To the editor,
There is a classic paradox framed by the question “What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?” While this paradox may be fun to ponder, it has a simple answer: there is no answer because physics does not allow for either; except here in Koochiching County where the county board and the International Falls City Council are doing their best to prove otherwise.
In matters political, problems often have no absolute right or wrong solution. However, there are items of fact that support — or not — both sides of problems. From those facts, properly weighted, any reasonable person can find solutions that are more defensible than others. The key, and the hope, is that the persons responsible for solutions are reasonable.
Unfortunately, “reasonable” is not a word that aptly describes too many of our elected officials. Instead we are left to witness blatant disregard for empirical evidence in favor of anecdotal observation at best and uninformed opinion at worst; indifference toward those that give face, voice and research to the cases they plead in favor of those who do not; and, obfuscation and grandstanding when clarity, integrity and humility should prevail.
Many of our county’s problems are manifest: shrinking population, one of the higher poverty rates in Minnesota, excessive reliance on one employer. But, so too, efforts to better this area are widely known: plans for a plasma gasification plant, a new hospital, a new Voyageurs National Park headquarters, a Homeland Security compound, a riverfront development, and ever improving promotion of Rainy Lake. Kudos to those officials, public and private, who are advancing those good efforts.
But, our elected officials, namely the county commissioners, must do more. They must act more like the proverbial “Dutch uncle” and tell their constituents: “We will no longer engage in political logrolling. We will abandon petty biases and specious reasoning. What matters more is not whose turn it is at the funding trough but what we do to ensure the greater benefit for all.” Anything less is like building sandcastles at the tide line.
Rob Boyd
International Falls, MN