This is my challenge to citizens of the Flathead Valley: Stand up for the Flathead. No, not the Flathead as idealized by leftist anti-development beatniks but as place where people can make a living and young families can survive. All over people have told me that they're sad about my departure. But I wasn't the first and I certainly won't be the last.
Of my 2002 graduating class at FVCC, most had already. The only one I saw after graduation was Heidi Rhodes, who received her A.S. in Criminal Justice and landed the dream job of Stream International Security Guard before leaving for New York where she could get work.
There can be economic opportunity but citizens need to stand up against the extreme anti-development crowd. FVCC is a great college, but to be honest, it's not really helping the Flathead. You're training other communities police officers, businessman, and network administrators. You're not training people to work and pay for the education that was financed through property taxes, because there was no way they can make a reasonable living there.
Wake up and stop Citizens for a Better Flathead or it's young people will continue to be the Flathead's greatest export.
