Month: June 2021

by Travis Mateer

I am worried that there are people worried about CRITICAL RACE THEORY. There is absolutely nothing to worry about. Just think about it like the security state you’ve allowed to incrementally creep into existence: if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

To emphasize my point about there being nothing to worry about I’d like to share some top-level insights into the PSYCHOPATHIC PROBLEM OF THE WHITE MIND.

To prepare you for CRT enlightenment (one I hope my fellow whites can share with their children) you must first understand that what you are about to read was delivered…”at the Yale School of Medicine’s Child Study Center by a New York-based psychiatrist as part of Grand Rounds, an ongoing program in which clinicians and others in the field lecture students and faculty.”

Here is the non-worrying perspective of forensic psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Aruna Khilanani:

We are now in a psychological predicament, because white people feel that we are bullying them when we bring up race. They feel that we should be thanking them for all that they have done for us. They are confused, and so are we. We keep forgetting that directly talking about race is a waste of our breath. We are asking a demented, violent predator who thinks that they are a saint or a superhero, to accept responsibility. It ain’t gonna happen.

And this:

This is the cost of talking to white people at all. The cost of your own life, as they suck you dry. There are no good apples out there. White people make my blood boil. 

And my personal favorite:

I had fantasies of unloading a revolver into the head of any white person that got in my way, burying their body, and wiping my bloody hands as I walked away relatively guiltless with a bounce in my step. Like I did the world a fucking favor.

This sounds like innovative material and I’m excited to see where Dr. Khilanani goes with her research.

If I wasn’t white and clearly in need of self-canceling I would reach out to Dr. Khilanani and tell her about my HYPOTHETICAL SOCIOPATH THREAT MITIGATION PROGRAM.

But, alas, I AM white, and with my white/psychopathic mind, probably not capable of devising a way to gauge my own threatening psycho-ness.

I can only hope science finds a cure.

by Travis Mateer

The title of this post is a question because I’m good with words, NOT numbers, and speaking as a wordsmith there’s something immediately suspicious to me about this recent headline: Data collection finds just 6% increase in Missoula’s out-of-state homebuyers in 2020.

I get EVEN MORE suspicious when I read the following preemptive excuse making to combat the alleged problem of “noise” surrounding our town’s ZOOMING to new heights of housing unaffordability:

While data surrounding migration can be tricky to collect, the Missoula Organization of Realtors recently aggregated figures from Missoula’s mortgage lenders and where their customers were coming from.

“We’ve always gone back to use Census data for migration data, but it has an 18 month lag around it,” said Jim Bachand, CEO of the Missoula Organization of Realtors. “We felt like there was so much noise about being a Zoom city, we needed better data quality around it.”

Is it really that we need BETTER data, or is it that we need FASTER data from a smaller sample size that can provide some better optics for those aiding and abetting Missoula’s rapid transformation?

Here’s more from the link:

The figures, presented in this year’s housing report, found that one lender was behind nearly 15% of all home purchases in 2019 and 16% in 2020.

The lender originated 224 home purchases in 2019 with 12.9% of them, or 29 sales, made to out-of-state buyers. The figure ticked up during the pandemic when the same lender originated 272 home purchases with 18.7% of them, or 51 sales, made to out-of-state buyers.

“This is enough statistically valid data to give it direction,” said Bachand. “When we were done with this data on the migration side of it, we did a litmus test [within the industry] and they felt it was about right.”

The roughly 6% increase during the pandemic was regarded as an accurate figure by the industry in Missoula.

This is some mighty fine statistical alchemy we got going here, but I doubt it will be potent enough to alleviate the anxiety and frustration of who can afford to buy into this market and who can’t.

Those who CAN afford to get into a home in Missoula are sometimes Montanans returning to the state from making money elsewhere. I believe that is the story of Missoula City Council Veep, Gwen Jones, who moved back to Montana after working in California as a lawyer.

And because of that whole “zoom” thing, sometimes they’re bringing their jobs with them:

One of the region’s largest mortgage lenders reported a small increase in the number of home buyers arriving from outside Montana over the past year, though the increase dispels the myth that out-of-state newcomers are snatching up all of Missoula’s available homes.

