Month: April 2021

by Travis Mateer

Back in February I wrote about the Scott Street affordable housing project and the casual fascism of public/private partnerships. In that post I discovered the virtue-signaling involvement of Mary Stranahan, the Patriot Millionaire behind the social impact fund known as Goodworks Ventures.

This affordable housing project is back in the news because ANOTHER entity I have never heard of is getting a quarter million in TIF money for designing some shit. From the link:

With an agreement notched for an attainable housing project planned off Scott Street, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency on Thursday approved $226,000 to fund the planning effort needed to put the development in motion.

The city purchased the 19-acre parcel in 2020 and approved an agreement with Ravara Development LLC in 2021 to develop the project.

The sales agreement with Ravara is contingent upon the planning process, material costs and the continued participation of the project’s primary investor, Goodworks Ventures.

“Once we’ve gotten the massing blocks put together and we understand what kind of form and function we’ll be doing, we’ll be drilling down into our spreadsheets even further to make sure the return profile is acceptable to the investor, and we’re able to move ahead in this environment with the cost of inputs being astronomical right now,” said Dawn McGee of Goodworks Ventures.

As proposed, roughly half of the 19-acre property will be developed into a mix of housing types, ranging from brownstones to courtyard apartments. The other half will be used to consolidate a number of city services, thus freeing up other city properties for future redevelopment.

Thursday’s approval contracts Cushing Terrell of Missoula to begin the design.

The emphasis is mine, including the name at the end of the quote, Cushing Terrell “of” Missoula. That little word “of” is a nice touch because it creates the impression of a little local design firm from Missoula. But is it?

Cushing Terrell tells its Montana origin story at its website like this:

Born of the big skies and lush mountainscapes of Montana, Cushing Terrell’s roots in the American West run deep. But since our founding in 1938, we’ve grown beyond the natural boundaries of the mountain region – outward, and with an upward trajectory reflective of a bright future. Characterized by the rising angles in our logo, we’re driven by the desire to forever improve.

We’re creative yet careful, accomplished yet modest, thoughtful yet fun. But we never forget the landscape upon which our firm was established, on a late summer day along the banks of the winding Boulder River. The natural beauty surrounding these founding moments continues to underscore and inspire our lives, work, and brand.

When you go check out CT’s projects you start getting an idea of the kind of money they are suckling from the Big Sky.

From the fancy images I can deduce that CT has been involved in the Washington-Grizzly Champion Center, the Willard School remodel (part of a multi-million dollar bond project in Missoula) and Stockman’s bank. That last project got the attention of a Chicago TIF expert back in 2019 because of the blatant self-dealing. From the link:

In March, the city of Missoula issued a $1.5 million bond to reimburse Stockman Bank for part of their almost $30 million construction project on Orange Street and East Broadway.

According to city documents, the bond was issued to pay for improvements such as “environmental remediation and demolition of vacant buildings on the property, burial of overhead power lines within the public right-of-way and construction of new curb, gutter, sidewalks, lighting and landscaping within the public right-of-way.”

Stockman Bank then purchased that bond, meaning along with reimbursement the city is also paying Stockman a 4% interest rate on that $1.5 million.

“There are a couple of things that are very unusual about that,” University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dr. David Merriman said. “The bank being the beneficiary of TIF funds and then also buying the bond is, in my experience, very unusual.”

The emphasis is mine because I want readers to understand how insane it is for a CHICAGO critic of TIF abuse to find something VERY UNUSUAL in how Missoula operates its Engen slush fund.

For a little context on Chicago’s long history of TIF corruption, here is a 2019 editorial from the Chicago Tribune.

For a multidisciplinary design firm like Cushing Terrell, a quarter million in public TIF loot is just chump change. That is why the article at the top of the post indicated the money was needed to “put the development into motion”. What that actually means is left to the readers imagination to flesh out.

Entities like Cushing Terrell, Blue Line Development and Goodworks Ventures are financially benefitting from Missoula’s housing crisis, and they are using any means available to enrich themselves, like voter-approved bonds, public TIF money and other complicated tax subsidies.

As long as they play the virtue-signaling PR game, and as long as Missoulians keep voting for corrupt politicians like John Engen, their opportunistic enrichment schemes under the manipulative auspices of do-gooding will continue.

by Travis Mateer

I ended last week with an email sent off in frustration after the cleanup I was going to participate in was derailed. I’ll include the email, in full, at the bottom of this post.

Before getting to the email I want to provide a little speculation about why stakeholders like the Poverello Center and United Way are not acting in good faith with cleanup organizers.

There are two questions that I am starting to think homeless advocates don’t want answered, and that’s WHY people are living out there and WHAT is actually going on.

