Month: May 2021

by Travis Mateer

Today’s post is about the class war being waged against you right now. We’ll start with a macro snapshot of this war being waged via central bank policy, then we’ll move into the micro examples of how this war impacts Missoulians.

First, the macro picture summarized in one tweet:

It’s hard to deny that firing up the central bank printing presses has led to massive economic inequality, yet many Americans have no clue about this inequality engine because corporate media doesn’t like acknowledging these kind of meta-realities.

Instead of articles explaining the BIG PICTURE we get our local corporate media to put out an article like this about skyrocketing rent in our lovely Zoom Town. Here are some local numbers making life difficult for the non-wealthy in Missoula:

Average rent in Missoula stands at $1,076, according to a Sterling report from earlier this year. That’s an 8.9% increase from 2020. By comparison, Missoula’s average rent increased only 8.6% between 2009 and 2018, according to the Missoula Organization of Realtors.

Missoula is in a very difficult position due to a number of factors, some beyond human control, like the geographical reality of being surrounded by mountains limiting housing supply. Another factor is the desirability of living in a beautiful Montana college town. Add that infamous Zoom Town accelerant and what we have is an astronomically low vacancy rate (1.24%) freezing the housing picture for fearful renters afraid of the dwindling options if they are forced to move.

Here’s another excerpt from the Missoulian article featuring quotes from property manager Paul Burow:

“Our biggest issue with rental stuff right now is just supply,” he said. “Probably on a typical year, two or three years ago before the pandemic, I’d be processing 40-50 move-outs. And I’ve got like four right now. People aren’t moving. If something does come up, the prices are getting jacked because we have a waiting list of people who want it.”

And here’s how Burow explains the incentive that is hard to NOT see as simple greed:

Property managers also work for the owner of the property, he noted.

“It’s not that we’re trying to take advantage, but holy cow, our job is to rent things at the highest price possible and people are paying anything right now,” he said. “I feel bad for everybody.”

One of the policy tools that communities like Bozeman and Kalispell have tried to use is inclusionary zoning, but that is no longer an option thanks to HB259, signed into law by Gianforte in April. This bill bans the use of inclusionary zoning, something both Republicans AND Missoula liberals, like Eran Pehan, seem to agree with.

I’ve written about Missoula’s decision to ignore inclusionary zoning a couple of times over the years, like this post from March 2020 and this one from November 2019.

My question to anyone wanting to be an elected official of Zoom Town is this: if inclusionary zoning isn’t good enough for Montana, and no one has the guts to say things like RENT CONTROL, then what’s the plan? Continue using the pandemic as a scapegoat while the privileged half of Missoula who live off passive income send the beleaguered workforce to live in tents and cars?

The macro-plan from our financial elites is pretty simple: continue printing money and fuck the consequences because those consequences only seem to hurt the little people, and those people don’t matter because they lack the class solidarity to MAKE themselves matter.

In this context maybe homeless encampments play a beneficial role for the wealthy. Since more people than ever before are on the verge of becoming homeless, the visual reminder of being reduced to tent living is a potent incentive to shut-up and take it, whatever the “it” might be.

When will people realize that shutting up and just taking it is not a sustainable strategy for survival? I hope it’s soon, because the macro-moves of the sociopath class are busy implementing their GREAT RESET as I write this, and the time to resist their program for us is NOW.

Please wake the fuck up before it’s too late.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

When I interviewed Mayoral candidate Jacob Elder in March I asked him specifically what would come out in a tough political race like the one Mayor Engen ran against his last opponent, Lisa Triepke. Elder said things like his youth would be used against him. He said NOTHING about a lengthy sexual assault investigation.

Now it’s the middle of May and the headlines are finally being written about the sexual assault claims:

Last week when the Daily Montanan called Elder to set up an interview, he said he would only briefly address the allegations against him. Elder proceeded to describe the “backdrop” of the investigation and said the allegations arose after he went on a date.

“I had asked her (his date) for a kiss, and she wasn’t OK with it,” Elder said in the phone call May 5.

In the call, Elder said the school conducted an investigation in early 2020 and found he had not violated the student code of conduct. Elder, 28, declined to provide a document from UM that confirmed the result when asked in a subsequent message.

