Month: July 2020

by William Skink

A reader of this blog sent me an email with a link to a letter-to-the-editor I had somehow missed.

With the recent scrutiny regarding how the Missoula County Attorney’s office is NOT prosecuting violent individuals who are literally killing people in our community, and considering the history of people surrounding the Mayor enabling and covering up the extent of his alcoholism for years, the letter below is VERY RELEVANT when considering the quality of our leadership in Missoula.

The letter is pasted, in full, below.

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When Bradley Layton drove Ginny Merriam’s 1982 Ford F250 up Van Buren Street at high speed (one witness estimated 65 mph) on the wrong side of the road he endangered countless drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. He then careened back and forth over curbs in a failed attempt to turn onto Missoula Avenue. His path through two yards, a number of trees and two steel fences was actually the best thing he did on that alcohol-fueled escapade. Because if he hadn’t crashed, his journey to the other end of Missoula Avenue would likely have taken the lives of children using the bike/pedestrian lanes farther up the street. At least two adults feared for their lives as he sped directly towards them. Yet for some mysterious reason the charges against Mr. Layton were quickly reduced to misdemeanors. This, despite the fact that the arresting officer had written up the charges as felony endangerment. The county attorney has denied that the couple’s close relationship with the mayor’s office influenced the decision to go lightly on Mr. Layton. I’d suggest that Mayor Engen publicly advocate for the felony charges to be reinstated to avoid the appearance of a cozy relationship with the accused.

Kirk Henderson

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The Missoulian followed up this letter-to-the-editor with an article about this incident, despite efforts by Layton and his daughter to use their privilege to kill the story. Their privilege? Bradley Layton is the partner of Engen’s Communication Director, Ginny Merriam.

The big, stinking odor wafting from this case is the fact Layton had his felony charges reduced. We are assured, though, by the stand up attorneys at the County Attorney’s office that the reduction of charges happened AFTER Merriam called an attorney friend at the County Attorney’s office:

Bradley Layton was arrested on a felony count of criminal endangerment, but was officially charged only with a misdemeanor, after the felony was declined by county prosecutors. Although the City of Missoula’s communications director called a friend in the county prosecutor’s office the same day the felony charge was initially dropped from her partner’s drunken driving case, she and an official with the prosecutor’s office say no requests for special treatment were made.

Now that this is all coming out for us, the lowly public, to learn about, it appears the County Attorney’s office is changing their tune and WILL charge Layton with a felony:

Layton on Tuesday admitted a long struggle with alcohol and acknowledged that he could have killed someone. If his case is dismissed in Municipal Court and a judge grants county prosecutors’ request to file the felony case against him, he will be charged with felony criminal endangerment and aggravated driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. A conviction on the felony charge carries a maximum penalty of a $50,000 fine and 10 years in prison.

So, Ginny Merriam has a partner who is an alcoholic, and her boss, Mayor Engen, is an alcoholic. Maybe Ginny Merriam needs to get some counseling herself on her obvious role as a co-dependent in the lives of these self-destructive addicts. For a little insight into co-dependency, read this:

They have good intentions. They try to take care of a person who is experiencing difficulty, but the caretaking becomes compulsive and defeating. Co-dependents often take on a martyr’s role and become “benefactors” to an individual in need. A wife may cover for her alcoholic husband; a mother may make excuses for a truant child; or a father may “pull some strings” to keep his child from suffering the consequences of delinquent behavior.

The problem is that these repeated rescue attempts allow the needy individual to continue on a destructive course and to become even more dependent on the unhealthy caretaking of the “benefactor.” As this reliance increases, the co-dependent develops a sense of reward and satisfaction from “being needed.” When the caretaking becomes compulsive, the co-dependent feels choiceless and helpless in the relationship, but is unable to break away from the cycle of behavior that causes it.

With this in mind, here is our alcoholic Mayor weighing in on his good friend’s dilemma (Engen and Merriam worked at the Missoulian together and have known each other for 30 years):

Missoula Mayor John Engen on Friday defended Merriam’s respect for ethical boundaries and cited their long professional relationship in City Hall and as former colleagues at the Missoulian.