I’m not going to start answering those questions in this post, although, when you read the email, you’ll get an idea of some of the larger dynamics at play.

*

To whom it may concern,

I’m sending this email to Kevin Davis with the hope that he can forward it to those involved in the clean up efforts. My name is Travis Mateer and I worked at the Poverello Center from 2008-2016. I was directly involved with collaborative efforts in this area that once included the Health Department and Clark Fork Coalition. After I left my job a number of factors led to a change in course that has brought us to where we are today.

I was involved with last Friday’s clean-up and, though the clean-up part was productive, I was VERY discouraged to see how bad this area has gotten again after so many personal hours spent tactfully working to remove tons and tons of trash over the years.

One item I found in the trash was a young Native woman’s ID. This validates my concern about how areas like these can function, especially in the warmer months when seasonal transient activity increases.

I spoke about these concern in a Zoom meeting earlier this week with the Missing Indigenous Woman’s Task Force. They were very receptive about my description of homeless encampments and motels being places touched by human trafficking and meth abuse. I wonder what they would think about citizens like myself and Kevin getting lectured to by homeless advocates about our good-faith efforts to address what they are enabling?

As a citizen of this community I don’t need permission from my former employer to continue the work I was once paid to do, and did well. I also won’t ignore the stories I hear DIRECTLY FROM CLIENTS about why some residents of this camp don’t feel safe staying at the Poverello Center. Incidents of sexual assault and violence INSIDE THE POV is confirmation of those claims that some people feel safer living outside than they do in an overcrowded shelter where active drug and alcohol use has led to some very bad outcomes.

Instead of doing a clean up today, like I was planning on doing, I’m going to take other actions in order to more accurately describe what our problems are as a community for those without my direct experience and historical understanding of this complicated issue.

I’ll work with anyone who wants to be a part of the solution here, and I want to thank Kevin specifically for persisting with his volunteer efforts, despite the many unnecessary barriers he has experienced during his involvement.

If anyone has concerns about Kevin’s work, please know that he is consulting regularly with me, a former service provider with a decade of experience working with vulnerable populations. And if anyone wants to speak with me directly, my phone number is 406-529-1655.

Thank you,

by William Skink

Part I

altruistic is a word
plucking on the strings of heart
and mother fucking is a phrase
or, a more accurate place to start

begin the scheme a century back
when mother fucking was scaled down
petroleum pills and a Rhodes wolf pack
had long-term erections for the crown

all that planning produces fruit
which their fangs will soon enjoy
mother fucking is a real hoot
if we meekly accept their ploy

don't know about you, fabric face
but I'm not keen on their control
it's your choice to give consent
and follow where they say to go

Part II

impatient as the day is loud
you mother fuckers condescend
behind your punk-ass, little shroud
your mother fucking time will end

Matthew's dust outside of time
has the reach of real love
not smart-dust ejaculate from psycho minds
storming heaven with iron gloves

nutter butter and ego yeast
are nasty factors evil bakes
for poisoned loaves that prance like beasts
chasing sparks to eviscerate

mother fuckers, you've had your fun
black threads dance like nano worms
the zenith of your demented sun
now recedes so the heart can burn...

your sickness

by Travis Mateer

When I was considering different options to monetize content I was told over and over to check out Patreon.

Then one of my go-to sources on pandemic coverage got his Patreon account shut down, so I vowed to NEVER use Patreon for any reason whatsoever.

This is what’s known as a “purist” position.

I finally broke down for two reasons: one, the synchromystic research of Christopher Knowles and two, full access to the Prop Report with Monica Perez and her co-host, Binkley.

Before the information war went hot last March, I was much less motivated to sign up for a subscription, but the rampant censorship and failure of once relied upon alternative sources made me realize it was time to pony up for the ones doing the work.

And boy howdy, are Monica and Binkley (Monkley?) kicking ass.

While lots of podcasters are emerging from DIY grassroots with unusual styles, unconventional approaches and (too often) inconsistent posting schedules, the Monkley duo bring a radio ethos of fast-paced, headline-grabbing analysis five days a week, but with a critical eye toward agendas being served and narratives being controlled.

Beyond the quality analysis, these two have a great dynamic, which is becoming more and more important to me. I come away from their Daily News Blast feeling empowered to keep hammering away at the narrative shackles trying to ensnare my own cognition instead of sinking into the kind of fear reactions other creators can sometimes elicit.

What I’m trying to say is I’m glad I’m not applying misguided purity tests because it’s a lot better to be able to send someone a message through an imperfect tool like Patreon about what’s transpiring in our humble little Zoom Town than it is being less informed and less encouraged by others trying to figure out how to amplify their message.

by Travis Mateer

Missoula’s political establishment is firing up the PR engines to work their mind magic on the disoriented populace.