At this point I wouldn’t trust ONE THING candidate Jacob Elder is saying in response to these claims. It has become obvious to me that Elder is a stealth candidate with serious baggage that he tried to conceal from scrutiny. My hope is that he either realizes this race has already been lost, and bows out, or that a REAL candidate throws in before the filing date closes at the end of June.

Jacob Elder’s campaign is going to have a VERY difficult time depicting his critics as Engen cronies now. I’ve talked to at least a half dozen people this past week about the Elder campaign and ALL of the people I’m talking to are both desperate to see Engen out AND now very frustrated about getting their hopes up for a terrible candidate like Elder.

If Jacob Elder persists in his bid to become Mayor then more will be coming out about how he conducts himself because it’s NOT just one claim of sexual assault that Elder’s campaign will have to react to; from my conversations there are multiple women who will speak to a range of interactions with Elder that are very troubling.

Missoula already has a Mayor with impulse control problems, so the last thing this community needs is a younger version of what we are already suffering through. Isn’t there SOMEONE more qualified than this young man, who hoped his refugee story would be enough to drown out the stories (true or not) of sexual aggression?

I agree with Greg Strandberg, Elder’s campaign is done. If another candidate doesn’t come forward before June 21st, then Engen’s fifth term is all but guaranteed.

Missoula deserves a REAL political race that features REAL conversations about what 15 years under the Engen regime has produced for the non-wealthy. We are not going to have any of that if Jacob Elder is the only candidate facing off against our Mayor for life.

If the filing fee for Mayor is a financial barrier for some prospective candidate out there, I know several people, including myself, who will donate money toward that cost, which is just under a grand (not cheap).

We don’t need a showdown between two narcissists who have trouble controlling their own dicks. We need a fucking adult who can keep it zipped in order to do what’s best for ALL citizens of our town.

Is that so much to ask?

by William Skink

Prince Harry recently admitted he doesn’t understand America’s Constitutional protections, like our first amendment protecting free speech.

It’s pretty simple, Harry. If I write a poem and a city council person uses her board position to verbally berate me, the first amendment protects me from this kind of thin-skinned political retaliation.

I understand why a Royal wouldn’t get this.

Now, on to today’s poem:

dream a team for every job
bring in ringers if you must
with money from the honey nobs
yes is blessing, no is dust

if you doubt this high decree
dream a rocket ship to Mars
call on Elon if you must
but don't believe his demon star

angel investors, halo strong
humidify this insect house
every dollar sings a song
like every trap contains a mouse

maybe logic, awesome plan
dream a pocket off the maps
brother's keeper fears no reaper
sister, wake us from this nap

by Travis Mateer

It started out as a rumor I heard from a Missoula character’s girlfriend. She was listening to us catch up (I hadn’t seen him in awhile) and she mentioned hearing from a tourist that a downtown hotel has been warning its guests to be weary of going west of Orange Street.

Intrigued and more than a little miffed that a hotel (and possible recipient of Tax Increment Financing) might be steering customers away from taking in a brew at Imagine Brewery or a taco at Tia’s, I biked to one of the new ones to take the temperature.

By taking the temperature I mean asking the kind person at the front desk if what I had heard could be an accurate representation of a cautionary sentiment expressed to guests and that person at the front desk said yes.

I put in a call to the Downtown Missoula Partnership about this and got a call back from another person I haven’t spoken to in awhile. It was a nice chat and ultimately what I can report is that this rumor, which seems to have some validity, is not one they have heard anything about before my call.

I know one thing that might bring some safety for hotel guests downtown, and that’s an ANGEL to bring RESURRECTION to the Fox Theater site.

Could Hotel Andy be that Angel? It certainly seems this April article was a sort of angel-wings trial-balloon:

While HomeBase owns the lot at Broadway and Pattee, other properties on the west end of downtown Missoula in the Riverfront Triangle are also poised for redevelopment.

A team of developers behind a planned infill project within the triangle moved the listing of three properties to a new broker last July in hopes of maintaining momentum and landing a new partner.

The master plan for the site included a hotel and convention center, along with housing, office and retail. Gault didn’t name any locations, but said HomeBase was committed to downtown Missoula.

“We really believe in redeveloping downtown areas, avoiding sprawl and avoiding any open lands,” he said. “We like to focus on areas that are already developed.”

