A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

6 May 2016

Trump & down-ballot Dems, bottled H2O, campaign finance gotcha

Will revulsion for Trump help down-ballot Democrats in Montana? That’s possible, but I don’t think we will get firm indications before Labor Day. If voters who lean weakly conservative are frightened, or repelled, by Trump, they might decide that the Republican Party cannot be trusted with the power to govern. That could help Democrats in close elections — but only if the Democrat is a good candidate, well-funded, and already running a smart campaign.

Could the Flathead be dewatered by greedy water bottlers? Yes, says Sandy Perry, spokesperson for Water for Flathead’s Future, in a letter in the Flathead Beacon:

Imagine if Phoenix or Los Angeles wanted to build a pipeline to the Flathead Valley and tap into our groundwater. You might think there would be some powerful people here in the valley asking some pointed questions.

Well, that’s what is coming. Except the water will leave Montana in billions of plastic bottles instead of a pipe.

I don’t share that fear. It would be cheaper build desalination plants on the California coast and pipe the freshened water inland.

But if the Creston bottled water plant becomes operational, there will be local impacts that Perry describes with great clarity:

…the neighbors will pay the costs of deepening their wells, adding or replacing pumps and face the devaluation of their property. Overnight their neighborhood will change from tranquil farmland into an industrial zone with a water bottling plant operating 24 hours a day with trucks around the clock creating noise, dust and hazardous road conditions.

Perry and others, among them the fish hatchery at Creston, have filed objections to the granting of the water right for the bottling plant. The objectors have legitimate concerns over the state’s analysis of the application for the water right.

It’s natural for opponents of a project to embrace every argument they think will help them win their fight. That’s what’s happening here.

A campaign finance Gotcha Game Flathead Memo won’t play. Many campaign finance reports contain errors, even technical violations of campaign finance laws. Not listing a donor’s occupation is a common problem, and sometimes it doesn’t get corrected as well or as quickly as it should (it would be corrected mighty fast if campaigns were required not to accept contributions without full documentation). Another is contributions in excess of the legal limit. That usually occurs when a donor forgets having donated and sends another check. The campaign refunds the money, documenting it as an expenditure. A pattern of technical violations raises a red flag, and should, but random violations may not be the candidate’s fault.