Day: June 1, 2023

by Travis Mateer

When a former County Commissioner calls local government corrupt, I suggest you pay attention. Why did Stacy Rye call Missoula County corrupt? Well, just check out her tweets:

The Missoulian article that inspired this honest outburst from Rye discusses how THIS installment of the Sheriff’s Office litigation strategy–developed by the cop-shop law firm, Reep, Bell & Jasper–has moved from paying off Sheriff Deputies to now paying off Detention Officers. From the link (emphasis mine):

The lawsuit seeks three years’ back pay for alleged wage discrepancies and to update wages and benefits accordingly. 

It alleges the county failed to raise the salary of former Sheriff T.J. McDermott to accompany other Missoula County elected officials’ wage increases following a “parity adjustment” by the county’s Compensation Committee. It alleges further that detention officers’ wages are tethered to the sheriff’s and should have increased along with his. 

According to the suit, the county then illegally withheld payment from Sheriff McDermott and consequently detention officers, too. 

“This was done as a scheme by the elected officials sitting on the county’s Compensation Committee to give the elected officials a raise without passing it along to Sheriff McDermott and the Detention Officers,” the lawsuit states.

Even for someone like me, who is TRYING to keep a close eye on local government, it’s been difficult to understand what is going on here. Here are some past attempts, for context:

What Kind Of Bell Have I Rung Now? (July 31st, 2022)

Missoula, Do You Hear That General Obligation Bond-Bell Ringing For Reep Bell & Jasper? (August 4th, 2022)

Does Outgoing Sheriff, T.J. McDermott, Eat Settlement Levys For Breakfast? (October 20th, 2022)

Did Missoula County “Carlylye” The Sheriff’s Office Over An Access Road And Parking Lot? (October 23rd, 2022)

This issue blowing up the Missoula County budget is VERY important to keep in mind as we continue to hear about financial impotence from our pantheon of “leaders” to deal with critical stuff, like the drug crisis and resulting proliferation of “urban” campers.

How ARE those members of our community feeling about Missoula right now?

Isn’t this nice? I took this picture as I walked over the Orange Street bridge. If I had panned to the left, you would see the future location of whatever the NEW development group now assessing the Fox Theater site is going to propose.

If you read this story and are a little confused, don’t worry, so was I. All that CERTAINTY from the last development group, which was reported so diligently by Martin “Gomer” Kidston, appears to have been for nothing. It’s a good thing the shittiest reporter in Zoom Town is such a resilient cheerleader for development! (emphasis mine):

A new team of developers has taken interest in the Riverfront Triangle in downtown Missoula, and city leaders are cautiously optimistic that long-held plans for the site will come to fruition this time around.

The property includes a collection of private parcels and one city-owned property on roughly seven acres in downtown Missoula. The interested team is currently conducting due diligence and hasn’t been identified at this point in the process.

“There’s a developer that’s been in conversation with the owners of those private parcels. They’re doing their due-dilegence on figuring out if they’ll purchase that. They’ve also been in conversation with the Missoula Redevelopment Agency,” Missoula Mayor Jordan Hess told the Missoula Current.

Do you see what’s going on here? It appears our pretend Mayor (Hess) is referencing conversations happening with the REAL Mayor of Zoom Town (Buchanan). Take note, citizens, this is how Zoom Town REALLY operates.

I’ll conclude this Thursday bonus post with one more article and one more warning about a skilled bureaucrat who could make a dildo wrapped in sandpaper sound like a date with Aquaman if she wanted to (I hope our Development Czar understands that’s a compliment).

Now, on to the question posed by the Missoulian article about changing “code wording” from “character” to “form”. If this sound innocuous, trust me, it is NOT. After using Spokane as an example, we get this (emphasis mine):

Spokane’s is a model other cities have been slow to emulate, but the Missoula zoning code reform process will take questions of neighborhood character into account, according to Eran Pehan, director of Community Planning, Development and Innovation at the city of Missoula.

Echoing housing expert Herriges, Pehan said Missoula aims to incorporate more specific, less squishy language in the next version of its zoning code. Instead of relying on “neighborhood character” designations, Pehan said the Missoula team is looking at codifying “community form.”

The new phrase refers to “how development is designed and built,” keeping in mind pieces like architectural design, scale and height.

“Neighborhood character is much less specific and hard to define,” said Pehan. It can also carry unwieldy connotations, she said, and give members of the public an impression that the city can legislate issues outside of its jurisdiction.

