Month: April 2020

by William Skink

Some elected leaders see authoritarian opportunity with this pandemic. In Hungary Victor Orban has transformed himself into a dictator and now rules by decree.

In Missoula our little dictator, Herr Engen, took his new authority out for a spin when he signed the purchase agreement to use a million dollars in TIF money to buy the Sleepy Inn 3 days BEFORE City Council met to vote on this proposed sale.

I guess the people elected to govern Missoula are now merely ornamental. From the link:

Missoula Mayor John Engen signed an agreement for the city of Missoula to purchase a motel on West Broadway three days before the City Council approved the deal. The agreement was contingent on the Council’s approval.
…
NBC Montana is waiting to hear from the city as to why documents were signed before the council approved the deal.

The Missoula City Council meets Monday to discuss the topic.

So what are you going to do about this Bryan von Lossberg? What are you going to do about this Gwen Jones? Are there spines in those self-isolating meat sacks yours?

City Council voted to give Engen expanded powers last month and, as far as I can tell, Engen still retains those powers despite the fact City Council is using technology in order to continue doing the business of governing. From the link:

With a vote of caution, the Missoula City Council on Monday unanimously agreed to grant the mayor wider powers to authorize contracts and agreements above a certain dollar amount, so long as they were previously budgeted.

The move saw no dissent among council members, who are working to expedite city business but limit exposure as the COVID-19 pandemic brings other functions to a standstill.

City Council voted unanimously (including Team Liberty) to give Engen the ability to be even more unilaterally sneaky, so my question is this: what did they expect? Engen is behaving exactly the way I would expect a deceitful politician to behave.

How about this, ornamental Council members, you have a choice: either vote to rescind those expanded powers, since technology allows you to govern while hiding in your homes, or just put your tail between your legs and shut up.

Mayor Engen, through this unilateral action, has loudly declared that the council members Missoulians elected no longer matter when it comes to deciding how public money will be spent.

Is Missoula a one-man fiefdom now? If so, the taxpayers facing an economic depression would like to know. If Council members don’t want to do their jobs anymore, I’m sure there are plenty of available, out-of-work citizens who wouldn’t mind getting paid to pretend to govern via Zoom.

by William Skink

The episode of the Corbett Report is excellent.

Please keep an open mind, our ability to resist the coming medical martial law may depend on it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k1trzdmwR2M&feature=youtu.be

by William Skink

Nine years ago I had a run-in at the homeless shelter with a very angry man. I didn’t understand his anger at the time because he had not yet shot at Sheriff Deputies and disappeared into the woods, earning him a spot on the FBI’s most wanted list. That would happen about a month after my encounter.

The last time I gave David Burgert any thought was in 2014, when Jamie Rogers wrote a feature piece for the Missoula Independent. That article gave some interesting insight into the key events that turned David Burgert into an angry, violent menace.

I wrote a post about this at 4&20 Blackbirds at the time, and mentioned my run-in, but I was still working at the shelter, so decided not to provide any details.

The reason I’m bringing this up now is because Flathead Beacon reporters Justin Franz and Andy Viano are releasing episodes of their Project 7 podcast, which takes an in-depth look into David Burgert’s life and the different theories about what may have happened in the woods in Lolo after Burgert shot at Sheriff deputies and disappeared. You can find episode 2 here.

I’m not going to get into the details of my encounter just yet. I recorded an interview with Justin Franz last week, and it will probably be included in either episode 4 or 5.

One of the interesting points of tension in this story is between some deputies within the Sheriff’s department and Sheriff Ibsen, who was the Sheriff at the time this happened in June of 2011. The criticism against Ibsen is that he did not do enough to investigate the case and bring Burgert to justice.

I will say that my experience seems to back that up. When the news broke and I saw the face of David Burgert, I obviously realized who I had been dealing with the month prior. I contacted authorities, but no one ever followed up with me.

I’ll leave it there for now.

by William Skink

Governor Bullock has unveiled his Coronavirus Relief Fund Task Force. Thanks to the friend who sent me a heads up that our benevolent Sultan of Sound, Lord Checota, made the cut.

