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Due to medical reasons, I was unable to attend the Thompson Falls City Council meeting on 8 January, but I certainly heard about it, and for all the wrong reasons. Members of the council were elected by voters to do the business of the city on behalf of citizens. Whether you voted or not, and whether or not you voted for those elected, our council members are the people elected by majority vote. As a long time resident of Thompson Falls, I am watching the behavior of those attending city and county meetings deteriorate over time. There is a group of individuals, some who are not residents of TF, who have made it their mission to attend these meetings to be as disruptive and rude as possible. They bring their own agenda, regardless of whether or not it is city business. If you don’t know who these people are, ask me. They seem proud of their behavior so I’m sure they’ll be happy I’m providing them publicity. Not that they are lacking publicity and notoriety. Between several social media sites, they keep their names, and for one individual, face, quite prominent. For those of you reading this who were taught how to speak with civility in public, and how to behave toward others in public meetings, why are you allowing our mayor and council members, who are our friends, neighbors, and fellow residents of TF, to be treated in such a disgraceful way? I hope as citizens of TF we all feel an obligation to our mayor and council to ensure they are treated respectfully and do our part to ensure they are. As the disruptive, disgraceful, rude behavior continues, the ability of our mayor and council members to accomplish their duties may diminish over time. Productivity may get less and less, and their frustration rises with each meeting. The way to ensure harm comes to our beautiful little town is for people who know better, to do nothing. It is past time that those of us who were taught how to behave, speak, and successfully engage in accomplishing public business, get actively involved in what is happening and put a stop to it. Come to council meetings, the second Monday of each month, 6pm. Call city hall at 406-827-3557 to find out the location of the meetings. Because so many people are currently attending council meetings, locations of the meetings change to ensure rooms are large enough to accommodate everyone.

It is unconscionable that we allow our hard working, dedicated mayor and council members to be so poorly treated. And it is unconscionable that we allow these rude, disruptive people to interfere with accomplishing the business of the city. Bad behavior should never be allowed or tolerated at our community meetings. It’s up to those of us who know better to put a stop to it by attending meetings and calling out those who are misbehaving. As more of us with positive social skills attend the meetings, it becomes more comfortable to speak up when surrounded by those with similar, respectful views. Most of us have a good upbringing. It’s past time to show it. When the majority in the room make it clear bad behavior will not be tolerated, those with bad behavior will slink away. Please, citizens of TF, let’s help TF get back on a positive, productive track while ensuring our mayor and council members are treated with the respect they deserve and the appreciation they earn so they can do the business we elected them to do.

Ruth Cheney,

Thompson Falls