By Bill Jones, Stevensville
OK, I’ve been pretty busy this year and could have missed something, so maybe I can find someone to explain how a local state legislator of several terms already could possibly be elected to the Montana Senate after publicly demonstrating a fundamental lack of understanding of how funds for specific funding purposes must be spent.
What Representative Manzella stated at the hearing for the W.W. White Fishing Access Site a few months ago deserves mention. If the taxpayers supported a bond to set aside a certain amount of money for a very specific use, how could a State Representative not understand that none of those dollars can be utilized for another purpose? A Representative should know better than to suggest an unlawful procedure. On top of that, had the arrangement between the state and the owners been derailed as Representative Manzella proposed, a really sweet deal for the citizens of Montana would have been lost.
Possibly the reputation Manzella has for being generally in opposition of public land ownership and access inspired her objection in that hearing. Just the long term financial benefits of public outdoor recreation alone didn’t seem to matter a lick. This valley banks a good amount of cash inflow from its outdoor recreation opportunities and needs to recognize demand is outpacing supply.
Folks, we had better start sorting through candidates better and pick clear thinking smart ones every time we can. Manzella’s opponent Margaret Gorski fills the bill for Senate District 44’s needs. She is even an actual resident of the district, unlike Manzella! Now more than ever our Senate must be sent capable people.