Month: May 2021

by Travis Mateer

On this episode ZT host Travis Mateer and co-host Tim Adams discuss local elections, encampment updates and a conflicted non-profit.

by Travis Mateer

Leverage is knowing if someone had all the money in the world, this is what they would buy.

-John Dutton, Yellowstone

I’m opening today’s post with a quote from Yellowstone because the THIS John Dutton is talking about–LAND in Montana–is being snatched up at a record pace and the man who has overseen the rapid gentrification of Zoom Town wants another 4 years to continue reaping the benefits.

I found an interview Engen did back in 2014 that is worth checking out. Here a question/answer about what Engen’s 2020 vision for Missoula was seven years ago:

Do you have a particular vision for Missoula that you would like to see accomplished by 2020, something Missoula should be working towards?

Absolutely, we need to continue to work on establishing mechanisms to fund the work that we need to do within our community. As federal resources become scarcer, we need to be more creative about capturing revenue and paying our own way. It’s more effective. It’s more efficient. In the long run, it’s cheaper, and it takes less time. We need to become more self-sufficient, and we’re in a good position to do that.

I think this response is hilarious considering our elected officials are currently having a tantrum over the loss of their local option gas tax.

For more current context about our Mayor’s bid for a fifth term, Engen’s campaign treasurer, the former director of the Five Valleys Land Trust, Amber Sherrill, has an op-ed worth reading (if you can stomach it). Here’s a taste:

While I have worked with Mayor Engen over the years on conservation projects – I really began to understand the significance of his leadership and his accomplishments as our Mayor once I began serving on city council two years ago. I became John’s treasurer because he has the experience and leadership skills we all can trust, and that we need going into the next four years.

When I think about the impact of John’s leadership of Missoula I think about the boldness and vision of purchasing our water company and how great that has been for our community. I think about all the conservation projects he has supported over the years, how he is always balancing our economy and the housing market without ever taking his eye off of what is equitable, and how incredibly thankful I have been to have his experience at the helm during the COVID pandemic, one of the most difficult years in any of our lifetimes.

If you are having difficulty reading this, then prepare yourself for when Sherrill REALLY pours it on:

But when I reflect on why I continue to support him to lead our city, the real reason for my support is the faith and trust I have in him as a person. 

Yes, he is smart and understands the importance of compromise and coalition building, but I am supporting him because I believe he genuinely cares about every single person in Missoula. Whether I am meeting with him about equitable and efficient vaccine distribution, sidewalks in neighborhoods that are underserved, businesses struggling during COVID, economic development and bringing in higher paying jobs, he is always, and I mean always, considering who it will affect and if it will help Missoulians.

He values people and he knows that every person has value.

Yeah, sure he does.

Later today I’ll be recording another episode of Zoom Town with my co-host, Tim Adams. We will continue discussing our local municipal elections. I’ve got some interesting stuff I’ll be discussing that I guarantee you won’t be hearing ANYWHERE else.

So stay tuned…

by Travis Mateer

Missoula is getting an update on its 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness today. If I wanted to subject myself to the PR spin I’d join the Zoom meeting, but instead I’ll remain in a place I like to call THE REAL WORLD.

What is being reported right now in Missoula by propaganda rags like the MISSOULA CURRENT is so far from reality that I had to read the following statement from this article several times to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating:

“The outdoor encampments were at the smallest levels our HOT teams have ever seen. It’s one of the big victories,” said Jesse Jager of the Poverello Center.

I went out to the Reserve Street encampment last week to investigate rumors of an ATV getting stuck. A former client I had been checking-in on finally got his disability back-pay (about $7,000) and he decided to buy a brand new ATV and a little motorized two-wheeler. I guess that’s an acceptable way to roll when you’re living at the RAZ (Reserve Autonomous Zone).

Yesterday I wrote about another woman who showed up dead on the West Broadway Island where more and more tents are popping up. Well, I went out there and asked some questions. One man living out there told me he heard she was beaten then given a “hot shot”. For those not familiar with street lingo, that’s a lethal dose of a controlled substance injected with the intent to kill.

Downtown the visibility of homelessness has been mostly diverted from high-traffic tourist areas. Strategic planters and other disruptive design features keep the mentally ill and idle from deterring the important work of spending money. If you read the MISSOULA CURRENT you will hear that things are fucking awesome:

Business owners and economic leaders in Missoula believe various relief efforts, including the Paycheck Protection Program and other Small Business Administration grants, helped many Main Street businesses survive the past year.

Now, with the pandemic slowly waning, the economic outlook in Missoula appears strong.

“Going into spring, they really do see a path to recovering fully and getting back to business as usual,” said Grant Kier, president and CEO of the Missoula Economic Partnership.

At the County Courthouse the removal of old trees has made it less desirable for the riff-raff to hang out because they can’t get summer shade. I’m also impressed with how private security now rouses the homeless when they lie prone on the grass instead of slumped over, which is the preferred way the authorities like to see the down and out sleep off a pint of vodka.

And that’s MY update. Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

Over the weekend a woman was found dead on the West Broadway Island near the Poverello Center. Here’s the information that has been reported so far:

Missoula Police confirm that a 60-year-old woman was found dead on West Broadway Island in Missoula on Saturday morning.

Police tell us the call came in around 10:55 a.m. A passerby reported seeing a person lying face down in a side stream on the island. Police are not sure how long the body has been there.

Police say the death is suspicious, but there is no reason to believe there’s a danger to the community. They say they are unsure if a crime has been committed.

In 2019 a 58 year old woman, Linda Bolin, was found dead in water in the same area. From the link:

A 58-year-old Missoula woman drowned after falling into the Clark Fork River on Sunday, authorities said Friday.

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.

Is there more to these stories of two dead women? I don’t know, but I would think a caring community like Missoula would be more concerned about these suspicious deaths.

by Travis Mateer

What’s the American Dream? I like to check in with Wikipedia when it comes to these kinds of questions. Here is what I found:

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.

I find this definition to be totally adorable. Also, totally not applicable to reality.

Today the Missoulian is reporting on someone else’s dream, and it’s one I’ve written about before. Here is the most recent news on A TROPICAL HOUSE FOR BUTTERFLIES! From the link:

Imagine escaping a dreary Missoula winter day and stepping into a steamy tropical paradise where creatures from foreign lands flutter about your face.

That’s the vision that Jen and Glenn Marangelo, the founders of the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium, have for a new project slated to be built at the Missoula County Fairgrounds.

If Jen and Glenn have a vision of a steamy tropical paradise for bugs in Missoula, Montana, that’s just fine. They should work hard, spend ONLY their money, and build that tropical paradise for bugs.

But that’s not how dreams come to fruition in Missoula. No, the engine for realizing dreams almost ALWAYS includes asking other people for money. This project is no different:

On Saturday, the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium, along with the Healthy Acres Healthy Communities Foundation, announced a $5 million capital campaign to bring the state’s first tropical butterfly house and education garden to the finish line.

I am SO EXCITED that people like Jen and Glenn and their Engen-enabled Fairgrounds crony, Emily Bentley, are going FULL STEAM with this project. I think it represents the STRENGTH of our community that things like pandemics and central-bank-driven hyperinflation aren’t even PAUSING this amazing community asset that we so desperately NEED.

Dreams really can come true, Missoula. It just takes A LOT of other people’s money to make it happen.