Here is the full list of names:

• Charlie Beaton – Big Dipper Ice Cream
• Scott Brown – The Base Camp
• Eric Bryson – Montana Association of Counties
• Tim Burton – Montana League of Cities and Towns
• Nick Checota – Logjam Presents
• Randy Chesler – Glacier Bancorp
• Bill Coffee – Stockman Bank
• Colin Davis – Chico Hot Springs
• Shalon Hastings – Fly Fisher Adventures
• Jacquie Helt – Service Employees International Union
• Mike Hope – Rockin R
• Llew Jones – State representative, business owner
• Tom Keneally – Town Pump
• Casey Lozar – Federal Reserve Bank
• Jim Markel – Red Oxx
• Janice Mattson – Mattson Farms
• Liz Moore – Montana Nonprofit Association
• Jim Peterson – Rancher
• Kevin Riley – 1st Interstate Bank
• Mark Semmens – D.A. Davidson
• Jon Sesso – State Senator, business owner
• Larry Simkins – The Washington Companies
• Jason Smith – Montana Office of Indian Affairs
• Sarah Walsh – PayneWest Insurance
• Joe Willauer – Butte Local Development Corporation

 
I see the Federal Reserve is represented, as is Washington Companies.

We’re in good hands, Montana. Now go enjoy the fifth vodka tonic.

by William Skink

Today people you didn’t elect are going to vote on whether or not spend $1.1 million dollars of your money on a motel that was listed for $675,000 six years ago.

And, on top of that, our shady Mayor has once again seemingly done his best to conceal the city’s actions surrounding this deal.

This is coming out thanks to a letter penned by three ELECTED council members who are trying to get critical information out to the public before our limited resources are used to purchase a property for hundreds of thousands of dollars over the asking price of six years ago.

Here is a portion of the letter:

We are writing as three elected officials representing three wards of the City of Missoula. We are kindly asking you not to approve the purchase of the Sleepy Inn Motel until full details have been determined and digested by ELECTED officials and the citizens of Missoula. We personally see this as an example of “never letting a good crisis going to waste”. After much research, we have not yet seen any evidence of any municipality in the United States using the COVID-19 crisis to purchase a hotel/motel. We have seen many examples of municipalities renting or leasing hotels/motels, but never purchasing one during this crisis.

All signs point to COVID-19 hopefully ending in the next couple of months, meaning that the long-term effects and intentions of the Sleepy Inn Motel purchase are not that of COVID-19. Using this as an excuse to purchase something that would otherwise receive even more scrutiny is not acceptable; especially since it was buried as an address that was buried in Claims that was buried in the Consent Agenda during our historic first-ever virtual City Council meeting.

We need to see commercial estimates by commercial appraisers. This hotel was listed six years ago for $675,000 dollars. At the time the owner was so desperate to get rid of it that they were offering owner financing on it. This price is close to half of what the city is now paying for it after 6 years of wear and tear in the middle of an economic depression. It is also worth noting that the taxable value of the hotel is roughly 400k less than the value the MRA plans to spend. It is our strong recommendation that the City gets at least two commercial appraisals. We do not know if a commercial appraisal has been completed on the property and we do not know if the tax dollars (that we supposedly preside over) are being spent wisely or appropriately.

What the hell is going on here? Who came up with the $1.1 million price tag if the property was listed for essentially half that six years ago?

Mayor Engen appears to be “burying” what he plans to do with the public’s money so his handpicked sycophants at the Missoula Redevelopment Agency can vote on this expenditure of TIF money before the public knows the details.

Are you ok with that Missoula?

While people are locked down, stressed out and wondering how the hell they are going to survive our Mayor continues his shady schemes with even less scrutiny.

The Mayor won’t stop doing this shit until he’s removed from office. He’s an alcoholic who spent years hiding the extent of his problem with alcohol from his peers and from the public. The Mayor didn’t start dealing with his addiction until he was confronted by friends and put on a plane for inpatient rehab in Oregon.

Mayor Engen doesn’t seem capable of acting in a forthright, transparent manner when it comes to the financial stewardship of the public’s resources. I hope you’re paying attention, Missoula, and in 2021, please, vote for ABE (anyone but Engen).