I am a member of the Florence Coalition Against Aspen Springs. We received a letter from the Planning Department notifying us of the Planning Board Hearing on Aspen Springs. When is it scheduled? At 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21 in Hamilton at the County Commissioners' Meeting Room. And where is Aspen Springs? On the north end of the valley east of Florence which is approximately 30 miles from Hamilton. What is proposed? Only the largest subdivision that has ever made it to the Ravalli County Planning Board with 636 homes on 393 acres of land, plus they are requesting seven variances. The area has limited water and this subdivision will totally change the fabric of Ravalli County if approved.

Florence is an area that has many commuters who work in Missoula, Stevensville or Hamilton. Some people can make an evening meeting but not an afternoon meeting in Hamilton. Why has this been scheduled for such an inconvenient time? Even the developer held his public meeting in the evening at the gym in Florence. Could it be that the Planning Board and County Commissioners don't want to hear from the public on this subdivision? Check out our website at www.FCAAS.com and come to our meeting planned at the Florence School old gym at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 8. Find out more about Aspen Springs and how it will effect you.

Was the meeting on the Big Box Stores held in the middle of the afternoon? No, it was held at the Hamilton Middle School gym at 7 p.m. This public hearing on Aspen Springs needs to be changed to the Florence gym at 7 p.m. on June 21.

Letters to the Editor

Judicial independence

Three dedicated candidates are seeking the office of Justice of the Peace (JP). The winners will greatly influence what conduct is acceptable in our county. Penalties for domestic abuse, DUI, fish and game violations, assault, bad checks, animal cruelty and the nature of bail for felonies are but a few of the concerns of a lower court judge.

For most of the 13 years I served as JP, Jay Printz was also in office as Sheriff. We got along. We sometimes disagreed. I remember his practice of writing me protesting memos in bright red ink when our paths divided (I thought of them as 'valentines').

I was very disappointed to see the political ad in the Republic on May 19. In the ad candidate Printz declared his support and alliance with one of the candidates for the office of sheriff. I believe this endorsement was a serious error by a candidate for the position of a non-partisan judge. If he were already a sitting judge I think the act would violate judicial canons.

The separation of powers permeates all aspects of our county, state and national government. Separation of powers is a basic tenet of our representative system. We expect the sheriff and the judge to serve our county each in their respective and distinct roles. The idea of their being a 'team' denies the independence and non partisan role of a judge. Sometimes we forget that the accused stands in front of a judge who represents the awesome power and bottomless coffers of the state. That power must reside in an independent, open-minded civil servant.

I wish all candidates well. It takes stamina and guts to run for office. For what it is worth my choice for the JP is Jake Weitzel. She is independent, capable, dedicated and carries no "baggage."

Ed Sperry
Stevensville

Open letter to Governor on Mitchell Slough

Dear Editor,

Now that Judge Mizner has determined the Mitchell is a ditch and is not subject to public access, we the landowners along the Mitchell are hoping this lengthy and expensive controversy is finally behind us. The trial before the District Court and the prior hearing before the Conservation District consumed more than five years time, and expended far too many private and public dollars.

Montana is blessed with a bounty of natural rivers, streams, and lakes for its citizenry and visitors to enjoy. These natural water bodies are what the framers of the Stream Access Law had in mind when they crafted that legislation to protect the public's right to recreate. We wholeheartedly support the Stream Access Law and the public's right to utilize natural rivers, streams, and lakes. Likewise, we agree with Judge Mizner that private landowners also have rights when it comes to their agricultural ditches. Instead of pressing for public access to these ditches, we believe FWP should focus on improving and conserving the many rivers, streams and lakes that are already accessible by the public.

We appreciate the time you took from your busy schedule last May to travel to the Bitterroot Valley and permit us to share our knowledge and experience living on the Mitchell. A similar environment of cooperation must be developed between FWP and landowners to put the focus back on what's best for Montana's natural resources.

Judge Mizner has denied public access to the Mitchell and has supported the Bitterroot Conservation District's decision that the Mitchell is not a natural, perennial stream. There is no reason for these issues to go any further. We ask you to show your support for genuine conservation by directing FWP to accept Judge Mizner's decision and not appeal to the State Supreme Court. FWP has had its day in court as well as its day before the Bitterroot Conservation District. The taxpayers' dollars and our conservation dollars have a far better use than paying for more litigation.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter.

Mitchell Landowners
Stevensville

Hoffman endorsement

Dear Editor,

I proudly and enthusiastically endorse Sheriff Chris Hoffman for a second term as the Ravalli County Sheriff/Coroner. For the past 22 years Sheriff Hoffman has pursued a career in law enforcement and for the past 3-1/2 years he has served the community as the Sheriff/Coroner faithfully and honestly.

