Council's trial-and-error approach to governing is hurting its residents
Letter to the Editor,
In his letter to the editor of Jan. 15, Mr. Hirst cautions Libby’s citizens to “pay more attention to what our leaders are doing.” His cautionary advice is not without substance.
He states that “being quiet does not help anyone.” Perhaps, the quiet is due, in part, to the vacuum left when those younger residents and others trying to earn their living here have been forced to move elsewhere. Given the ever-increasing financial burden thrust upon the citizens of Libby due to the decisions made by our City Council, many find it easier to relocate rather than challenge the reasoning behind the council’s management of our city.
Case in point: If Libby wasn’t already bearing the inescapable stigma as the asbestos-ridden toxic town, the council now plans to bring further negative press to our community by sanctioning wholesale slaughter of the mule deer.
Hello! Are they forgetting where we are located? Does the word “remote” bear any significance in reference to our area?
It seems that the council’s trial-and-error approach to governing our city has a built-in safety net. The council makes the decisions without much consideration for a master plan or for the long-term impact of their actions, but that’s OK — if it fails they can always shift the financial burden created by short-sighted decisions on to the citizens of Libby.
They just find some creative means for extracting more money from us to cover their tracks.
The municipal water system originally was designed to accommodate the needs of the mill when it was in operation. When the mill disappeared, the financial burden for this operation was shifted to the people and continues to escalate as the service it is supposed to provide deteriorates.
Perhaps, the big fish making all the decisions in our little pond need closer scrutiny. The council seems to count on our apathetic disinterest, and we are all paying the price.
Before our town becomes a microcosm of the governing body hellbent on the ruination of our country, we’d better start paying attention and start questioning.
— Geraldine Fink
Libby