by Travis Mateer
Yesterday was the last day to file for Missoula’s municipal races, which includes the job of Mayor. I was keeping my eyes open for a third candidate to file against Engen and, low and behold, there were actually TWO names added to the list of challengers, Greg Strandberg and Shawn Knopp.
I am VERY happy to see two new candidates throwing their hats into the ring for Mayor, especially Strandberg’s. While I may have been harsh in criticizing Strandberg’s past political efforts to win a seat on City Council, there are a bunch of factors that I think makes him a compelling candidate, like the fact he RENTS his housing in our cherished Zoom Town, and he busts his ass working in the service industry.
Shawn Knopp I am less familiar with, even though our names both appear in this Missoulian article from 2015 about the Poverello Center’s new location on West Broadway. I was working at the Poverello Center at the time, and Knopp was working at Montana Glass, right next door to the shelter. I wonder if proximity to the shelter was a motivating factor in Knopp’s decision making process to run for Mayor?
These local political developments will be the main topic of today’s podcast episode of Zoom Town, which I’ll be recording with Tim Adams later this morning. We’ll also be discussing the Reserve Street homeless camps, which I posted this video about yesterday.
So stay tuned…
JC
This news will put a big smile on Mayor Engen’s face. It’s a three-way split for the voters who don’t support the mayor. While I, like you, know little about Knopp (his Facebook page “Isn’t Available Right Now”) but his workplace proximity to the Poverello might give an indication of his political agenda. Elder is under a cloud of scrutiny with allegations of sexual assault, and a skin so thin that he blocks most people from his Facebook page (not a great trait for a political candidate). You’re probably too young to remember Harold Stassen who ran for president nine times. He was the definition of the perennial candidate until Strandberg came along. Stassen’s record is better than Strandberg’s, though, having come close to the Republican nomination in 1948. In Strandberg’s latest run for city council in 2017 he garnered a whopping 3.14% of the vote.
I’ve already had my first conversation with Candidate Knopp, since I’ve interacted with him before in my capacity as Homeless Outreach Coordinator, and his decision to remove his FB page, I think, is a good one.
I’ll be discussing this and SO MUCH MORE on my podcast, which I’m just getting ready to record, so adios for now…