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Kruise Kalispell Public Comment from Mark Holston Aimee Brunckhorst From: Mark Holston <holston.mark92@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 5, 2024 4:02 PM To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment Subject: EXTERNAL Kruise Kalispell A recent letter to the editor of the Daily Interlake from an out of state visitor who was in Kalispell during an evening when Kruise Kalispell was underway asked a simple but important question: "Where were the police?" Even more pointedly, this tourist asked, "Does Kalispell even have a police department?" This person was attempting to find a restaurant in which to have dinner and was met on Main Street with clouds of toxic exhaust, scores of vehicles engaged in illegal stunts, blocks of bumper-to-bumper traffic, and excessive noise. Is this the image of Kalispell you wish to project to the world? second many of the observations and comments on the Kruise Kalispell issue made by fellow Kalispell resident Valeri McGarvey in a November 2, 2024 letter published in the Flathead Beacon titled "Not Being Good Neighbors." "The Kruisers are loud, profane in both words and hand gestures, and breaking traffic laws," she states. "The air is gross from burnouts and rolling coal. You have brought this activity to my neighborhood, and I don't like it," she concludes. Why on earth has the City of Kalispell and the KIDD allowed themselves to be bullied into allowing this to continue unabated week after week? One counselor goes so far as to state that an attempt to curb this activity would amount to a violation of the human rights of the Kruise participants. Really? Right up there with the genocide in Gaza? This is ludicrous and trivializes the important issue of human rights violations. Where are the rights of thousands of Kalispell citizens to enjoy a safe and peaceful environment and to be able to access businesses and other services located on the Main Street corridor? Where are the concerns about the effect of bumper-to-bumper traffic congestion on the region's major traffic thoroughfare? Does this not jeopardize the ability of the KIDD, KFD, and EMTS to respond to in a timely manner to emergencies in the area? 1 The current situation makes a mockery of the city government and the KPID. I would strongly suggest that the counselor who admits to being a Kruise participant should recuse himself from further discussion of this issue. This observation made by an Interlake reporter on October 30 sums it all up. "As attendees left City Hall, the rumble of supped up engines could be heard chugging downtown." In other words, the message to the City Council and the KPID from Kruise participants was "Stick it in your ear." Mark Holston, Kalispell Sent from Mail for Windows