Month: October 2021

by Travis Mateer

I’ll be the first one to admit my perspective contains biases. Some of these biases have been acquired through experience, like my insider perspective on the homeless issue and the Engen regime, and my experience with political retaliation. From these experiences I feel comfortable making the following assertion: power in Missoula is exerted in subtle, petty and VERY vindictive ways.

Let me provide an example.

But first, I’d like to thank the RD readers sending me insightful emails. I am crazy-busy with multiple projects, so it’s hard to keep up with the schemers of Zoom Town. I greatly appreciate the insights, and have multiple posts for the coming week bouncing around my head already.

This post is one that I almost didn’t write even though the headline is something I should have jumped on immediately: Missoula pushes toward first usage of Affordable Housing Trust Fund money.

Here is the key thing to focus on from this article: WHO got the money and WHO got denied.

I’ll make it simple for RD readers. Susan Hay Patrick’s United Way of Missoula got the money, and Heather Harp’s Habitat for Humanity did not.

Here’s the framing of the loot for Susan:

A $26,250 project with United Way is likely to be the first use of the money, which can be allocated as a grant or a loan. It passed 9-0 with one abstaining vote and moves to a public hearing, which will take place during a city council meeting on Nov. 8.

The United Way project is called the Centralized Housing Solution Fund, which “is a flexible financial assistance fund intended to divert households from the houselessness system in Missoula. It is available for households who identify it as a need for resolving their housing crisis through diversion or rapid exit conversations,” according to city documents. Projects were asked to be “innovative” in addition to other criteria.

Sounds all nice and dandy, right? What could be amiss? Well, you start getting a little peek when Heather Harp’s questions are introduced, but in a way that only close readers who know recent municipal history will pick up on.

Only 10% of the available trust fund dollars were allocated, which councilor Heather Harp questioned.

“We wanted to ultimately wait and encourage applicants to come back to the unified round, because it is right around the corner and we have an opportunity to provide feedback to applicants who did apply and also do some outreach and work with other community partners to encourage more applications,” Armstrong told the committee.

The unified round Armstrong mentions is the next round of trust fund grants and loans, which will happen in winter of 2022.

That’s right, only 10% of the money was allocated as YWCA families face eviction as the weather turns, and Emily Armstrong thinks that an entire year to wait is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.

How much money is being left on the table? $273,750 dollars, that’s how much. I guess Heather Harp’s application was pretty shitty.

Or maybe this joke of a committee won’t be allocating money to Heather Harp because she’s still being punished for acting like a human being to the TIF activists, something Brandon Bryant recently discussed in my interview with him.

The article gets even more frustrating as Homeword director, Andrea Davis, describes her difficulties and concerns regarding the application process:

Andrea Davis, the executive director of Homeword, spoke to council during a public comment session regarding one of the projects that was not funded–a Habitat for Humanity project with which Homeword was assisting.

Davis said she has tried to register with Engage Missoula, the city’s website for projects going on in the community, five times and expressed concern Missoula was using that as its registration portal. She said the issue was never addressed.

Davis also said those involved with the Habitat for Humanity project received a notice that gave reasons for the application being denied, but did not see the rubric or how their project compared with others that were proposed for money from the trust fund.

The project they proposed was finding placement for five modular homes–sites for two of the five had been secured and identified–and Davis said one of the reasons given as to why their project was declined was because three other areas for those homes had not been identified.

“Two of the homes could have been placed immediately and there’s nothing that stops the staff or the selection committee from suggesting a partial funding of an application,” Davis said.

I’m sure there’s an objective, non-vindictive rationale for why Susan Hay Patrick’s non-profit always gets money while other non-profits get a caring middle-finger, but my biased eye can’t see it.

All I see are vindictive Engen enablers with long memories reminding people like Heather Harp who controls the purse strings.

Prove me wrong, Missoula.

by William Skink

Ah, yes, the Skink. And his tendency to verse. Can my poetic alter-ego help it if the name Danny and the many character iterations it produces is fodder for my muse?