“Over the course of those 30 years I’ve known her to be a person of remarkable integrity,” Engen said. “I also trust the other people involved here. …I know that even if someone were to ask them to intervene in some way or seek special treatment they’re not going to provide it. I also know that Ginny would never ask that.”

“My conversation with Ginny about this challenging piece of her personal life is that, like any other person who’s trying to navigate a system with which they’re unfamiliar, she called someone she knew within the system to get some insight on what the hell is going on. Ginny Merriam is the last person who would ask someone to do something that would even broach the unethical.”

Mayor Engen cannot speak credibly about this situation. Engen’s alcoholism got so bad a few years ago it required an intervention. How did Engen’s good friend and Communication Director cover for her boss all those years BEFORE that intervention? Obviously she has experience covering for an addict, with her partner being an alcoholic, so covering for an alcoholic boss would seem, I would imagine, almost natural.

In Missoula and around the country we are facing dire situations like a pandemic health crisis, a looming economic depression and a persisting housing crisis. To navigate these difficulties we need competent, focused leaders making difficult decisions about how to use our limited resources for maximum benefit for all Missoulians.

Instead we are led by drunks and their enablers who continue seeing taxpayers as nothing more than little piggy banks to be flipped and shaken for loose change while they use their influence to minimize the consequences for their own reckless behaviors.

Are you ever going to get tired of this, Missoula?

by William Skink

The Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative I wrote about earlier this week is a much older program than I had realized, predating Obama’s fusion centers by six years.

Launched in 2002, PSN was adopted early on in urban centers like Chicago. By 2018, the year President Trump revived the initiative, Chicago wasn’t seeing the benefit:

Pro­ject Safe Neigh­bor­hoods (PSN) was launched by the U.S. De­part­ment of Jus­tice in 2002 to re­duce gun vi­o­lence across 94 fed­eral dis­tricts. The City of Chicago adopted this pro­gram the same year, tar­get­ing neigh­bor­hoods in­flicted with high rates of poverty, un­em­ploy­ment, gang mem­ber­ship, and high school dropouts. Ini­tial eval­u­a­tions de­ter­mined that PSN was work­ing—vi­o­lent crime de­creased in ar­eas con­sid­ered to be “high-dose PSN sites” rel­a­tive to oth­ers.

Af­ter more than a decade of PSN’s im­ple­men­ta­tion, a new study led by Ben Grun­wald and An­drew V. Pa­pachris­tos eval­u­ated the long-term im­pact of PSN in Chicago. The au­thors found that, con­trary to pop­u­lar be­lief, the re­sults of the pro­gram’s ef­fec­tive­ness were not as sig­nif­i­cant as ear­lier stud­ies in­di­cated. In fact, they showed that the project reduced homicides in its first years of implementation, but like other anti-violence initiatives in Chicago, the effects “may have dissipated over time.”

Later that year, during a speech by Trump in Kansas City that garnered headlines because he had just announced his choice of William Barr to take over as AG, Trump also announced PSN would be getting a boost, and Congress followed suit. From the first link:

THE PRESIDENT: We’re here today to restore one of the most effective crime prevention strategies in America: Project Safe Neighborhoods. This initiative brings law enforcement, community groups, and local leaders together to get the most violent criminals in the most dangerous areas off the streets and behind bars. After many years of neglect, we are bringing back this lifesaving program stronger than ever before.

Today is the first nationwide meeting of Project Safe Neighborhoods in eight years. And here with us is the man who started this visionary project all the way back in 2001, former Attorney General John Ashcroft. (Applause.) Where is John? Where is John?

Yes, the BIG VISIONARY of this national program that has been resurrected under Trump, and is now trickling all the way down to liberal Missoula County, is none other than John COVER THOSE STATUE’S TITS Ashcroft.

How does that make you feel, liberal Missoula?

