The following viewpoint was submitted to the Ravalli Republic the week before the Hamilton City Council elections.  They refused to print it.  Until that point in the election they had done a good job of concealing their support for my opponent by appearing to allow “equal time” to the various candidates.  Well, it wasn’t quite equal time (my opponent got two opinion pieces published and I got only one), but it was a plausible enough attempt to fool most of their readers.   

When information surfaced showing that two developers with large projects awaiting approval by the City Council funded the campaign against me, it was apparently thought too risky to report this as news, or even to let me mention it in an opinion piece.

Yes, folks, our Lee Enterprises newspaper is biased.  Not that there is anything illegal about that, but the hypocrisy of portraying themselves as fair is a little hard to take.  They are fundamentally pro-development (increasing population makes for greater advertising revenue), and have spent years helping to brainwash the public into thinking that development is simply “inevitable.”  This has allowed them the convenient cover of editorializing endlessly about the warm and fuzzy notion of “planning,” something that is conveniently never defined.  

So Bitterroot Voice is the only place you will get to read this.  I called my piece “The Big Picture.”

THE BIG PICTURE

Sometimes, especially in these contentious times of hype and lies, it is easy to lose sight of the forest for the trees.  Let’s all take a moment, pull back, and try to look at the big picture.

For at least the last 30 years, and probably for much longer, most important public issues in the Bitterroot Valley have been related in some way to land use, and the connected matters of planning, expansion, and growth.  The recent votes for the 1 for 2 Interim Zoning Ordinance and for three new County Commissioners have confirmed the primacy of the land use issue.   And for the first time, it was publicly demonstrated that most people want to conserve and protect their valley, rather than let rampant development continue to destroy it.

This is the big picture and we should not lose sight of it.  People in Ravalli County care about the future of their homeland, and they want to protect their quality of life, which they see as threatened by overdevelopment.  It is no different in Hamilton -  land use issues are at the core of most matters dealt with by the City Council and most citizens are concerned about the negative impacts of overdevelopment.

I have seen the big picture as City Councilor while actively working to protect our quality of life for the last four years.  I have directly experienced the struggles, overt and covert, that surround issues of land use, expansion, planning and growth.  I have lived through many unjust attacks on my character, my work, and even my livelihood.  Most of what goes on at the City has little to do with “personal agendas”, “decorum”, “dysfunction” or other notions that have been bandied about by people who have never attended city council meetings, and everything to do with serious consideration of the issues that will affect our future.

 My opponents in this election have quickly learned to pick up on the popular ideas I have worked for, and give lip service to protecting our town.  They now talk glibly about their alleged commitment to “controlling growth,” “keeping Wal-Mart out,” and “planning.”  What they do not understand is what it takes to accomplish these ends.  They do not realize, or perhaps have already resigned themselves to, the fact that there is a dark side at work - powerful private interests who want to develop, for profit, all available land in our valley regardless of the cost to our environment, to our small business economy, or to our people.  These forces have controlled the system of land development at the state, county, and city levels for many decades, and their influence is pervasive.  They work constantly to eliminate anyone who offers resistance to their control.  Abuses of human rights, due process, or democracy are just collateral damage to those who need public decisions to produce private profit.

The current yellow sign campaign against me is funded mostly by Jim Schueler, a partner member of the Flat Iron development company, and  Peter Van Tuyn, the manager of the land sale for the controversial Area 3 development.  These men stand to profit handsomely if these developments (of more than 1400 housing units) are approved by the City Council.  Does anyone seriously believe they would fund a campaign costing thousands just to have a nicer council with “no fighting”?  Of course not - they want to see Councilor Harbaugh, Councilor Sutherland, and me, who are known opponents of the massive Flat Iron and Area 3 residential developments, replaced by compliant individuals who will never stand up to them.

The ancient phrase “Cui Bono” (who benefits) can be used to understand most of what goes on in politics.   Follow the money, as the current vernacular goes, and you will learn the truth.  Well, I believe in the power of people over the power of money.  I believe that our right to a healthy environment and to the free and happy enjoyment of the land, water, and life that God gave us all, takes precedence over the greed of a few.  I have kept my faith, and I offer my thanks to all that have kept it with me.  We are not individually powerful, nor are we permanent, but the principles of economic fairness, equity, and justice in which we believe are far stronger, and not so easily eliminated.

Bob Scott

October 30, 2007