Realtors in Missoula reported similar trends, citing a small increase in out-of-state buyers but nothing overwhelming. They suggested that many of those buyers were former Montanans returning home with a good-paying job.

I’m so glad Montana realtors are putting some effort into “dispelling myths” about who is moving to Missoula. As they sell paradise lot by lot at astronomically inflated prices I’m sure it helps to tout any amount of Montana provenance they can find to create some better optics around successful people like Gwen Jones who have returned home to give back to our humble little community.

by Travis Mateer

Will the city of Missoula eventually own Marshall Mountain?

That’s what “longtime Missoula developer” Rick Wishcamper hopes will happen after he blazed into the pending sale and blew it up for the Missouri buyers who are now suing for breach of contract (emphasis mine):

A Missouri doctor and his wife have sued the owners of Marshall Mountain in Missoula, alleging they breached a contract to sell the property.

In the civil suit filed in Missoula County District Court, Dr. Spencer Melby and his wife, Colette Melby, allege that Bruce and Kim Doering are trying to back out of a buy-sell agreement in order to accept a cash backup offer. The cash backup offer has been submitted by longtime Missoula developer Rick Wishcamper, who at one time owned The Wilma building downtown.

Wishcamper told the Missoulian he’s trying to buy the land in order to hold it long enough for the city to buy the property. He and his wife Rika want to keep it open for recreational use.

So, who is Rick Wishcamper?

As the previous owner of the Wilma, Wishcamper was involved in cancelling a pending sale of THAT Missoula asset years ago for reasons that were never fully disclosed. I think it’s worth revisiting that sale for a little context, especially the explanation from Wishcamper about why the sale was cancelled:

Wishcamper noted in February that commercial real estate deals can be volatile, but didn’t give a particular reason for the cancellation of the sale to Michael.

“These things happen,” Wishcamper said.

What appeared to have happened is that Wishcamper caved to community pressure that he probably didn’t expect to get as his business model was pivoting toward exploiting the need for affordable housing. In reading this article I was impressed with the foresight of Wishcamper’s pivot, considering this was all the way back in 2013. Here’s more from the article:

Rocky Mountain decided to put the theater up for sale last summer to focus exclusively on the real estate side of the business, specifically the development of multifamily housing complexes around the country.

But Wishcamper has said since putting the theater up for sale that any sales contract would include a provision of perpetual use to keep it functioning as a theater offering live entertainment, movies and other events.

On Tuesday, Wishcamper said going through the sales process reinforced for Rocky Mountain the need to keep the theater as a community asset.

I added the emphasis because I didn’t realize until doing this research that Wishcamper’s business, Wishrock, had gotten into the affordable housing game. Here is how Wishrock frames its “social impact“:

Wishrock specializes in the preservation of affordable housing, focusing almost all of its development activity on the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing affordable housing. By specializing on this one vital area of the affordable housing business, Wishrock has been able to develop a deep understanding of the complex financing tools and regulatory environment necessary for successful preservation and rehabilitation of older affordable housing apartment’s communities. This work is crucial for both meeting our country’s need for safe, affordable housing for low income citizens and for providing those citizens with access to empowerment services as the barriers to overcoming institutional poverty are becoming more and more challenging.

Does Rick Wishcamper want to be a housing developer or a social service provider offering EMPOWERMENT SERVICES to its low income residents?

Or, perhaps more accurately, is the claim of support services just a PR gimmick to create the veneer of positive social impacts while a shit-ton of money is being made?

Here is more about the programming offered to SOME low income Wishrock residents (emphasis, again, is mine):

Wishrock residents have access to programs that help them connect with jobs , daycare and education resources. These supportive services are not pre-determined or standard at all projects – the program for a given property is determined by the needs and potential partnerships in each community. Wishrock often provides full-time staff to assist residents and coordinate services, and we can apply for grants when needed to bring the right services to residents. Empowerment services provide opportunities for our residents to break the cycle of poverty and pursue their hopes and dreams (too often low income residents don’t believe they are entitled to hopes and dreams or don’t believe they are possible).

