Dear Editor,
Many of you have probably been reading about the airport struggle. But more concerning than the airport issue is the conduct of the County Commissioners. Except for Greg Chilcott, the four remaining Commissioners were misinformed, sometimes uninformed and did a terrible job listening to the public. They had only consulted with people that wanted a big airport and refused to meet with others that had additional accurate, factual information. At the public meeting it was obvious the Commissioners had already made their decision beforehand.
JR Iman wasted precious meeting time by repeating over and over why 3A was the best choice. They rushed the public process, two meetings within 10 days. They did not inform the public adequately about the issues or choices. They threw out the FAA-approved option 2A and put the entire expansion at great risk. These rooky Commissioners did not do their jobs.
While taking public comment they talked amongst themselves and interrupted the speaker, making it very difficult to make a point. They were asked many important questions but did not bother to answer, because they didn’t know. Foss and Kanenwisher got mad and impatient, very unprofessional. Kanenwisher even started arguing, talking on top of the speaker, trying to stop them from speaking. Foss made uninformed comments that were not accurate but she was sure that she knew everything. Ron Stoltz had no valuable, accurate comments. They all wasted taxpayer dollars, it was a circus show.
I don’t care what side of the issue you are on, respecting and protecting the public process is crucial to maintaining our democracy. Last week these Commissioners took away your right to vote on the airport expansion, which is unconstitutional, big government at its worst and disenfranchised thousands of Bitterroot voters. Thanks to the Republican Party we have rude, arrogant dictators for Commissioners?
Phyllis Bookbinder
Corvallis