Missing in action

Over the past two months there have been two meetings in Noxon regarding the replacement of the Noxon bridge. The first meeting was focused on fact-finding in an effort to correct misinformation circulating through the community. The second meeting was a call to action in an effort to gainfully engage the community in finding the funding to replace the bridge in a timely fashion.

Organizers of the meetings invited county and federal officials to both meetings. They included: our county commissioners, our district senator and district representative; our federally elected senators and representatives, and our governor.

The list of invited officials who attended the first meeting, sent a representative from their office, or responded at all, is short. Out of the ten invitations, two attended the first meeting, namely, county commissioners Tony Cox and Dan Rowan. Hats off to them! Additionally, Denley Loge, the state representative of HD13 attended (and he was not formally invited). Representative Loge lives in St. Regis and doesn’t even represent us, but knows many of the constituents here and by his attendance, obviously cares. The others on the list of invitees didn’t have the courtesy to attend, send a representative or even decline the invite. They simply ignored us and our pressing issue.

The second meeting on January 4 at the Noxon Senior Center showed a little progress in the interest of our representatives. Again, county commissioners Tony Cox and Dan Rowan were in attendance. Second hats-off! There was no response from Rep. Paul Fielder, Senator Greg Hertz, Senator Tim Sheehy or Senator Daines. Governor Gianforte’s office responded to the request by sending a form letter saying the information would be passed on to Montana Dept of Transportation. Rep. Ryan Zinke sent his representative, Steve Howke, to the meeting. Another hats off! You can likely read about his informed presentation here in the Ledger.

The representatives invited to these meetings are folks we voted into office! Now is the time to hold them accountable to the words they spoke to get elected. Where were Fielder, Hertz, Sheehy, Daines? Not one acknowledgement was received from any of them, and that speaks volumes to the notion of true representation. We need them to represent us in finding the funds to replace the bridge before it becomes, at best, a bigger problem, at worst, a tragedy.

Please contact our elected officials, tell them of your concerns regarding the bridge via phone calls, letters, postcards, and do it over and over again. We need to get their attention! Names and numbers of the representatives and senators and the governor can be found in this edition of the Ledger. Our elected county commissioners are behind this effort 100%. A big thanks to them!

Debra Achatz, Trout Creek, grandmother to a kindergartner who crosses Noxon bridge twice a day