We’ll all pay price for stubbornness
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Editor,
On June 14, Jocko and Mission irrigation boards took a preliminary step towards withdrawing from the Flathead Joint Board of Control. In response, the FJBC has accused members of the two boards of violating constitutional rights and promoting disunity because they did not follow state law. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Elections this spring changed the balance of power within the FJBC. Shortly after taking office, the new majority, with a slim margin of one vote, made decisions at a special May 24 FJBC meeting that was called with two days’ notice and conducted in a manner that violated state law in a number of ways. For example, the agenda was vague and there was no notice of what actions would be discussed and voted on. As the meeting progressed it became clear that the outcome was predetermined. During public comment some attendees had access to background documents while others did not.
Actions during the meeting included removal of the Jocko chairman from his term appointment to the CME board that manages the irrigation project. Reason: he was not part of the new majority. But term appointments exist in our democracy to provide continuity and promote orderly adjustment to changing political circumstances.
Given that the new FJBC majority would like to reopen negotiations with the CSKT on the Water Use Agreement I find it more than a little odd that they would simultaneously pick a fight with members of the FJBC and also farmers and ranchers who support the existing agreement. Why not take time and spell out the changes they would like to negotiate and take time to persuade other commissioners and those of us who support the agreement? Maybe the CSKT might listen.
Of greater concern, if the FJBC self-destructs, the legal standing of the CME will be called into question because the FJBC is a signatory to the CME contract. For example, the Bureau of Indian Affairs may be required to retake responsibility for project management. Given the BIA’s costly bureaucratic procedures, all of us who irrigate will pay the price for actions by bull-headed FJBC commissioners.
Dick Erb
Moiese
