Commissioner race is critical
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Editor,
This year’s Lake County Commissioner’s race is the most critical that voters have faced in decades as the Salish Kootenai Tribe is trying to take control of the Lake County Commissioner’s office. When the Tribe removed their hydroelectric dam from the tax rolls, the commissioners sued regarding this and many other parcels of Tribal property, which they believed should be taxed but were not. $2.2 million are being lost each year that increases the taxes (and housing rental costs) for all residents of Lake County including tribal and non-tribal members. This problem has been ongoing for decades. Since 1983, $61 million in property valuation have been removed from the tax rolls.
Caroline McDonald is the tribe’s Manchurian candidate. Her husband is the tribe’s Public Relations Director. He is a tribal member but she is not. If elected, she will divulge confidential litigation strategy to the Tribe and work to withdraw the lawsuit thus potentially saving the Tribe tens of millions of dollars. Remember, this tribe is a privately held multi-national corporation worth billions of dollars.
Incumbent Commissioner Gale Decker has proven his leadership abilities in many ways but most recently by bringing tribal, county, city, state agencies, and mental health providers together to approve, fund, build, and staff a 24/7 in-patient mental health facility to save money by not transporting patients to Warm Springs state hospital. This facility keeps patients local where they can benefit from family support. It also showed that when a project is in the Tribe’s interest they will support it.
Your vote for Gale Decker for county commissioner is a vote to keep the Tribe from taking over the government of Lake County and raising taxes (and/or rent) on Lake County residents.
Norman W. Johnson
Polson
