Day: August 15, 2022

by Travis Mateer

With today’s news of Missoula Mayor, John Engen, having passed away from pancreatic cancer, the title of today’s post might seem insensitive. I’ll risk that accusation in order to ask WHY the Missoula Current, just 17 days ago, had this headline with one of Engen’s main enablers looking on:

From the link:

City officials on Friday said Missoula Mayor John Engen continues to monitor the workings of Missoula city government while continuing chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

Communications director Ginny Merriam said that while the regiment has been difficult at times, Engen continues to look forward.

Maybe it’s just me, but if I was facing the inevitable reality of a lethal cancer diagnosis, my looking forward would be bucket-list oriented, not pretending like there was a chance in hell I was going to make it my full term.

It’s possible that concealing reality has just become second nature to people like Ginny Merriam, people who knew for years that John’s drinking was a problem. When did intervention happen? When it got so bad that it couldn’t be concealed anymore.

I’m going to take some time to process this before saying more about Engen’s enablers. I will mention that I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Eran Pehan is suddenly being quoted in the Missoulian about homeless camp sweeps by masked revolutionaries.

January 3rd is the day John Engen first assumed office in 2006. January 3rd is also the day, in 2020, that Sean Stevenson was assaulted at the Poverello Center AND the day I put in my notice to leave Missoula Aging Services and the Non-Profit sector.

Since that day I’ve felt the three of us–Sean, John, and myself–have an interesting connection, and now this is how I see it: three alcoholics who didn’t see something important to us make it 20 years.

For Sean, he didn’t get to see his daughter turn 20 because his time utilizing homeless services in Missoula killed him.

For John, he didn’t see 20 years in office because his role as a puppet for power killed him.

And for me, I won’t see 20 years of marriage because finding meaning in the sea of trauma I swam in for a decade, without the emotional skills to handle all the pressures, made me a shitty partner.

I’m not sure what period of time is appropriate to mourn John Engen’s passing, but once summer is done and the kids are back in school, I think it’s fair game to look at the vacant leadership and ask hard questions about the reality of a 12% tax increase, and a $19 million dollar general obligation bond for fairground bullshit, and a $4.4 million dollar payout to Sheriff Deputies, and a $5 million dollar mill levy for homeless services, and increases in energy, cost of living, etc, etc, etc.

Summer is almost over. Life is finite. And it’s also a gift, so do something meaningful in the limited time you have.

by Travis Mateer

UPDATE BELOW

I am SO happy to see a Missoulian reporter stumble onto a story about guerrilla warriors fighting for revolution in Missoula. Or was that NOT the story? Because below is what guerrilla warriors fighting a revolution look like:

And HERE is the image that Missoulian reporter, Griffen Smith, didn’t expect to see when residents of the Authorized Camp Site invited him to check out enforcement of the new rules:

If you read the Missoulian article you will discover that the introduction of these NEW uniforms is something our city officials, who OK’d the contract, are looking into:

According to Rogers International’s contract with the city of Missoula, the security guards must wear “casual branded attire with (the) company name clearly visible” when working. The contractors must also conceal-carry any firearms.

City of Missoula officials said they were unaware of the reason behind the change in dress code Wednesday. They are investigating the situation. 

The contract, which the city authorized in November 2021, also stipulates that at least one security guard is needed at the campsite at all times. Each security guard is paid a base salary of $30 an hour, according to the contract. The contract total is $670,000.

While our local officials look into the NEW LOOK of our dashing revolutionaries, I have some suggestions for additional context they might want to take into consideration, like the HBO rendition of The Watchmen:

And a local official (Missoula City Council) who isn’t having this shit:

And an independent journalist who ALSO likes to wear splashy outfits!

But on a more serious note, the fictional narrative of the Watchmen might be a good place to start for those who assume anger is a primary emotion, because often times it functions as a mask for other things, like fear.

Here’s the clip, and though it might be difficult to follow for those who don’t know the storyline, I think the takeaway line is valid by itself: wounds need air to heal.

Thanks for reading and watching!

UPDATE: a reader sent me a message about the ACTUAL hourly rate our revolutionaries are getting paid, and it doesn’t look like $30 bucks to me. According to a job posting at Indeed, it’s $16.

Thanks for the info!