As has been reported, the Deputy's Union membership in a secret vote endorsed Sheriff Hoffman's opponent in this race. I could not support the empty promises made to the deputies by this candidate. His pledge to lobby in Helena to change the formula under which deputies are paid and his desire to add up to a dozen new deputies to the Sheriff Office, all on the backs of local taxpayers, are fiscally irresponsible and unrealistic.

There is nothing secret about my support of Sheriff Hoffman. As an active Sheriff's Office Detective, union member, and former Ravalli County Sheriff, I support the leadership and progress provided by Chris.

Chris has taken a leadership role as the Sheriff by forming strong bonds with other law enforcement agencies. Chris has established cooperative task forces with local, state and federal law enforcement to attack crime problems. He serves as co-chair for the Ravalli County Coalition against domestic and sexual violence. He brought the Drug Endangered Children task force here to provide more service to the youngest victims of drug crime. Chris provides ongoing training to deputies, detention officers and administrative staff resulting in better service.

In a time of tight budgets Chris has looked beyond local resources and added a grant writing position to the office. Chris also teamed with five Idaho Sheriffs and two other Montana Sheriffs to bring the first ever congressional appropriation to Ravalli County that was used to upgrade the Sheriff's fleet to its highest level ever. Chris provides opportunities to volunteers in the community. Thousands of hours have been donated to the office in the form of chaplain services, clerical assistance, search and rescue duties, and law enforcement service.

Finally, I can tell you that Chris provides the tools the employees need to be successful. There is open communication and dialogue, adequate training, and ongoing support. In the past 3-1/2 years there has not been a single grievance filed through the union.

I support Chris and I believe he has earned your vote and support for another term as Sheriff/Coroner.

Perry Johnson
Hamilton

Support for Hoffman

Dear Editor,

I'm writing this letter because I feel the voters of Ravalli County need to know. About this time four years ago, Steve Gammell came to my bow shop and introduced himself as a candidate for the office of sheriff. He went on to state he was a retired peace officer from Nevada. I asked the obvious question: If he was retired, why would he want to take on the headaches of Sheriff. His reply to me: It wasn't for the money. He went on to state he had a good retirement and didn't need the money, but he was bored to death in the winter time. "In the summer I have plenty to do, I like to play golf and fish, but in the winter there is nothing to do." My reply was, "Steve, being sheriff isn't just a winter job, it's full time and then some." He filed for sheriff and lost in the primary.

I have lived here all my life. I spent 27 years in the sheriff's office, 20 years as sheriff, and I want Ravalli County to have an active, working sheriff. The hungry dog hunts hardest. Chris Hoffman has earned a second term. I support him.

Dale E. Dye
Hamilton

Immigration proposals puzzling

Dear Editor,

I am puzzled by the current immigration proposals before the Senate. The proposal would require filing past income tax returns. If this is the case, it would cost the Federal government more than $22.8 billion for each year the undocumented aliens would file back tax returns. Using an example, the undocumented alien family is paid at the lowest pay scales of American workers (minimum wage of $5.15 per hour) and has two parents and three children under age 17 and claiming a standard deduction. This family would receive $4,564 in refunds for tax year 2005. An undocumented alien family group of five million would receive over $68.4 billion in tax refunds for child credits and EIC in a last three closed tax years.

Do undocumented aliens have W-2s and Form 1099 MISC or will they file self declared income? I expect they will make self declarations of income for the highest amount of credits. That would be about $5,200 each family. We'd do the same after all. How will the IRS audit these claims? By requesting 12 months of bank statements? Checking with their employers? Banks require social security numbers to open accounts and illegal employers aren't reporting. My estimates are too low! Try $26 billion per tax year or more than $78 billion for three years!

What about employment taxes? Will these taxes still be due? From whom, employee or employer? The Social Security Administration is due $16.4 billion per year and $49.2 billion in the three year period.

This comes to more than $1.1 trillion in three years. Be sure to put this amount in the immigration bill! Failure to enforce existing immigration law is costing the U.S. taxpayers quite a lot.

I am a Montana CPA and former GAO auditor for the Congress. During the last 30 years the GAO has issued 91 reports on matters relating to immigration. Examples are The Future Flow of Immigration (01/08/1988) and Weakness Hinders Employment Verification (08/31/2005) and Making Needed Policy and Management Decisions on Immigration (03/30/1993).