I’m sorry, but what the fuck is up with this parenthetical statement about low income residents not believing they are entitled to hopes and dreams? Sounds like some emotional manipulation is being deployed by deep-pocketed developers to distract from the main point of their business model: making money.

I was curious about Wishcamper’s provenance as a “Missoula” developer, so I did some digging and discovered that Rick Wishcamper has A LOT in common with current Wilma owner, Nick Checota. For example, they both arrived from other states (Nick from Wisconsin and Rick from Maine) and they BOTH have rich daddies named Joe.

And wouldn’t you know, Joe Wishcamper is all about GIVING BACK some of his wealth through the charitable scam known as DONOR-ADVISED FUNDS, something I wrote about two years ago when taking a look at Nick Checota’s charitable Missoula giving.

From the first link:

MaineCF: Why did you consider giving gifts of real estate instead of other assets?

Wishcamper: My wife and I had decided to make a commitment to charitable giving. We learned that creating a donor-advised fund at MaineCF and funding it with a large initial gift would allow us to take a charitable deduction for the full amount of the contribution in the year we made it. We would also gain the flexibility to direct grants to charities of our choice. We found this VERY APPEALING

I bolded and capitalized that last part because wealthy developers like Joe Wishcamper have become VERY BOLD in their efforts to use concepts like CHARITY in order to expand spheres of influence.

To highlight what I’m talking about, here’s the excerpt I used in my post from Investment News:

It’s all the rage in charitable giving — and it’s actually got some charities worried.

Donor-advised funds — money that grows tax-free in individual accounts — are reshaping the landscape of U.S. philanthropy. After creating their account, donors choose how it’s invested, and the money compounds until they decide where to dole it out. DAF assets mushroomed to more than $85 billion at the end of 2016 from $30 billion in 2010.

Not everyone thinks that’s good news. Critics say the approach may slow the flow of money directly into nonprofits that serve the needy on a daily basis. Moreover, it injects charitable affiliates created by for-profit financial players such as Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab deep into the big business of philanthropy — a boon for them and their clients, but, some worry, not so clear a win for the causes.

Yes, non-profits can worry and critics can criticize, but at the end of the day wealth gives ZERO FUCKS and just continues expanding its grip on the power and influence it controls.

I guess that leaves the little people of Missoula to pray for a benevolent developer like Rick Wishcamper to swoop in and protect the recreational activities you sacrificed making a decent living for.

Is it worth it, Missoula?

by Travis Mateer

Why would activists in LA oppose an art gallery? One word: gentrification.

You see, the residents of Boyle Heights understand that art galleries are harbingers of gentrification and they don’t want it in their neighborhood:

Boyle Heights is a predominantly working class Hispanic neighborhood situated east of L.A.’s Arts District. Residents fear that the influx of gallery spaces in their neighborhood will lead to their displacement and ultimate cultural erasure. Members of the Boyle Heights Alliance Against Artwashing and Displacement (BHAAAD) are demanding that art galleries in Boyle Heights relocate to other, more affluent areas of the city. It’s not that Boyle Heights residents just don’t like art; rather their efforts proactively address the historically damaging effects that art spaces can have on a community’s deep-rooted residents. When developers see a neighborhood flourishing with art galleries and bougie cafes, they see a potential for exorbitant profit. Maga Miranda, a protestor affiliated with BHAAAD, told L.A. Weekly that “we’re not against art or culture… the Eastside has been an incredibly active place when it comes to art and culture. But the art galleries are part of a broader effort by planners and politicians and developers who want to artwash gentrification.” 

The idea of art and displacement has rushed to the forefront of my brain after Sunday’s post about a former art museum director literally displacing a city council candidate from the ward he’s running in.

To document this anecdotal story of a denizen of Missoula’s art scene displacing a young political candidate, I have written a poem that will make me EVEN MORE unpublishable than I already am. Enjoy!

what is art to towns on zoom?
what's it's role in fueling boom?
where can artists afford to live?
how much soul to money give?