It’s gonna be a MISSOULA RENAISSANCE says our Mayor for life! We are ON THE VERGE of this great moment for our community! Hooray!!!

Part of setting the stage for this miraculous time in Missoula history was how Engen bucked the activist demand to DEFUND THE POLICE, a move he discusses in the article:

While some last year called on the city to “defund” the police, Engen said the city instead increased the police budget to improve officer training in areas of deescalation, mental illness and passionate response.

Those investments went beyond the department and included the city fire department and the mobile crisis response team created reach those in need of immediate help.

I am curious about the results of all this police development because I’m not seeing the impacts on the ground.

For example, last Friday I participated in a homeless camp cleanup and one of the residents of the encampment said a man who lived in the area was dangerous, has set multiple fires, and even threw gasoline on someone with the intention of lighting them on fire. The woman I was speaking with said despite begging law enforcement to arrest this man, nothing has happened.

I’m sure there’s more to this story, but I don’t doubt the basic claim. My seven year stint working at the Poverello Center taught me that homeless people are given the space to threaten and hurt each other because Montana lacks the resources to properly deal with the need.

A few days after this experience I noticed a growing encampment on the island on West Broadway, across from the Poverello Center. I approached this spot and spoke with a man living in one of the tents. The conversation was interesting.

It was about 10:30am and the man was already drinking because I could smell it on his breath. He was new to Missoula, having arrived about a month ago from North Dakota. I asked him if he knew anyone in town and he said nope, just looked at a map and picked our lovely town.

The passionate response of law enforcement to a drunk drifter from North Dakota who claims to be “helping” our community by breaking up fights around the Pov is to let the young Poverello staff police this area. Considering what this man said to me about the female staff members at the Pov, I question the safety of having Poverello staff manage the terrain beyond the shelter property.

But don’t let my on-the-ground experiences take away from our Mayor’s PR spin that we are PERCHED on the EDGE of a GREAT RENAISSANCE!

My perspective can be a real downer. What we need is the delusional confidence of a Mayor with 15 years of results in transforming our humble valley into an elitist playground for coastal transplants living on passive income.

Moving on from the CITY to the COUNTY, our self-appointed train czar, Dave Strohmaier, claims that Missoula exists in a strange metaphysical space where opposite things co-exist simultaneously.

What the heck am I talking about, you ask? I’m talking about this quote:

Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier also touched on the challenges of the past year and the opportunities that lie ahead.

The state of the community “is strong, but oh so fragile,” he said.

I bolded the juxtaposition of opposites here because I’m struggling to understand what the heck Dave is intending to convey with this zen-like koan describing our community status.

What does it mean to be STRONG but OH SO FRAGILE?

When you read further it gets a little clearer. The strong part is Dave and the people who think like Dave. The fragile part is the scary challenges ahead, especially the convenient boogeyman that we need to transform our society to combat: climate change. From the link:

“Housing obviously remains an acute challenge for our community, which is why we’ve hired a housing coordinator and initiated the process to develop a housing plan for the county,” Strohmaier said. “Because we didn’t just hit the pause button during the pandemic, we’re ready to hit the accelerator around this bend.”

The county continues to address a number of ongoing plans, including Mullan-area infrastructure, updated zoning codes, a new Food Policy Advisory Board and coexisting with fire. Climate change hasn’t abated, Strohmaier added, and neither has the county’s commitment to mitigate the crisis.

Yes, the housing crisis becomes an opportunity for the County to GROW LOCAL GOVERNMENT which costs taxpayers MORE MONEY which ultimately leads to justifying HIGHER TAXES. How exactly does this help our housing crisis?

Oh, the County is creating a PLAN because the CITY PLAN is producing such great results, just like the 10 year PLAN to end homelessness has produced such great results. And did you know they name their PLANS exotic sounding Native American names now? So play along with their virtue-signaling and say the name LOUD and PROUD:

SXWTPQYEN PLAN!

Missoula also has a ZERO WASTE plan they call ZERO by FIFTY, which I find fucking hilarious. I laugh especially hard as I sift through wasted food and used needles at the camps.

All these plans from politicians with such great track records should NOT give anyone pause, like the pause on J&J jabs demanded by the FDA.

And why is that?

Because a pause might provide time to reflect, and reflecting might lead to questions, and there’s nothing worse for carefully laid plans than pesky questions.

So, in the words of that infamous psyops conglomerate known by the insidious letter “Q”, Missoula’s elected leaders just want you to TRUST THEIR PLANS!

If you want that nice sounding RENAISSANCE we are PERCHED on the EDGE of, your uncritical support for their establishment schemes is a must.

Without your support, their schemes won’t come to fruition.

So understand your power, and act accordingly.