The time for gridlock, buck passing, and business as usual is over. Montana has lost precious time tackling our critical energy and infrastructure needs. We have failed to make any substantial increases in educational opportunities to train our workforce for a global economy or help our youth find meaningful employment in Montana. We have spun our wheels debating why the timber industry is disappearing, who can best manage our public lands, and whether climate change is real or a government hoax. Montanans all recognize the economic and esthetic value of the world renown beauty of Big Sky Country, yet our elected officials make decisions that degrade its scenic quality, natural resources, and access to quality hunting and fishing.
The current ideologically driven officials in the Bitterroot Valley long for times gone by and fail to lead with a vision that recognizes the potential of a small business and clean industry economy based on our natural assets. They bemoan the loss of timber jobs and focus their energy on blaming others for our inability to return to the way things used to be. This doesn’t need to be the case. With a vision and working together we can create significant business and employment opportunities now and for the future. However, it requires leadership, creative thinking, building on our strengths and truthfully acknowledging our limits and where we need to improve.
A quote I recently saw on a reader board leaving Missoula captures it well: “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Hoping that the economic future of the Bitterroot Valley will get better without a plan is wishful thinking. A good leader knows that problem solving begins by clearly defining the problem. Are we asking the right questions? What kind of infrastructure do we need to attract industries looking for quality environments in which to locate? How can we get more broadband communications capable of supporting high tech industries and what can we do to generate an entrepreneurial attitude throughout the valley? Are the right kinds of educational opportunities offered in the valley that would help grow the kind of skilled workforce companies need to compete in a global economy? How can we achieve a living wage for everyone without seriously impacting small business viability? What can we do to help family based agriculture remain viable and encourage more local farm to market enterprises? How can we work better together to more aggressively tackle our fire protection needs and to develop a timber and resource restoration economy?
These are the kind of questions our elected officials should be asking. And if the current ones aren’t then we need to elect ones that will. We need new leaders willing to take more innovative and bolder steps to tailor solutions based on the unique qualities of the Bitterroot instead of blaming others for the lack of growth in the valley or relying on the worn slogan that “lower taxes and smaller government” will fix everything. We should be bringing together the expertise we have among us in business, public land management, high tech industries, and educators to identify a possible path forward. What kind of planning do we need? What new and different kind of incentives would attract and keep new businesses here?
America’s greatness comes from a “can do” attitude that is still alive and well. That is what makes the core of a Montanan. I believe we can hold on to what’s working now, build on Montana’s unique assets and rise to the challenge of charting a new destiny. It will require that we reject long held partisan views and refuse getting side tracked by wedge issues, name calling and unproductive sloganeering. The residents of Ravalli County deserve better. We need to free ourselves from negative group think and develop a more entrepreneurial and optimistic future. Solutions to complex problems require a diversity of thought and approach and elected officials willing to reach across the aisle and compromise. We can do this! I believe we can create jobs, maintain Montana’s quality of life and prepare for the rest of the 21st century. I am committed to that vision and “I Mean Business.”
Margaret Gorski
Democratic Candidate for HD 88
Stevensville