After Trump announced the revival of Ashcroft’s vision, Congress followed suit with H.R> 3249:

H.R. 3249 officially establishes the Project Safe Neighborhoods Block Grant Program within the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs to foster and improve existing partnerships to create safer neighborhoods through sustained reductions in violent crimes. The Program, first created in 2001, had previously been funded through other grants. The legislation authorizes $50 million a year for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2020.

The Senate Amendment adds additional areas of purpose for the Grant Program, including the collection of data on outcomes achieved through the Program, competitive and evidence-based programs to reduce gun crime and gang violence, the Edward Byrne criminal justice innovation program, and community-based violence prevention initiatives.

I added the emphasis because the collection of data is what I’m most interested in regarding this DOJ initiative.

To get more information about how data is collected, I reached out to a grant administrator in Missoula who I know, and I got an email contact for the person who does the data collection. Interestingly, the grant administrator told me she had tried to get data from this initiative for a grant she was working on, but was denied.

Why? Is there some kind of secret sauce applied to the data to ensure specific outcomes are achieved?

I have sent this person an email with some general questions about this initiative and if I get a response, you’ll be reading about here.

Stay tuned…

by William Skink

Proponents of cancel culture aren’t trying to change minds through the strength of their ideas and arguments. They are trying to hurt people in real life because they don’t like what their ideological opponents say online.

The first blog I contributed to–4&20 Blackbirds–went dark after jhwygirl decided it wasn’t worth trying to keep it going. From my understanding, her day job is a government job, and she was outed to her employer, so to continue being outspoken online would have jeopardized her ability make a living.

Back when I was gainfully employed, some gutless piece of shit sent anonymous letters to my employer trying to get me fired for what I wrote here at RD. That was before City Council person Gwen Jones tried to use her board position to intimidate me at my place of work, specifically asking me if I was going to “write about this on my blog”.

Obviously the intimidation didn’t work, because I’m writing this post, but I suspect there were negative impacts that I am presently constrained from discussing here.

I’m writing about this topic because I just read Greg Strandberg’s latest post, and even though we have butted heads over topics like homelessness and political opportunism, I would NEVER think about calling up his employer to ATTACK his means of providing for his family.

Strandberg begins his post describing going back to work, then explains why he is hesitant to write about it:

I’d love to talk more about this aspect of my life, but earlier this year my employer received emails from people trying to get me fired because of what I write on this site.

I have some suggestions for Strandberg and anyone else dealing with the gutless pieces of shit who fill the empty hole in their lives by trying to hurt other people, because you do have options.

If you can get a name, or an email address (which the idiots provided in this situation), contact them in a way that can be documented, then clearly, reasonably (no bad words like in this post) tell them to stop harassing you. If the harassment persists, you can work with the Crime Victim Advocates office to file a temporary order of protection. A judge may not grant the order, but the gutless piece of shit would at least have to show up in court.

Another option in this land of litigation is of course filing a lawsuit. Claim emotional damage from the added stress of having your employment threatened during a pandemic and looming economic depression. This is a costly option, but isn’t that why we have crowd-funding platforms? I would definitely consider a financial contribution to the GREG STRANDBERG SUING A GUTLESS PIECE OF SHIT fund.

If those options aren’t viable, or don’t produce the desired effect, then one may get desperate and start considering fighting fire with fire.

Is that partisan blogger really dating a former student?

Who was that Democrat politician with her unmasked kids going wild at Walmart?

Where specifically does that City Council person live in the slant street neighborhood?

I don’t think anything productive would come from going there, but the gutless pieces of shit trying to get people fired from their day jobs should know it’s a tool I’ve attached to the old tool belt, just like TIF is a tool attached TIGHTLY to yours.

by William Skink

Do not question the local loyalty of biotech start-up, Inimmune. The president and CEO of Inimmune, Jay Evans, wants you to know he COULD have gone out of state to raise millions from deep-pocketed investors, but instead found those deep pockets right here in Montana:

Inimmune Corporation, founded by four pharmaceutical experts and a team of researchers in Missoula in 2016, said the Series A round of funding was led by Two Bear Capital.

