[Vision2020] Water Concern?

[Jeff Harkins]

Gary, good to see your clear and concise comments making a 
difference.  Here are some of my observations.

Ideologues are all around us in this region.  They have no solution 
to resolve the water issue (or much of any other issue) but they 
follow the same tactic used since the creation of the MCA;  fear, 
intimidation, heckling and smearing are their tools.  If you support 
an organization like GMA, you are publicly chided for supporting 
candidates endorsed by them.  In other words, you don't know as much 
as the MCA people and therefore your voices and your opinions don't matter.

Frankly, all the candidates for city council seem to be honest, 
sincere and interested in doing what they perceive to be the best 
things for the community.  But when the actions of supporters and/or 
candidates sense a challenge to their "vision for Moscow", rather 
than debate the issue, they turn on the candidate and chide them for 
their opinions.  Wayne Krauss, Walter Steed and Dan Carscallen are 
all honorable men.  They have spent most of their adult lives in this 
community.  They have a right to be respected - for their views, for 
their willingness to step up to the challenge of city council and for 
their willingness to engage in honorable debate with candidates that 
they don't agree with.

In a similar vein, Linda Pall, Aaron Ament, Tom Lamar and Evin Holmes 
are honorable folks. Most have spent a good portion of their adult 
lives in Moscow and they should be respected for their willingness to 
serve our community.

To indict any of them for their opinions and views on a topic simply 
validates that our citizens should not vote for the candidate the 
indictors are supporting but should vote for the candidate being 
scalloped.  Issues and answers and policies such as the water 
question are founded first in science.  Let the science do the 
talking - report studies, provide links to the scientific evidence, 
establish the proposition of your hypothesis and then talk about 
strategies for solutions.  It is "very difficult" to resolve a 
problem with rhetoric and finger pointing (Joe and Bruce, you are 
encouraged to think about this very carefully).

This coming election will say a lot about our community and about the 
future we chart for ourselves.  It is time for the hand-wringers to 
move to the sidelines.  We need decisive, thoughtful and forthright 
leadership to guide us through the challenges that lay ahead.  Will 
we have a community that can support our children and the children of 
our children?  Will we be able to welcome new residents with a bundle 
of opportunities that entices them to stay or will we winnow them out 
- because they don't fit into our lifestyle?  Will we have the type 
of community that encourages entrepreneurs to come here and risk 
their investment capital here or will we worry ourselves to death 
over whether or not this business or that business is 
"acceptable"?  What I have learned from listening to the forums this 
past couple of years is that even if Santa Claus wanted to move his 
operation here, there would be at least a handful of people who would 
object to that move.

For my taste, it is time for a change in Moscow.

At 07:02 PM 10/18/2007, you wrote:
>Conservation can never be a bad idea but using the water issue as a 
>club to force other ideological visions on the community where they 
>don't apply (big box ordinances for one example) is disingenuous. I 
>don't believe that the GMA endorsed candidates are suggesting that 
>we make a desperate attempt to suck the aquifer dry before their 
>terms expire. To suggest otherwise is simply partisan politics at its worst.
>
>g
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tom Hansen" <<mailto:thansen at moscow.com>thansen at moscow.com>
>To: "'g. crabtree'" 
><<mailto:jampot at roadrunner.com>jampot at roadrunner.com>; "'Joe 
>Campbell'" <<mailto:joekc at adelphia.net>joekc at adelphia.net>; 
><<mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com>vision2020 at moscow.com>; "'Mark 
>Solomon'" <<mailto:msolomon at moscow.com>msolomon at moscow.com>
>Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 4:29 PM
>Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Water Concern?
>
> >g -
> >
> > You suggested that perhaps none of the city council candidates have a firm
> > handle on the water situation.
> >
> > If this is true, wouldn't it be better advised to err on the side of
> > caution?
> >
> > Both Lamar and Ament cited PBAC as authorities on the figures 
> they presented
> > yesterday at the CofC Forum.  Krauss cited "something [he] read somewhere"
> > and Steed simply wants to remove limitations and controls.
> >
> > Your thoughts?
> >
> > Seeya round town, Moscow.
> >
> > Tom Hansen
> > Moscow, Idaho
> >
> > "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
> > students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."
> >
> > - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> >
> > From: 
> <mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com>vision2020-bounces at moscow.com 
> [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
> > On Behalf Of g. crabtree
> > Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2007 3:33 PM
> > To: Joe Campbell; 
> <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com>vision2020 at moscow.com; Mark Solomon
> > Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Water Concern?
> >
> > I assume the statement that includes "...regarding
> > the upper aquifer which if continued to be pumped at current 
> levels could be
> >
> > in crisis as soon as 15-20 years from now." is couched that way to leave
> > room for the obvious corollary?
> >
> > Could be 50-75 years, could be 115-120 years? Could be we really 
> don't know
> > for sure? Could be that Krauss, Carscallen, and Steed have as 
> firm a handle
> > on the water situation as any of the MCA candidates do.
> >
> > g
> >
> >
> >
> >
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