Barbara Koostra is a poem
pulling back a house on loan
she's good at making collections grow
and finding walls on which to show

what is art to Stockman's bank?
who should hubby banker thank?
I asked around, but artists know
art world teeth rip vicious holes

here's a painting of a fish
here's a landscape, make a wish
cause artists are the worker bees
when patrons keep us on our knees

if that offends, go fuck a duck
or Monte Dolack if you're in luck
and if you want to find a stage
consult the mighty Checota sage

this is art in Zoom Town now
well-sourced imitation cows
just as sacred, but louder moos
and just as scared of what is true

by Travis Mateer

Yesterday I was downtown preparing to visit Stockman’s Bank to take some pictures of art when I noticed a press conference happening on the Courthouse lawn. As I approached the political announcement featuring our Mayor and all three County Commissioners I realized it was about homelessness.

I’m glad I had to wait until this morning to read the actual substance of the announcement because, had I heard what our political establishment said while there in person, I might have been inspired to make more of a scene than I did, with my loud hello to Susan Hay Patrick of United Way and slow golf clap after Engen wrapped up, shouting GREAT PERFORMANCE!

Now, after reading some of the quotes, I’m convinced my proclamation was accurate. This was a VERY GREAT performance intended to create the impression that our political establishment is being appropriately responsive to homeless encampments and all the challenges that come with this symptom of a collapsing crony capitalist system fueled by greed and exploitation.

The core of the POLICY that was announced yesterday is the elevation of homelessness to the level of CRITICAL. What does this mean? It means deploying an INCIDENT COMMAND TEAM to find nice places for the houseless to camp. From the link:

“What we’ve decided to do is deploy an incident command team to treat this as a critical incident in the county,” said Missoula Mayor John Engen.

The incident command team, led by Adriane Beck with the Office of Emergency Management, will compile a list of possible legal places to camp. They’ll bring the list to commissioners and begin the public process. That’s when you’ll be able to submit ideas and comments to solutions@missoulacounty.us.

I wonder if finding “legal places to camp” will be facilitated by Outreach Grid, an app from a California tech company called Appledore. The link takes you to a bunch of media articles on this new app for tracking homeless people, like this one from Forbes about the young social entrepreneur from San Francisco, Tiffany Pang:

Concerned about the rising homeless population in San Francisco, Pang left her job in Silicon Valley to start Outreach Grid. The company uses data and technology to build connections with underserved populations and provides city departments, service agencies, and community members with the tools to help homeless people find housing.

Even though Missoula’s strategy to address its homeless problem/housing crisis will include apps from Irvine, California and this company from Portland, our political establishment declared yesterday that we WILL NOT become an urban hellscape like Seattle. Here is the quote the Missoulian highlighted on Twitter:

Exactly HOW will we never allow ourselves to look like the major metro areas of the Northwest? Just wait for the amazing things this INCIDENT COMMAND TEAM will be doing, says the political braintrust:

“Look at Seattle and say how did they happen — it’s because no one did what we’re going to do right now,” said Slotnick.

A big part of the plan involves relocating those in places like the Reserve Street camp while enforcing a ban on illegal urban camping, but officials say they’re not going to “chase” anyone out of Missoula.

“We’re not in the business of clearing that Reserve Street site until we have someplace for people to go, that was a challenge at Broadway and if I had it to do over again, we’d have a place for those folks to go rather than just have them move most likely to Reserve Street,” said Engen. “That was my mistake.”

Finding other outdoor locations for homeless encampments doesn’t sound like a brilliant innovation, even if fancy tech apps are involved.

Another problem is the fact that citizen efforts to clean up trash at Reserve Street have been directly undermined by people like Susan Hay Patrick of United Way.

Why are citizen efforts to be a part of the solution being stymied? And why the timing now of this announcement? Could it be the fact our Mayor is seeking his FIFTH term as Mayor of Missoula?

Yes, EVERYTHING emitting from the PR glands of our elected officials should be seen through the lens of our current political season where TEAM GENTRIFY is feeling the heat produced by extreme socio-economic stratification.

Today I’m going to visit the camps at Reserve Street to take more video evidence of this socio-economic stratification. I’m also going to gauge how many residents are aware of the new political motivation coming from elected officials to relocate them long enough to win Engen another Mayoral election.

So stay tuned…