Reflections On Great Falls And Cascade County

I am 63 years old and a lifelong intermittent resident of Montana and Great Falls. I have most all of my immediate family stretching from Conrad to Fort Benton and everything in between. I also have other family members in other parts of Montana.

Every time I have moved back to Great Falls after being absent from 4 years to 19 years, I see differences in Great Falls. A lot of that could be attributed to my station in life (i.e. older and higher financial level). And a lot of Great Falls is no different in what I have seen before. Gone is the once great pride we have had in our city. Cascade County was thought of a lot more highly than it is now but that may be attributed to the now apparent lethargy and dullness of the population of Cascade County and Great Falls.

Voters for one either vote what they are told, believe with minimal research of candidate or measure or some do vote because they like to know what is really happening in our region. You have a mass population of voters spread all over the county (this is all by who I have talked to and associated with) that clearly do not want to get involved. Yes we have some people who have skeletons in their closets that do not want to raise their heads above water and stay out of politics or conversation about the times we are now living in. This can all be broken down even more but I wrote just enough for somebody reading this to get what I am putting down here.

And…what I am putting down here is that I know there are many voters (again people I have talked to) who have buyer’s remorse on issues or candidates they voted for without much information. And it is hard here to get good information. The media here is what I would call fake news, the Tribune I know for a fact allows their reporters to be biased as in an election. I can’t remember the guy but I called him in regards to the sheriff election in 2009. I asked him why he was so skewed in what he said about my chosen candidate Dave Castle. His answer “I just don’t like they guy”. Of course I do not have any proof but I will bet some of you know who I am talking about. What do you expect from a newspaper that is owned by the Gannett Company in Tennessee? I even called them up as I was somewhat miffed by what the reporter said and they told me they had no idea this was going on? So who is in charge to be able to tell me that?

I know of a story about my community that was aired by KFBB TV that was totally false. After I called them up and talked to the responsible parties involved with the stories, they all told me to give the number of the person to call so they could get a hold of them and right this situation. I did that in all circumstances and the people that were misrepresented in the broadcast, told me that they never got a call from anyone.

So, you see (and you have always known) that there is a lot to be said about researching and finding out all you can on the candidates and issues that get thrown up in front of you every so often. This is big stuff that we vote on. You may have the money now to pay for your property tax going up every year with your county and possibly city services keep going down in quality. Just remember in the future you may be making less and may have yourself be one who has now put yourself in a bind financially. That last sentence has already happened to many people that I know and possibly myself and my wife as time goes on.

“So, you see (and you have always known) that there is a lot to be said about researching and finding out all you can on the candidates and issues that get thrown up in front of you every so often.”

In conclusion, everyone has the right to be and vote as they want as we have a constitution at least that says so. If you do dig deeper into things as is one theme of the E-City Beat website, it does not mean you will “get caught” and get into trouble with someone. Use local media if possible, trusted local media that is. Not just Facebook or any of the others. I think E-City Beat looks at information honestly and from what I see, does want to explain the source of their information to be as a recently politically hijacked word “transparent” in what is said here.

So far I see this blog as a good site that talks about the issues and problems that plague us locally at least and you do not see any of that being brought up anywhere else…and that may be one good reason to consider reading up on this website.

• Category: Great Falls

Posted by Charles E. Smith

Charles E. Smith is lifelong intermittent resident of Montana and Great Falls with most all of his immediate family stretching from Conrad to Fort Benton and everywhere in between.

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