Ravalli County citizens give their two cents to the Missoula City Council…again

Last week, Ravalli County citizens came out in full force at a Missoula City Council meeting with accusations of communism.

The item on the agenda was paying annual dues to the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives amounting to $1,200.

Here’s what one Ravalli County citizen had to say,as Kim Briggeman reported:

ICLEI is a nongovernmental organization “circumventing Congress under the cover of environmental concern,” according to Niki Sardot, president of the Ravalli County Farm Bureau, who said she was speaking on behalf of the Montana Farm Bureau’s 17,700 ranchers and members.

“ICLEI gives our mayor the ‘cool mayor’ award. In exchange, the Bill of Rights, Montana state and U.S. constitutions are abandoned,” Sardot said. “You are selling us out.”

In today’s Missoulian, the city defended paying those dues, as Missoulian city government reporter Keila Szpaller writes:

In short, Missoula pays because it wants to save energy, said city communications director Ginny Merriam: “Energy conservation saves not only greenhouse gas emissions, it also saves money.”

 

Szpaller recently pointed out on Twitter, this isn’t the first hot topic that has brought Bitterrooters to the big city. Other issues Ravalli County residents have wanted a say on in the recent past include Missoula’s anti-discrimination ordinance and government bailouts.

I asked Keila, via Twitter, why Bitterrooters wanted to have a say in Missoula City Council affairs and she responded that the Ravalli County residents care about their neighbors to the north. And City Council member Lyn Hellegaard said that decisions made in Missoula affect people in neighboring counties as well.