“We could have looked outside of Montana for investors but were happy to find a local venture capital firm that connected with our vision to grow a world-class biotech company right here in Montana,” said Dr. Jay Evans, the president and CEO at Inimmune. “The company plans to use the Series A investment to advance at least two late-stage pre-clinical drug candidates in oncology and allergy through Phase I human clinical trials.”

Inimmune is nationally recognized for its treatments that leverage the immune system, including its development of novel adjuvants, or compounds added to therapies that improve or direct an immune response.

I added the emphasis because the sentiment behind the creepy phrase leverage the immune system speaks to a much larger problem with our arrogant, technocratic scientist-priests who hoover up millions and millions to replace natural things–like our immune system and breast milk–with their Frankenstein versions, like Biomilq.

The Missoula Current article that announced this round of funding for Inimmune mentions Two Bear Capital, but Kidston’s curiosity stops there.

Two Bear Capital is run by Mike Goguen, a very deep-pocketed individual who defended himself against these salacious allegations (case later dropped by the judge), and more recently had local problems in Whitefish, resulting in a lawsuit filed by Whitefish’s Police Chief.

Before getting to the lawsuit by the Whitefish Police Chief, here is a quote about this “Montanan” from the Techcrunch piece:

Goguen, who sold an $11 million home in Atherton, Calif., in 2017, has spent much of his time in recent years at another home in Whitefish, Mont., where he has seemingly been wooing locals.

An August story about Goguen in The Missoulian about a separate case describes him as “known locally for philanthropic ventures.”

I guess the wooing of the Police Chief didn’t work:

A lawsuit in which the chief of the Whitefish Police Department makes accusations about a wealthy venture capitalist whose philanthropy has spanned the Flathead Valley is raising more questions than it answers, particularly now that the defendant, Michael Goguen, has disavowed the complaint and is setting forth his own version of circumstances accusing the police chief of malicious wrongdoing.

Whitefish Police Chief Bill Dial filed the civil suit Dec. 16 against Goguen, accusing the high-profile community member of attempting to influence a criminal investigation involving Goguen by currying favor with the detective leading the inquiry. Goguen’s alleged efforts to influence the investigation, Dial asserts, included befriending the lead detective and inviting him on an “all-expense paid elk hunt in Colorado with a private jet, lodging, meals and guides.”

“All this was done while the criminal investigation was supposed to be ongoing,” Dial’s complaint filed in Flathead County District Court states.

“Goguen’s conduct was intended to and, in fact, did influence the criminal investigation,” the complaint continues. “It caused the lead detective to fail in his duties and responsibilities to the Whitefish Police Department to fairly and neutrally investigate the case. Goguen’s conduct caused the lead detective to fail to open any report, fail to properly investigate the matter, turn a blind eye to potential crimes, and fail to document multiple communications he had with Goguen related to the investigation, notwithstanding direct orders from his supervisor to do such things.”

Jay Evans, along with the Missoula Current, are selling us a bullshit story depicting wealthy assholes like Mike Goguen as benevolent local investors when that is SIMPLY NOT TRUE, unless you count property ownership as the only relevant metric in defining one’s local status.

While many non-investor-type people are stuck in a crippling, anxiety-induced fight-or-flight reaction to the uncertainty of the pandemic, power players like Mike Goguen are making moves that will ensure they thrive and profit while the consequences of their greed are displaced onto those least prepared to deal with it.

I am not ok with this.

Are you?

by William Skink

When it comes to gentrification, Missoula is late to the party. Bigger, more urban cities have been experiencing gentrification for decades. Historically, gentrification has often impacted minority neighborhoods, transforming them into high-end enclaves of privilege.

But how does this actually play out on the streets?