Maybe Hotel Andy can wait until AFTER St. Pats has had its way with Broadway and beyond before moving in to put the capstone that Checota failed to materialize.

While we wait for our local oligarchs to determine the best way to maximize profit, I’m looking for an angel investor to make my vision of a HOMELESS SAFARI CARAVAN come to fruition.

Just think about it! Businesses west of Orange Street would STILL get visitors, but instead of dumb tourists wandering off unaccompanied (possibly getting killed and therefore NOT spending money), my safari service would provide a variety of different security packages so that visitors can enjoy our wild western frontier.

Want to see the degradation of income inequality and other societal factors after a year and a half of ZOOM accelerant has been poured onto a pre-existing housing crisis, but from the safety of a sweet ride? Then INVEST NOW in my ZOOM URBAN TOURS and the ZUT BUS I will develop will be the PERFECT educational tour for ALL AGES.

We could even start our educational ride at the Tropical Butterfly Insectarium and slowly make our way past points of interest, like the Johnson Street warehouse, where an untold amount of people OD’d.

I know there is some angel out there stuffed to the gills with fiat cash and/or doggie coins just waiting for an amazing opportunity to throw monopoly currency at. It’s just a matter of matching the right idea with the right entity gone bonkers on wealth and reluctant to do anything of lasting value with it.

I’ll be waiting…

by Travis Mateer

Yesterday the West Broadway Island was cleared of homeless campers by law enforcement. I guess the “accidental” drowning of Kimberly Michell emphasized what can happen when unstable people with mental health and addiction issues are allowed to do whatever the fuck they want, like pulling a knife on cops:

The Missoula Police Department has been conducting two daily sweeps on the West Broadway Island in the Clark Fork River, and officials decided to start a cleanup Tuesday night.

An increase in camping on the island prompted the action.

During Tuesday night’s cleanup, police said James Muster pulled a knife on an officer when he was asked to leave the island.

“We began to be concerned about the activities that may be going on down there and the people who are occupying or other persons who were continually at risk by persons of this nature,” Missoula Police Department public information officer Travis Welsh said.

This area near the downtown core of Missoula has been given an enabling boost with a publicly financed bridge that went HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars over the initial half-million cost.

Here is how NBC Montana reported on this absurdity:

In 2019, officials told us they hoped redeveloping the area would bring more culture to the Westside and provide more access to the river. They used special property tax money.

Now, it’s an accessible camping spot for people without shelter, which is exactly what officials wanted to prevent.

The Missoula Redevelopment Agency contributed $500,000 to the project, that came from special property tax money.

The total price of the redevelopment was $800,000.

While the police claim their investigation concluded the death of Kimberly Michell was “non-criminal”, I think Mayor Engen and his cronies at the Missoula Redevelopment Agency share some responsibility for recklessly throwing money around, making the problem worse.

Again, this is the SECOND woman who’s consumption of alcohol in this area of town turned fatal. Linda Bolin was found dead in the water in 2019 after drinking with friends behind Imagine Brewery:

Linda Bolin was found downriver from where she fell into the water, possibly from a wheelchair, said Missoula County Undersheriff Rich Maricelli.

In a text on Thursday, Missoula Police Department spokesman Travis Welsh said she was reported to have fallen near the 1100 block of West Broadway. Maricelli said she had been behind Imagine Nation Brewing drinking with friends.

So whatever happened to the man who pulled a knife on cops? Was he arrested? I looked through the Missoula County Jail Roster and didn’t see anyone arrested yesterday on charges that matched the alleged action of pulling a knife on law enforcement.

After police cleared the area I went out to the island to determine where Kim drowned. A mentally ill woman and a man who appeared under the influence of alcohol were yelling at each other, both saying awful things to each other.

Is this how a caring, liberal community takes care of its marginalized community members? Should we continue allowing lawless encampments to be established where alcohol and drug abuse are rampant and where any piece of shit drifter can pop a tent and pass a bottle to the point where women with drinking problems fall into the water and die?

This is a pretty sad place to be for a community that has allowed its political leaders to claim a decade of positive progress toward improving the homeless situation in Missoula. As the corpses pile up, maybe it’s time for an independent review of that alleged progress.