In the next couple of months, Pehan said, the city will come out with a community form report that better nails down the exact features that should be considered in development discussions.

To emphasize how the public is going to be depicted, take notice of the language deployed beneath this image of painted rocks:

Do you see that? Public commenters are CLUTCHING onto the “vague” notion of “neighborhood character”. Nice. This lays the foundation for how our “leaders” will use the media to SHAME public commenters as they continue to CLUTCH to a world our intelligent designers are actively destroying in order to BUILD BACK BETTER a new world with new words, phrases and definitions to control your perceptions with.

How should I eloquently state my opposition to this? It’s tempting to just say FUCK NO, but that won’t work. No, it’s not enough to accurately warn the public about what’s coming, we need people smart enough to imagine and offer up alternatives, and they must have the fortitude to withstand the asymmetrical retaliation that occurs when anyone has temerity to counter these long-planned schemes.

I’d like to consider myself one of those people, and you can help by supporting Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), or making a donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

https://vimeo.com/831905893?share=copy

The clip above is NOT someone having a medical event. After watching this man’s behavior in the park for 15 minutes, I determined that “break dancing” was the type of movement he was going for. He even tried documenting his dance moves by trying to find a level spot to prop up his phone near the playground.

My attempt to have a conversation with the person I was with was disrupted when my annoyance transformed into alarm as this guy started talking to a little girl. Up to that point he had not paid ANY attention to the girl, so I went over and asked him loudly if that was his kid and turns out YES, it was, and my question was interpreted by this tweaker as accusing him of being a pedophile.

Did the situation escalate quickly after that? Yes, it did, so I retreated as one of the moms tried calming the dude down as he screamed at me. Then he got in his car with the kid and drove around the park slowly, yelling out the window how lucky I was to not be getting my ass kicked.

What about the guy who got stabbed on Friday at the Poverello Center? How lucky was he? I don’t know, because this article barely describes what happened to “B.D” after a disagreement turned into a stabbing.

From the link:

B.D. told police after he left the shower, he struck Binns because “Binns struck him in the shower first.”

Law enforcement interviewed numerous witnesses and reviewed Poverello’s security footage. 

One of the witnesses said they tried to de-escalate the situation by telling Binns to calm down and “let it be.” 

The witness said he saw Binns attack the victim by the park bench and saw Binns stab the B.D.

Poverello staff employees told police that they asked Binns to leave following the fight in the shower. 

The staff member observed Binns on top of the victim stabbing him three to four times outside the shelter.

What kind of criminal charge do you think Binns should get for getting on top of someone and stabbing them three or four times? If you guessed attempted deliberate homicide, like what happened when that woman stabbed her boyfriend 9 times, you would be WRONG.

Maybe Paul Binns isn’t being charged with something more serious because he’s obviously an oppressed minority. And the victim? If “B.D.” is the guy I think it is, then he’s a white dude who has been on and off the streets for years. Paul should consider himself lucky that hate crimes can’t, or won’t, be applied to someone with his complexion. If the race of the perpetrator and victim was switched, it could be a MUCH different outcome in Double-Standard Town.

Getting back to the white dude trying to dance like he has some ethnic rhythm–what about the kid? If I thought he was all fucked up on drugs, shouldn’t I have at least called 911 to document it? Maybe, but why? Child Protective Services is a joke in this state, and I say that having worked for over a decade in the non-profit sector. That’s why I found this Facebook post so incredibly sad:

In the comments, some people got all bent out of shape that blame was so quickly directed at the parents. Then neighbors with actual knowledge of this family described why the concern is VERY legitimate:

What Taylor O’Connell doesn’t understand is that Montana is a sparsely populated, relatively poor state when it comes to the agencies that are supposed to get involved to protect vulnerable populations, like minors and the elderly, so even IF an agency like CPS was involved, it wouldn’t mean this kid would be any more safe.

Maybe I’m worrying too much and being too critical of supporting drug addicts. In LA, a lovely non-profit is doing GOD’S work by handing out fresh meth pipes to the homeless (video at link) Pretty cool, huh?

I don’t know why people are having such a problem with government-funded meth pipes being handed out to LA homeless people because it just makes you have a real good time, and who doesn’t want to have a real good time?

https://vimeo.com/831928546?share=copy

If reading my unfiltered take on the local drug scene is YOUR idea of a good time, keep the good times coming by supporting Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), or making a donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!