfully. She is an articulate, strong voice for our community, someone well-qualified to be a legislator. 

I hope you will join me in supporting her again for Montana House District 7.     

— Tom Ray, Whitefish 

Trust Tester for Senate

A recent newspaper headline stated, “GOP comes out swinging in defense of Sheehy." This generated many questions as to which story we are to believe. Did Tim Sheehy’s gunshot wound come from friendly fire in Afghanistan or the Logan Pass parking lot? Is it acceptable to lie to a federal officer to cover up what really happened? If you look up the Navy Seal Code, you will find, "Uncompromising integrity is my standard. My character and honor are steadfast. My word is my bond". Tim Sheehy touts his service as a Navy Seal, but has conveniently forgotten what the code entails. He believes the only thing he did wrong was admitting to something he didn't do. Sorry, but in my book that is still a lie. I appreciate Tim's service defending our country, but we need to elect a senator we can trust and that would be Jon Tester.

— Jan Metzmaker, Whitefish