During my work as a GAO auditor I was familiar with this one in 1976: Smugglers, Illicit Documents, and Schemes Are Undermining U.S. Controls over Immigration (08/30/1976).

As for the current reform proposals, the illegal aliens are to file back tax returns and pay taxes (as described by the President). These workers have no W-2s or Form 1099 MISC so this is a voluntary self declared income program. The ideal self declared income is $16,370 for a family of five: mom, pop and three kids under 17. This program will cost U.S. taxpayers about $117 billion in tax refunds ($68 billion) and lost social security payments ($49 billion).

Gordon Wax, CPA
Stevensville

Support for Morrison

Dear Editor,

Several years ago I exposed the biggest healthcare fraud case in history. One of these companies, HCA, repaid the federal government $1.6 billion, as well as a $95 million criminal fine and pleaded guilty to several counts of Medicare fraud.

During the course of my ten-year litigation I learned how little most senators know about insurance and fraud. We will never as a country have a decent healthcare insurance system until we get some knowledgeable people in the Senate and House.

To me the ideal candidate to send to Washington to develop a comprehensive healthcare program would have the following background. He should have a strong insurance background, perhaps as a Commissioner of Insurance. Next he should have a working knowledge of auditing, maybe as a State Auditor. Lastly he should be able to stand up and answer all the special interest groups and drug companies that do not want reform.

John Morrison is currently the State Commissioner of Insurance and State Auditor. He is very knowledgeable on fraud and abuse. John recently developed an innovative program to insure thousands of Montana workers. The U.S. Senate needs someone with John's abilities and enthusiasm to get something done about our healthcare system. John is the ideal person to address Medicare reform as well as tackle the issue of the 40 million people in this country who have no health insurance.

Jim Alderson, CPA
Whitefish

Tobacco industry buddies

Dear Editor,

Senator Conrad Burns and Congressman Dennis Rehberg would like to thank your children for smoking, dipping, and chewing tobacco.

According to the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund, Senator Burns has accepted $62,000 in campaign contributions from the tobacco industry since 1999, and Congressman Rehberg has accepted $42,500 in the same period.

If being hand-picked cronies of Joe Camel is a moral value shared by Burns and Rehberg, then I'd hate to see what immoral values they share.

Jason Hsu
Cedar Rapids, IA

Support for Vogel

Dear Editor,

Republican candidates for House District 89, Mr. Russell Vogel and Mr. Gary MacLaren, are farther apart on very important issues, than was reported in the Ravalli Republic on Monday, May 15. Mr. Vogel immediately indicated to me that he would do everything that he could to instigate having tests done to determine the cause or causes of the serious health problems in children and young animals here in Ravalli County. When I tried to discuss those health problems with Mr. MacLaren two years ago, he got into his car and drove away, then while in office, did nothing. I recently had another opportunity to talk with Mr. MacLaren. First he said there was nothing that he could do. After I made some suggestions, he agreed to make some calls.

The most important reasons for you to vote for the person who will do something to find what is causing the health problems, are the children who live here. Mr. Vogel stated, "I want to bring people and groups together and take their concerns to Helena and make sure that they are heard."

One of the biggest concerns that needs to be heard is that cancer, asthma, autism, diabetes and other serious health problems in children are increasing alarmingly. Research indicates that epigenetic changes to the child as a fetus are responsible and that epigenetic changes to the mammals and birds are responsible for the two types of malformations present in a high percentage of young. Not likely a coincidence, as animals are the canaries in the coal mine.

We need to have good leaders in public offices who will do something about finding the cause of such epigenetic changes and the sudden significant increase in resultant health problems. Children do not deserve to be maimed before they are born. If little children and all the animals could vote, they would vote for Russell Vogel, who has pledged to speak up for them, not Gary MacLaren, who has had two years to do something, but completely ignored their plight. Please make your vote count in their behalf.

Judy Hoy
Stevensville

'Big box ordinance' should go to vote

Dear Editor,

Our Ravalli County Commissioners have been criticized for their lack of action in zoning and regulating of development. In their defense I have to say that I think, as compared to most counties in the state - and I travel and work with other counties in Montana - our commissioners are on the cutting edge. Few counties in Montana have zoning at all. The Commissioners are struggling with these issues and I had hoped that they would have picked an issue to use interim emergency zoning on that most Ravalli County residents would agree with and would be generally united in recognizing the business or issue as a problem and one that needs to have government regulations for the public health and safety.

I fail to see what harm a 160,000 square foot retail store would cause our valley compared to a 60,000 square foot store or a 10,000 square foot store. Yes, if you were standing directly in front of the store you would have to walk a few feet further to see the scenery beyond the store. So what?

