Dear Editor,
The unbelievable arrogance heaped on the voters by the County Commissioners denying the people the vote on airport expansion is so packed with crudity as to be a hallmark is stupidity. However there is a chance to stop this travesty. Over a decade ago I spent considerable time researching the issues involved here as a non-professional. There exists a principle of Tort Law titled Inverse Condemnation. which involves the loss of property valve and the degradation of a citizen’s life style resulting from actions of the governing body. In the legal profession there is Tort remedy named Inverse Condemnation. This is really big business at this time you see it on TV every day. Usually class action can result in very substantial penalties incurred by the government violators. These judgments include actual damages, all lawyer fees and court costs plus substantial punitive awards. I hope any organization and or individual damaged in any matter by the action of the County Commission will obtain legal council from a Law firm specializing in this branch of Tort Law, and there are plenty of them around the U.S. I believe as of this time the County Commission has established sufficient cause for the property owners, businesses and the general public to institute legal action against the County for their blatant violation of agreements reached over years of discussions, meetings, and a petition that gained the most signatures in the history of Ravalli County against extension of the airport runway. Commissioner Foss and her gang really blew it this time. Years ago the very negative impact of a jetport in the heart of the Bitterroot Valley was defined, studied and well established. By their statements to the press and at meetings this “”gang of three” has already set the course that could cost the County ( that is us) millions of dollars. Just consider the sort time since this bunch took office and their destruction of the Airport Advisory Board and the reversal of previous agreements. You must wonder what motivated the abrogation of more than a decade of work by the citizens and previous County officials. Let me pose the rhetorical question. Was this an election arrangement of simply a dumber than dumb move by extremely unqualified elected individuals?
Earl Pollard
Hamilton