The song:

The words:

sheep-dipped Democrat
New York born
Homeland Security
weaponized scorn

free the car pirate!
like Indiana Jones
and loud train horns?
leave Rattlesnake alone!

two hundred grand
to make them shut up
good job, Gwen
your ears had enough!

it's Engen's Missoula
the actors are set
with their safety scissors
and their holy net

zoo town, garden city
pardon my spit but
those left remaining
can't swallow more shit

too bad glad handers
and mayor bloat
had crafty stowaways 
who pooped in their boat

this here's their story
better pay heed
or your town could catch
their TIF-sniff scheme

by Travis Mateer

To understand the brief op-ed by former Missoula Redevelopment Director, Geoff Badenoch, you have to understand what Missoula’s political establishment finds so threatening about Daniel Carlino.

On his issues page, under economic justice, Carlino has this to say about “combating gentrification“:

We must allow our community members to plan for our neighborhoods, not big developers. Establishing a Citizen Oversight Committee for developments with majority renters and working-class representation and no big developers on the committee will ensure that every day Missoulians decide what kind of developments are made in our community.

Our local government must stop incentivizing big businesses to develop in Missoula by stopping the trend of giving local tax funds to corporations such as Stockman Bank or Starbucks. We must prioritize development of small, local businesses in Missoula when our community wants them and deny developments from corporations and expensive hotel or real estate companies in our town. 

Yep, that’s definitely NOT going to get you support from the Badenochs of Missoula. They want a safe enabler of TIF schemes to keep the gravy train chugging along. Of course, this sentiment won’t be explicitly stated. Instead we get language like this:

Our City faces many complex challenges and needs a City Council made up of seasoned, proven individuals who can tackle them. We need creative thinkers who are able to grasp the details and bring a depth of understanding and courage to problem-solving. 

Dori Gilels is such a person and that is why I am supporting her in her bid to represent Ward 3.

Dori is a long-time resident and neighbor in Ward 3. She knows the area and has shown through her proven history of getting things done that she will represent us and work well with others to bring solutions to the problems and opportunities we face.  

She knows our community, too, and will be a good person to work on issues facing other neighborhoods, as well as the City at large.

There is really nothing substantive in this pile of words that gives any indication what Dori actually stands for. Another Missoula establishment figure, Marilyn Marler, got into a few more details about what Dori has actually done to warrant support:

Dori earned a Master’s degree from UM and raised a Hellgate High graduate. Her diverse work history reflects her values: director of an environmental non-profit, the co-publisher of Mamalode Magazine, and volunteer board member for Mountain Home and Planned Parenthood.

She even worked in the service sector as a rafting guide.  All this experience, public service and demonstrated commitment to women, families and the environment will inform her decision making on the City Council. 

Dori makes the establishment happy. Daniel makes them nervous. In fact, Daniel Carlino has made the political establishment in Missoula SO nervous that they tried taking him out early via a Koostra attack. Here’s a link to the post where I broke the story that Carlino’s rental lease was terminated by former UM art museum director and current litigant against The Bod, Barbara Koostra.

If Daniel Carlino wants to actually win this race, and not just get tossed around by the political establishment, he should grow a pair and get more assertive about the attacks he’s sustained.

I don’t see that happening, but it’s certainly entertaining to watch.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

The problems that arise in Missoula can be VERY different, depending on what part of town you’re talking about. If you’re talking about the Rattlesnake neighborhood–an elitist enclave that has been TERRORIZED by trains–the problem is obvious. Trains are loud, and the people who CHOSE to live by the trains appear to be very unhappy about it.

Luckily these people have money, and having money makes your complaints figuratively “louder” than other locales, like the sacrifice zones where homeless services are located. A few days ago these Rattlesnake residents received some GREAT news. The Missoula Redevelopment Agency will throw $200,000 dollars in public money at wayside horns. From the link:

Residents near the Spruce and Madison railroad crossing in the lower Rattlesnake will see a permanent solution to a long-term annoyance that is the blasting of train horns.

