Murat could be valuable asset
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Editor,
Murat Kalinyaprak is running for the Polson City Commission. He expects the city commission to respond to legitimate questions and provide information to support their decisions. Murat has been disenfranchised because of his insistence that city government be open and responsive. The founding fathers did not create a democratic republic, they compiled ideas that they hoped would provide the basis for a free and just society called a democratic republic. I have read dissent always has a place in time, a face we do not expect to see in that place and time, and that institutions often want most to produce total loyalty and complete identification while those that dissent are most loyal to what the institution is supposed to be about — in this case a government of and for the people.
Murat sees the commission’s rules and attitudes as corrupt in that the correct form or version of citizen participation is altered from the original. Democracy requires that proponent and opponents have equal rights. Opposing views frequently stimulate discussion, can correct a bad idea and offer new ideas. Citizens shouldn’t be considered disruptive, or be vilified, if they object to being systematically muzzled. Democratic institutions must be strong enough to discern legitimate argument and verbal confrontation and have reasonable capacity to acknowledge and accommodate opposition. I will be posting information on www.supportresponsiblegov.com to document how Murat has brought facts to the table over the past eight years that the city was not able to ignore, which saved the city several hundred thousand dollars. The new 2013-2014 budget shows the city is 1.4 million over what is projected to come in as revenue. Polson needs voices like Murat’s to be heard and he would be a valuable asset as a city commissioner.
Margie Hendricks
Polson
