I looked with shock at the price on the chocolate bar at the grocer. It read $8.49. I swear it was less than five bucks just last month. It’s good chocolate but that’s a big price increase. America’s new cocoa taxes are bankrupting chocolate lovers.
Everything costs twice as much. To address higher household expenses, congressmen cut all food assistance to hungry families in Montana.
Nothing is cheap suddenly. Somehow, we elected the weakest Congress ever. They’re adrift, busy burning down both houses of the Capitol. For the rest of us, the daily cost of everything from auto parts to insurance to rent skyrocketed far into the tariff stratosphere, high up where the jets full of tourist travel en route to Montana for luxury vacations.
Worst part is, no one in Congress cares. Our congressmen are absent from the game, showing up for work only a couple weeks in the past three months. Congress seems to only work when the boss in the White House wants something done. Elsewise, they remain on paid vacation. Who knows where? But clearly not in any public townhall across Montana.
Local elections are here and that ballot is likely sitting on the table or en route back to be counted. County voters decide if property taxpayers should pay more for a new and improved jail to be built in the valley to imprison more scofflaws. In the tri-cities, voters also decide the next leaders for our local communities. Voters choose the vision for the place we call home.
In today’s politics, choosing the right leaders is more important than ever. Modern politicians say one thing on the campaign and then act radically different once in power. That’s really rude.
Community leaders and city councilors like Ryan Hunter of Kalispell and Ben Davis of Whitefish have proven track records of making good stuff happen for our towns, the places we live and run small businesses. After years of service and a community-minded voting records,it’s hard to go wrong with these local leaders.
Kalispell and Whitefish would be well served with the continued community vision of these two younger men. Hunter and Davis know how to listen and get stuff done. Vision and action mattermore than ever in modern politics. Trust Hunter in Kalispell and Davis in Whitefish.
Columbia Falls remains a community in transition. Like elsewhere in the valley the cost of housing got outrageously expensive over the past years as jet-setting second homeowners and investors gobbled up the scant dwellings of town, leaving local wage earners with few options.
I spent more time in Columbia Falls this year than past. The community is a great place. Who gets elected in Columbia Falls will determine the vision for the future much more than other places in the valley. Younger leaders will help. Leaders aren’t born, rather taught by community.
I had a chance to listen to Marijke Stob talk earlier this year and she sounds ready to help lead the next generation of Columbia Falls. Judging from the number of young families livingthroughout town, Columbia Falls is hungry for new leaders.
The biggest issue facing Flathead locals is the cost of living. None of our local candidates will do anything about the cost of chocolate or coffee but councilors and mayors play a vital role with the cost of housing. Kalispell is the cheapest place to buy home in the valley, thanks in much part to the hard work of city councilor and mayor candidate Ryan Hunter. This man has vision.
Longtime community leaders like Andy Feury and Ben Davis of Whitefish had the foresight toassure the city now has a steady and ongoing source of revenue from tourism collections and local funds to budget $1 million annually toward housing for workers.
Many workers already get local housing assistance and every small business benefits whenemployees have a stable place to live in a valley where the economy is driven by tourism, retirement, and big money. D.C. or Helena won’t much help anyone but the political donor class.It’s up to local voters to decide what type of community and valley we want to live in.
Your ballot awaits.