For today’s lesson on gentrification, let’s begin with some insightful lyrics from Oakland-based Hip-Hop group, The Coup:

Mr Coke said to Mr Mayor: “you know, we got a process like Ice T’s hair
We put up the funds for your election campaign
And, oh, um, waiter can you bring the champagne?
Our real estate firm says opportunity’s arousing
To make some condos out of low-income housing
Immediately, we need some media heat
To say that gangs run the street and then we bring in the police fleet!
Harass and beat everybody til they look inebriated
When we buy the land, motherfuckas will appreciate it
Don’t worry about the Urban League or Jesse Jackson
My man that owns Marlboro donated a fat sum”
That’s when I stepped back some to contemplate what few know
Sat down, wrestled with my thoughts like a sumo
Ain’t no one player that could beat this lunacy
Ain’t no hustler on the street could do a whole community
This is how deep shit can get
It reads “macaroni” on my birth certificate
“Puddin’-Tang” is my middle name, but I can’t hang
I’m getting hustled only knowing half the game

Since I grew up listening to music like this (along with many of my white, suburban peers), I can help translate these lyrics: the public sector and private sector collude with media to create narratives that benefit land developers, and even race-card players like Jesse Jackson are controlled through strategic funding. The speaker of this poem concludes with the epiphany that he can’t hang because he’s getting hustled only knowing half the game.

So true.

Hyping violence (or looking the other way as drugs flood communities of color) drives down land value so developers can swoop in. But it can work the other way as well.

Down play violence in order to NOT SCARE AWAY investment.

Is this why the Missoula County Attorney’s office is suddenly shy about prosecuting killers?

Cue Project Safe Neighborhood, an initiative from Montana’s Department of Justice:

For the second straight year, murders, robberies and aggravated assaults in Missoula County have decreased as law enforcement continues investigating and prosecuting methamphetamine trafficking, firearms offenses and armed robberies through Project Safe Neighborhoods, announced federal, state and local prosecutors today.

Crime statistics show that in Missoula County, these violent crimes decreased by 9.2 percent in the 12-month period ending May 2020. Overall, violent crime has decreased 25.7 percent since PSN was launched in May 2018, and 85 fewer people were the victim of a violent crime than in the 12 months before PSN began.

Please note, dear readers, that the violent deaths of Sean Stevenson and Ben Mousso occurred during the latter end of this 12-month time period. Since the killers of these two men were deemed to be acting in self defense, POOF! No violent crime occurred, at least not according to the numbers.

How convenient.

From my perspective, Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) appears to be a continuation of the Obama-era fusion centers that got their start subverting Occupy Wall Street. I’ll use Wikipedia for “their” definition of what Fusion Centers were/are:

Fusion Centers are designed to promote information sharing at the federal level between agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice, and state, local, and tribal law enforcement. As of February 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recognized 79 fusion centers.[1] Fusion centers may also be affiliated with an Emergency Operations Center that responds in the event of a disaster.

Now, with that definition in mind, here are the partners for PSN:

PSN Missoula County’s partners include the U.S. Attorney’s Office; Missoula County Attorney’s Office; Montana Department of Justice’s Prosecution Services Bureau, Highway Patrol and Division of Criminal Investigation; the Montana Department of Correction’s Adult Probation and Parole Division; the Missoula Police Department; the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office; Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshal’s Service.

“The continuing decline in violent crime in Missoula County is great news for the community. This focus on taking meth dealers and the most dangerous offenders off the street is working. But we’re not done. We also must reduce demand for meth through a comprehensive prevention, treatment and diversion plan. I want to recognize the cooperation and hard work of all of our PSN partners for making Missoula County a safer place to live,” U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

What are all these powerful government agencies willing to do to meet their objectives? Are they willing to work with criminals as CIs (confidential informants) in order to climb the drug dealer food chain? Are they willing to pressure local government into not prosecuting killers in order to claim statistical victory and further individual careers?

With all the fear over the pandemic, and a serious vacuum of investigative journalism in Missoula, there is less scrutiny than ever before regarding how our criminal justice system is functioning at the local, state and federal levels.

If our County Attorney’s office has decided to bestow drug dealers and mentally unstable homeless people like Johnny Lee Perry with a license to kill, shouldn’t we, as a caring and concerned community, ask why?