The Missoula Redevelopment Agency this week approved a $200,000 contract to install wayside horns at the crossing. The horns were found to be effective in reducing noise levels and cost less than other options.

“It achieves the goal of the quite zone without going through that lengthy process with the Federal Railroad Administration and the costs associated with that,” said Todd Gass with MRA. “It does result in the trains not sounding their horns.”

If you want to know more about all the work and money going into alleviating Rattlesnake residents of this terrible noise terrorism, you can contact a member of the lower Rattlesnake leadership team. I suggest contacting Danny Tenenbaum.

Why Tenenbaum? Because he’s a state legislator and a public defender and once worked with refugees for the Department of Homeland Security. I found out that last part from wikipedia:

After earning his bachelor’s degree, Tenenbaum worked as an overseas refugee officer with the Department of Homeland Security. After graduating from law school, he and his wife moved from New York City to Missoula, Montana, where he works as a public defender. Tenenbaum was elected to the Montana House of Representatives in November 2020. He assumed office on January 4, 2021, succeeding Shane Morigeau. Tenenbaum is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Danny Tenenbaum got on my radar last March, two months into his legislative stint. I even wrote a post about it, titled The Problem Of Putting Dementia Patients In Montana’s State Psychiatric Hospital In Warm Springs. After writing that post, I reached out to Tenenbaum and spoke with him at length on the phone about my experiences working at the Poverello Center.

Knowing what I know now, I’m not sure I would have wasted the time. Am I being too judgmental about a socialist lawyer from New York who once worked for a Federal police state agency?

While Tenenbaum provides leadership to his fellow Rattlesnake residents, a car pirate by the name of Thomas Hill was arrested a few days ago for a brazen car-jacking attempt that reminded me of a scene from Indiana Jones. Here’s a description of what happened to the UPS driver on Reserve Street:

Police officers responded to reports of a man pounding on cars, yelling death threats and lying down on Reserve Street.

Witnesses told police they saw Hill hanging off the side of a moving UPS truck.

After a short distance, he began forcing himself into the driver’s seat.

The UPS driver was able to keep Hill from entering by pushing him with his legs.

The driver brought the truck to a stop, and Hill reportedly walked away from the vehicle.

Authorities located Hill underneath the Reserve Street Bridge and took him into custody at the Missoula County Detention Center.

Thomas Hill, the car pirate, is now facing robbery charges and is being held on a $15,000 dollar bond. He looks very annoyed by this criminal justice inconvenience that took him from his Reserve street homeless community:

Don’t worry about Hill, he’ll get a fantastic public defender, like Danny Tenenbaum, who can make the case that this car pirate is obviously a victimized minority incapable of being held accountable for his actions due to the reality that black people (and other minorities) are essentially victims from birth in America.

If you think Hill might be lonely in jail, again, don’t worry, there are other residents of the Reserve Street camps currently in jail, like Timothy Clark (responsible for this police response in August) and an alleged rapist who hasn’t been officially tied to the camps yet.

I see lots of opportunities for public defenders to play the victim card in the coming months. And I know one public defender who, thanks to $200,000 in public financing, will be better rested in court to make that case.

Thanks for reading.

by Travis Mateer

This week’s episode of Zoom Town is up.  For an idea of what we discuss I’ve included a helpful list of the past week’s posts.  Thanks for listening!

A Week Of Car Chases And Other News

Zoom Chron 4-Talking with Brandon Bryant

Afghan Teen Charged With Rape IS A Part Of Missoula’s Refugee Resettlement Program

A Zoom Town Conversation with Brandon Bryant (Video version)

Two Years Ago Today Lord Checota And Herr Engen Began Experiencing The Community Reaction To Their TIF Scheming

Do Teens Visiting From Countries Like Afghanistan Need Anti-Rape Classes?