I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to the new year and all the opportunities I anticipate a citizen journalist like myself will have with a narcissistic forever Mayor and his cabal of vicious enablers running this town for ANOTHER 4 years.
Here’s a little screen shot about our Mayor from wikipedia:
The above image is just words and numbers. How about a more tangible experience from our Mayor, like a Ted talk titled If a Politician Gave a Speech in the Woods, What Would a Bear Do?
January 3rd is an important date for the Mayor, myself, and a family impacted by this Mayor’s policies to end homelessness in 10 years. That plan was launched in 2012 and officially ends in 2022.
How will this regime PR itself out of accountability next year? I suggest you keep reading this space, because I’ll be providing context you simply won’t find anywhere else.
Thanks for reading and supporting my work, and get ready for 2022!
This is the time of year when people like to make predictions about the future. While engaging in the “what ifs” of prediction-making can be fun, I’m more interested in examining the past for clues to our current predicament.
The title of this post is ALSO the title of a book released in 1987 by Betty Wetzel. What I’m discovering in old printed materials like this book are fascinating insights into the development of this town during time periods where our local influencers were less self-conscious about communicating their visions for Missoula.
Chapter 8 is simply titled DOERS and features the perspective of the Lambros clan. Here’s a fascinating quote from Dan Lambros. Remember, this is 1987 we’re talking about here:
Dan philosophizes, “As we move from an industrial society into an information society, I think we have all the ingredients in place to make Missoula very attractive to such industries as bio-tech, high-tech–quality endeavors which will be attracted here because of our lifestyle. We’re talking about brainpower. In business the most important thing is your work force. We have got to tell potential industries that their people will be happy here.
How is this Lambros vision for Missoula going in 2021? Are the high-tech people happy? How about the bio-tech people? And what the people serving them food and coffee? Anything about them, Dan?
We don’t want the kind of people or industries which will degrade our way of life. I think we are putting in place all the ingredients to make this happen. We are going to live by our own design. We are not going to be victims. We have got to figure out who we want–and those people who are going to destroy what we have here, we don’t want. We must take control of our own lives.
Yes, Dan, I TOTALLY AGREE. If we don’t take control of our lives, then “those people”–the opportunists and gentrifiers and subsidy snatchers–will destroy what we have here.
I’m fighting back against these MFers, even if they are ostensibly home-grown locals, like our forever Mayor, because I am NOT going to live by their design for me and my family.
I hope you’ll join me in this inspired endeavor in 2022. Thanks for reading!
On December 9th, filing for open school board seats began in Missoula, meaning the battle to control the trajectory of public education has just kicked off. This will be a busy election cycle for the Montana Human Rights Network as they do their best to depict any and all critics as right-wing extremists, literally begging local media to follow suit:
Well, the controversy that has erupted in local headlines has NOTHING to do with the kind of political targets MHRN is salivating over exposing. Instead it’s an alleged sexual predator by the name of Nevin Graves, who withdrew his name from school board consideration just six days after filing. Here’s how the Missoulian is reporting this scandal:
Nevin Graves withdrew from the upcoming school board election six days after filing, following allegations of abuse.
A Milltown resident announced that they are withdrawing their candidacy to serve as a Missoula County School Board trustee just six days after filing, following allegations of rape and violence.
“I had the support of people I trust and admire, and I announced with hope and excitement for the chance to serve my community,” Graves wrote in a statement on Monday regarding their withdrawal.
Graves’ accuser, Everett Johns, went to social media to raise the alarm after the criminal justice system failed to protect Johns from years ago. Here are some of the allegations Johns is making:
If true, Nevin Graves should have been charged and prosecuted years ago, but “they” avoided accountability for grooming and sexually exploiting a minor. Why?
Sadly, this controversy will only reinforce the paranoia growing on the right that children are being targeted and sexually groomed by activist teachers and educators in public school settings. In the case of this eager School Board candidate, I’d say that paranoia is more than justified.
Today’s episode includes a LONG introductory “interview” I did with William Skink, along with 9 poems read aloud, before the re-published interview with local poet Mark Gibbons begins (around the 34 minute mark).
While AMAZING municipal leaders, like Gwen Jones, will still be imposing their vision on this humble valley, a few of our Council Critters will NOT be around in 2022 because their time is up.
Gomer Kidston recently acknowledged this impending change with a FOND FAREWELL article that I wanted to take a look at before the year is up.
First on the departure list, Bryan Von Rocket Scientist.
Von Lossberg, who served as council president, ended several terms to tend to family matters. During his tenure, he never cowered in the face of opposition and he tackled many controversial issues, from banning wild and exotic animal acts in the traveling circus, to playing a leading role in the city’s push to acquire its drinking water system.
He also sponsored a city ordinance requiring background checks for most gun sales and transfers between private parties. The measure passed locally but was challenged by Republican leaders in Helena and was eventually overturned in new state legislation.
Did you know Von Lossberg was a fucking rocket scientist? Yeah, he definitely was, but somehow all that intelligence didn’t anticipate the massive ass-kicking his little gun stunt would illicit from the state.
I, however, DID anticipate the fallout when I wrote about Missoula further isolating itself with this idiotic ordinance, because you don’t have to be a fucking rocket scientist to see the imminent failure of this Von Lossberg virtue signal.
Next up for departure attention is the WGM water specialist, Julie Merritt. Here’s the bullshit our DECEIVER IN CHIEF, Mayor Engen, heaped on this walking conflict-of-interest:
Ward 6 representative Julie Merritt also is stepping aside after earning the praise and respect of her colleagues. As a water-right’s expert, she played a key role in Missoula’s purchase of the Flynn Lowney Ditch, which Engen said will have far-reaching benefits.
He also praised her for her “tenacity and compassion” in a representing a neighborhood that has seen significant change in recent years.
“That is a balancing act and it requires a long view and sometimes in the face of very challenging testimony,” Engen told her. “You take thoughtful, principled positions and do so with grace and dignity.”
One of MY favorite moments from Merritt came when she got busted plotting to punish a local business woman for wrong-think on a local Facebook group for Missoula Rises. Here’s Merritt being a gutless coward trying to justify her little power play:
We asked Merritt to tell us her side of the story. She won’t go on camera but wrote us in an email that sharing the screen grabs violated the spirit of the Missoula Rises group. Then she writes she’s found out it doesn’t matter what an owner of employee says about the city, its staff or elected officials, the contract goes to the “responsive low bidder.”
She ends her email by writing it’s free speech and people, including her, can say what they want.
What a nasty little creature. I’m VERY HAPPY this little fascist is working solely in the private sector now.
The other departing Council members are Heather Harp and Jesse Ramos, two reasonable people who found an ability to talk to each other despite the contentious nature of the 2019 uprising against Tax Increment Financing abuses.
For Heather, I think she learned some important lessons about leadership in Missoula. Specifically I think she learned how petty and vindictive these fuckers are, something I wrote about in October after Harp’s organization, Habitat for Humanity, got strangely denied funding from the affordable housing trust fund.
My favorite part of the FAREWELL article is the way Engen discusses the departure of Jesse Ramos.
“You have been a combination of an enormous pain in my derriere as well as someone who has challenged me to think about how we do business,” Engen told him. “You’ve had statesmen-like moments, you have surprised me, and I thoroughly enjoyed our lunches and interesting arguments, and your sense of humor.”
Don’t worry, Mayor Engen. While Jesse Ramos may not be on City Council anymore to provide those painful jolts to your assumed dictatorship, I’m going to make sure Ramos’ perspective is documented for posterity.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for good things to come.
