Letters to the editor May 12

Don’t be fooled

I am encouraging voters in HD 13 to vote for Finley Warden in the June 2 primary election.

The philosophical divide within the Republican Party has existed for decades. It is more evident this year than in past primary election cycles because the philosophically statist wing of the party has been more publicly pronounced in their blatant collusion with big government, anti-freedom Democrats — both with their votes in the 2025 legislative session and with Democrat support in this election. It is to the point that one must realize the party label behind the names on the ballot is as often used for purposes of deceit as for purposes of informing voters.  

Statists within the Republican Party fraudulently describe themselves as “conservative,” even going so far as to create their own website (Conservatives4MT) and their own voting index to conveniently redefine the term to fit their voting records, so desperate are they to deceive those who vote in the Republican primary.  

They even denigrate the names and reputations of well known historical champions of conservative principles Edmund Burke (often cited as founder of the cultural and political philosophy of conservatism) and John Locke with the outlandish claim that they adhere to the philosophy and writings of these two champions of just and limited civil government. 

I ask primary voters in HD 13 in Lake County to not be fooled by this deceitful nonsense. Finley Warden is the true philosophical conservative in that race. Finley is a wonderful example of the fact that convictions pertaining to transcendent and “self-evident truths” regarding the principles of freedom, self government, and constitutional restraints on civil government are universal and understandable, regardless of one’s age.  

­— Rick Jore, Ronan

Hohman a public servant

I am happy to write this letter of endorsement for Cheryl Hohman for Flathead County clerk and recorder.  

I had the privilege of working with Cheryl for the past seven plus years, between working in the Plat Room and GIS Department as a fellow Cadastral Specialist. 

Cheryl is a dedicated public servant that has 30 years’ experience between working in the Plat Room and GIS Department. I worked very closely with her as she mentored me when I first joined the GIS team in 2019. She showed exceptional patience and shared her extensive knowledge as I trained with her and still took time to answer any questions or ideas when I was transferred back into the Plat Room as a Land Cadastral Specialist and was no longer directly with her department.

Cheryl has a strong attention to detail, deep understanding of property records and how mapping data intersects with many other different departments and how that data is presented to the public. She is very much a team player and I am confident she will work to resolve issues, improve, and streamline the work flow processes between the staff of the entire Clerk and Recorder’s offices and the public who she serves to bring Flathead County into the future.

Flathead County deserves a clerk and recorder who is transparent, a dedicated public servant, who will work collaboratively with all departments to solve issues and bring Flathead County into the future and this is why I fully support and endorse Cheryl Hohman as Flathead County’s next Clerk and Recorder.  

— Catherine Frazier, Columbia Fall

Llew Jones’ deception

In response to the fact that the Republican Party joined the suit in Gallatin County which attacks his devastatingly prejudicial second property taxation scheme (endorsed by the complicit governor), Rep. Llew Jones is quoted as saying that “every component of the bill was debated verbatim over and over again.” 

Separate and apart from the question of whether what he is saying is truthful, when a debate occurs without the debaters having the most at stake being present, there is no true debate. There is only a ruse and a sham.

That is precisely what occurred because of Jones’ deceptive misconduct. Owners of cabins and vacation homes had no opportunity to participate in the so called “debate,” nor did those who someday hope to own a cabin or vacation home in Montana.

Those affected had no opportunity to participate in the debate because Jones changed a preexisting bill covering a different subject, as he knew all along he intended to do. He changed it after the public hearing had taken place so as to impose the incredibly prejudicial burden on owners of cabins, vacations home and all those who someday hope to acquire such properties in Montana . He then never had a public hearing on the altered bill. Remarkably, Jones ignored the warning of legislative counsel, indicating that what he was doing might well be unconstitutional.  

With family roots dating back to the 1860s, with a modest house on the lake built after the bugs took over a 600-square-foot cabin built in 1949, Jones puts our family legacy property at risk with his unwarranted and exorbitant tax on second homes and cabins. So many others are in the same boat.        

Jones deceptive attempts to justify his wrong should cease. They are an affront to the democratic process and basic principles of right versus wrong. Keep the minor tax benefits given to others but excise the prejudicial and unconstitutional burdens imposed on owners of second homes and cabins.

­— Douglas D. Hughmanick, Polson