Day: July 27, 2023

by Travis Mateer

UPDATE BELOW

When I saw this post on Facebook, I immediately hopped on my bike and went to the location where this alleged stabbing took place. Why? Well, I am doing this journalist thing, so that’s one reason, but I am ALSO realizing that maybe I should see stabbings as OPPORTUNITIES instead of crimes. Let me explain.

Earlier in the week, the City Councilors who represent this ward communicated to their colleagues that their constituents are PISSED about the Johnson Street shelter reopening for an entire year. Where the Crisis Mill Levy was originally going to fund the improvements needed to make this seasonal shelter a year-round facility, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency is now being looked at to provide funding for bathrooms.

As I biked around this area, taking pictures, I got a strong sense that the preliminary work to handle the bathroom improvements is already well underway.

In this image, the Johnson Street Shelter is the building visible just above the blue Business Access sign. The stabbing occurred about a block away, near a playground and dog park. As I approached the scene, blocked off by yellow tape, I could see a basketball court where I suspect the stabbing took place.

I’m not looking at this stabbing as an opportunity for me, though I certainly take full advantage to talk to as many people as possible when I’m on location of a scene like this, so maybe it IS an opportunity for me.

For example, when I talk to law enforcement, I’m not expecting them to tell me anything about an active investigation. Instead, I discuss the larger dynamics of what’s happening in our community, and some of the badges I’m talking to about the drug crisis gripping this valley and this nation are able to say they’re familiar and appreciative of my work.

I’m also checking in with local businesses, and the visibility of drug activity, including obvious drug deals, is getting so normalized, there no longer seems to be an expectation that anything is going to be done about it. It’s just the way things seem to be now.

The opportunity I’m thinking about comes from the fact people are so fed up in this particular neighborhood, some are deciding to move. If the reopening of the Johnson Street Shelter drives enough property owners away, prices in this slice of Missoula could suffer. And because of the possibility of depressed prices–in a part of town which will most definitely being seeing LOTS of investment (Midtown)–I smell OPPORTUNITY for developers to make some money!

Getting back to the stabbing, the Missoula Current is reporting one person is in the hospital and one person is in custody. The jail roster has a young man booked for deliberate homicide. Is this the alleged stabber?

I don’t know, but after a stabbing reported just a few days ago, it appears violence with sharp objects is the theme of the week.

We have an opportunity this summer, as a community, to assess what our ACTUAL priorities are when it comes to the drug crisis pretending to be a homeless crisis. Are we going to continue throwing six figures sums at lobbyists and economic development, or are we going to get serious about the drug epidemic and our critical LACK of resources, like treatment options.

A few weeks ago I was biking around Wyoming Street, so I stopped at Recovery Center Missoula. This facility used to have beds for in-patient treatment, but it’s transitioning into some kind of group home, I was told by a client doing some yard work (I couldn’t enter the facility because I was carrying). If true, this is NOT good, but I haven’t seen any media on this yet, so I doubt anyone beyond service providers even knows this might be happening.

I called and left a message, so will try to follow up on this topic at a later date because our community’s capacity to provide treatment options for addicts is a VERY important part of dealing with the drug crisis.

If you appreciate the work I’m doing (and the speed with which I can do it), Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is one way to help me out, while using the donation button at my about page is another.

Thanks for reading!

UPDATE:

A commenter provided a link to a Facebook page that led to a defunct GoFundMe for Jathan Moreno, here’s some context from the link:

by Travis Mateer

As I was looking through the agendas for Wednesday’s committee meetings, I got curious about Central Housing Strategies, a lobbying/advocacy company created in 2020 by SK Rossi (pictured below). Why was the city hiring this lobbyist for $107,500, I wondered? The more I looked, the more curious I got.

And here’s the screen-shot of the committee agenda item indicating approval of the contract will be on the agenda for the Public Safety, Health and Operations committee:

A quick search of SK Rossi’s work in Helena turned up an interesting article about the Central Housing Strategy’s work for the city of Bozeman during the last legislative session. From the link (emphasis mine):

A zoning reform bill that’s officially opposed by the city of Missoula and Mayor Jordan Hess was endorsed on Thursday at the Montana Legislature by two Missoula City Council members and a representative from a Missoula affordable housing nonprofit.

Senate Bill 245, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, would revise Montana’s zoning laws to allow multifamily housing and mixed-used development in urban areas zoned for office, retail and parking with existing sewer and water systems. It would only apply to towns and cities with a population over 7,000. The bill passed out of the Montana Senate on a 40-10 vote and had a hearing in the House local government committee on Thursday afternoon.

…

Missoula City Council member Daniel Carlino went to Helena to support the bill and said he’s a “struggling renter.”

“It’s much better to allow communities to build up and in rather than build out and cause sprawl,” Carlino said.

Missoula City Council member Sandra Vasecka was also there to support the bill.

Why would our placeholder Mayor, Jordan Hess, along with the city of Missoula, oppose this bill? I thought reforming zoning to increase density was something our local cabal WANTED?

Here’s Hess explaining his opposition, a position that aligns with the city of Bozeman, as articulated by SK Rossi (emphasis mine):

The city of Missoula and Mayor Jordan Hess have said they oppose the bill on the grounds that Missoula is undertaking a code reform process already and that local decisions should be made locally with local public input.

…

SK Rossi, a lobbyist for the city of Bozeman, said that municipality opposes the bill as well.

“All of these bills that are supposed to ‘fix’ the housing problem in Montana are one-sided,” Rossi said. “It’s all about deregulation and clearing the path to developers and the big broad solutions that actually invest dollars in building affordable housing are being left to the wayside.”

Instead of focusing on this aspect of the contract in my public comment, I decided to go with the speculative impression I got from some research that SK Rossi is raking in the lobbying contracts with an eye toward running for state government.

Could this be true?

If it WERE true, I wanted to make sure that our Council members knew that I knew of this rumor BEFORE our poor city spent $107,500 to put someone in Helena NO ONE outside of Missoula will listen to anyway.

Turns out, I wasn’t the only one curious about the selection of this new lobbying entity. Here is a comment from Mr. Larson, followed by my less-than-articulate response.

https://vimeo.com/848878907?share=copy

After I made my comment, Councilor Vasecka indicated her NON support of this expenditure as well (link to the full video here), explaining that individual Councilors and/or Mayors can go to Helena themselves and lobby directly if they feel strongly about certain legislation.

Councilor Carlino asked if the city’s interim legislative priorities would be posted on the city’s website, then he had the temerity to ask if Council members could have MORE say in those priorities. Do I feel a Gomer media slap-down coming? After the questions, Carlino referenced the housing disagreement I failed to mention in my public comment. In response, it was Bickell time, but I’m not going to waste MY time paraphrasing his response beyond saying Central Housing Strategies is going to be the little legislative lapdog of the Mayor’s office.

Did I get that right, Bickell?

Gwen Jones commented next, indicating that “foundations” for legislative bills really are built during the interim period between active legislative sessions.

So, did the motion pass? Yes, it passed on a 9-2 vote. Congratulations, SK Rossi!

If you appreciate my local reporting, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is one way to support me, while making a donation at my about page is another.

Thanks for reading!