The Commissioner of Political Practice is coming to Whitefish. Our political process in the last eight years has had some surprising events — detectives, mailers sent by anonymous sources, aerial photos of candidates' houses, campaign signs being stolen, court cases, etc. all quite dramatic and startling in a town this size.

In an effort to educate the public about what is really legal and/or ethical, an educational forum on campaign law will be held at the Whitefish Library on Tuesday, Jan. 26, from 7-9 p.m.

The state of Montana has a five-person agency that regulates this part of the campaign process. Dennis Unsworth, appointed by our governor, is the current Commissioner of Political Practice. He will be attending, along with his staff member, Mary Baker.

Also on the panel to talk about free speech and how it protects the political process will be a local attorney, Scott Wurster, who worked for the ACLU in Washington, D.C., for 15 years; and Brian Muldoon, an attorney and nationally known community organizer and mediator.

A presentation of what our campaign laws are and how they are regulated will be followed by a question and answer period. It should be an interesting, informative night. If you want to make a difference in how our political process unfolds in the future, come and listen in.

Rebecca Norton lives in Whitefish.