ACTION ITEM! Militia and "patriot" groups are taking over public meetings
Militia and patriot groups are disrupting public meetings about the county fair
Yesterday, we discovered that supporters of local militia and “patriot” groups are planning to show up to the Kalispell City Council meeting tonight without masks, and probably without social distancing.
Their message is that the NorthWest Montana Fair should go on as scheduled, even though more than 140 physicians in the valley have expressed grave concern about the fair leading to an outbreak of COVID-19 when schools open a few days later.
What you can do
Due to safety issues with COVID-19 and the likelihood of in-person confrontations, we do not recommend going to these meetings in person. You can still make a statement, however. Here’s how.
Call and email elected officials. There are three public meetings this week: Kalispell City Council (tonight), Flathead City-County Board of Health (Tuesday night), and the NorthWest Montana Fair Board (Thursday night). Please call any board or council members you know and email all of them to let them know your concerns. Of course, be polite, and stay on topic.
Emails for these groups are here:
Public comment for Kalispell City Council - publiccomment@kalispell.com
Email to the Board of Health - vprice@flathead.mt.gov
Email the Fair Board - https://flathead.mt.gov/fairgrounds/contact_us.php
PLEASE get public comments to the Kalispell City Council by 4:30pm today!
Meetings times and locations
City Council at 7pm on Monday at City Hall on 1st Ave E and 2nd St
Health Board in Earl Bennett Building, 2nd Floor Conference Room, at 6:30pm on Tuesday. Corner of 1st Ave W and 11th St.
Fair Board, 6:30pm Thursday at south Expo Building
Talking points (Keep it simple and pick two or three of these.)
We are sending emails because local anti-government groups are refusing to wear masks to meetings. This makes in-person public comments unsafe as local COVID-19 cases increase.
We want to return to in-person instruction with our students and the Fair jeopardizes the possibility of a safe start to the school year as it ends just four days before the first day of school.
This not only puts more than 6,000 students at risk, but there are over 700 employees in Kalispell school district alone.
We support the educational component of the Fair for 4-H students and believe it can go forward safely.
The additional activities of the fair, including the carnival, rodeo, demo derby, music and relays cannot be safely managed.
The best thing for our economy is to prevent the kind of outbreak that has been shutting down local businesses.
We support mask wearing at the 4-H events and the governor’s mask mandate.
Questions
How do you plan to enforce the rules you have set forth?
What is the largest gathering in Flathead County since March 2020? What is the average attendance of the Fair?
Who is liable if there are sickness and deaths from COVID that are traced to the Fair?
What are the reasons for having the Fair?
What is the responsibility of the Board of Health, the Northwest Montana Fair, and the Flathead County Commission when Annie Bukacek, member of the Board of Health, is actively encouraging people to reject the governor’s mask mandate and the health department’s recommendations?
Why we’re recommending emails and calls
Anti-government militia and “patriot” groups (MPGs) are doing their best to disrupt the way local government systems work. We would love to say that it’s safe for everyone to attend these meetings and have their voices heard, but MPGs are working hard to control meetings and situations.
Safety first
We want to keep you out of danger.
By refusing to wear masks and do social distancing as recommended by health professionals and mandated by the governor, MPGs are making public meetings unsafe. We know that they are following the lead of Ammon Bundy, who encourages people to provoke confrontations with local government employees and elected officials in order to make anti-government groups seem more powerful.
Optics
These groups want video footage of themselves in a verbal or physical standoff with people they consider their opponents, which could be other residents or government officials. If those people don’t feel safe to attend the meeting in person, the MPGs will claim they are in the majority, so local officials should obey them. In either case, the intent is to use intimidation to prevent other people from exercising their First Amendment rights in a civil meeting. We want to make sure we’re not giving those groups the optics they’re craving.
For now, we feel that the best way to protect public safety and public health is to contact local officials personally, either by phone or by email.
Please take a few minutes and reach out to local officials. They are working hard to keep the best interests of the entire community at the heart of their decisions, and they need to hear from you.
Let's be a community that cares
Strong communities find ways to help each other and find solutions for difficult problems. Thank you for being people who are willing to take action and communicate clearly and respectfully with our leaders.
If you have any questions about this issue, please feel free to email Cherilyn at info@loveliveshereflathead.org!