Some of the reasoning against large retail stores by those opposed has been almost laughable. One comment was that it was nice to take a "leisurely" drive to Missoula to shop. I must say the last time I took a leisurely drive to Missoula was in 1959!

Another comment was that a store over 60,000 square feet would cause semi-trucks to bring their exhaust fumes into our valley. When you think this through it is some of the same skewed thinking that flawed the whole process of putting the interim law into place. Now, a semi-truck may bring into our valley 1000 items that 1000 people want or need. I suppose the person that made that statement really thought it would be best if 1000 cars drove to Missoula to get the items that would have been delivered in the truck.

I have to admit, other than writing a letter to the commissioners in opposition to the interim ordinance, I did not get more involved. I felt the commissioners would live up to their Republican Principles of Free Enterprise. As it is they arbitrarily, listening to a crowd raised up by the liberal left, put a check on free enterprise. That check on free enterprise will stop our community from ever standing on its own feet and will guarantee that we will be a bedroom community to Missoula.

We have organized a group to oppose the interim law. We are called Citizens for Economic Opportunity (CEO). Many of us agree that the interim law has some good points. We agree that we need in place reasonable regulations to protect the Highway 93 corridor. We have some ideas on how that can be done in a way that would be supported by a vast majority of residents but would not infringe on the important principle of free enterprise. We would like to assist in putting those regulations together and getting them passed but we are totally opposed to the present interim law that imagines some ill effect on the community of a store that is bigger that 60,000 square feet. We submitted a referendum on April 25, 2006. County Attorney George Corn took the whole 21 days to write a letter giving required changes before the petition can be circulated. On May 17 we resubmitted a petition with the changes to it.

Since the law only allows 60 days for a referendum to be circulated from the day of passage of the law by the commissioners, every day the county attorney holds onto the corrected petition will make it one less day to gather the required signatures to put the law on hold and to put it on the ballot in November.

Mr. Corn now holds the key to your opportunity to have a say. He can be a champion of freedom and the right of people to vote or he can hold this petition for the 21 days again and cheat the Ravalli County residents out of that opportunity.

Please contact the Ravalli County Attorney's office at 375-6222 and the Ravalli County Commissioners' office at 375-6200 and tell them you want the chance to vote on this issue and you want the chance to suspend the interim law that outlaws stores over 60,000 square feet. Ask them not to hold our vote hostage.

Dallas D. Erickson
Stevensville

Executive, legislative, judicial independence

Dear Editor,

On February 20, 2006 I wrote a Musings column entitled Checks and Balances. It was about the three departments of government and how their restraints on one another kept our government by the people in balance. I quoted from Federalist Paper Number 51 which strongly espoused the position that it was necessary for the three branches of government to be independent of each other. When functioning properly each branch is a check on the other. This keeps each branch from becoming overbearing and getting out of hand.

I cited an example of the checks and balances operating right here in Ravalli County. A judge, exercising his proper authority, kept the executive branch from overstepping its authority, and not abiding by the laws of the legislature.

Now I am disturbed by a potential loss of executive/judicial independence in our county. A potential officer of the executive branch, i.e. sheriff, and a potential officer of the judicial branch, i.e. justice of the peace, apparently are teaming up together to bring justice (?) to good old Ravalli County.

I was driving back from Missoula when I noticed Printz and Gammell election signs mounted on the same posts. For a potential sheriff and a potential justice of the peace to team up in an election, I thought would not bode well for justice for the general population. Then I saw the very large expensive "Two Proven Professionals" campaign ad in the May 19 Ravalli Republic. It was paid for by the Steve Gammell for Sheriff campaign endorsing Jay Printz for justice of the peace. I knew justice was not boding well for the general population.

"Innocent until proven guilty," would morph to, "innocent until arrested," under the Printz/Gammell team. Our judiciary does not run under party designations. A judicial candidate publicly endorsing a candidate running under a party label gives the appearance of attaching a party label to the judicial candidate.

As we travel through life we can't help but develop some bias. When a person has spent the greater portion of his life in law enforcement he most certainly develops a bias toward enforcement of the executive branch's orders. Judges must be impartial, free of bias and completely independent of any conflicts.

I was county attorney when Jay was sheriff. Jay Printz was a good sheriff. There is a vast difference between being a good enforcer and an impartial, free of bias, independent judge. The coupled sheriff/justice of the peace campaign does not present the picture of an impartial, unbiased, independent judge, or sheriff. Voters should weigh carefully their right to be represented by elected officials who are truly independent, when they cast their ballots.

John W. Robinson
s Corvallis

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