So Mr. Cornelius is leaving the Bitterroot, angry and disgruntled. I am sorry that he could not get a good job here as so many cannot, or are underemployed. And I am sorry that he never encountered the majority of Bitterrooters who are good, supportive of programs to help the disadvantaged, and who support his or anyone’s right to free speech, as long as it is not accompanied by hate speech, or the kind of gun-holster toting, loud, angry behavior that frightened the students and members of the audience at the middle school on the day of the County Commissioners’ hearing on relocation of Syrian refugees.
I suppose he might label me one of those “pompous, high-browed liberal Californians” though we’ve called the Bitterroot our home for 28 years, but I definitely do not sit “idly by,” not caring about the problems in Ravalli County. Instead, I have found that residents here do care deeply and along with hundreds of “liberals” I know, we work side by side with locals and program recipients to give goods, money, and volunteer time to the food banks, clothing banks, planning organizations, mental-health services, 12-step programs, churches, and other organizations that help the disadvantaged. I would also point out that the high property taxes here which we pay help pay for services that the disadvantaged cannot pay for.
I hope that the day will come when there is better employment in the Bitterroot. In the meantime I am delighted to live in one of the most beautiful places in this country, and as a military family for 30 years we have seen many places, a place that holds both opportunities for doing Christ’s work of caring for others, and a huge dose of contentment and serenity for being part of the Bitterroot community. And I wish Mr. Cornelius good luck in finding what he is looking for.
Hazel Smith
Stevensville