by Travis Mateer
After an enjoyable 24 hours of existing autonomously at the former location of the Sleepy Inn, paid workers for the Missoula Redevelopment Agency (MRA) asserted alleged “ownership” of this parcel and had police move me along. Hilarious.
If you’re curious about how an urban camp cleanup turned into declaring an awesome and amazing autonomous zone, here are the relevant posts, starting with the police overreaction to Ryan Tollefson kicking things off with his efforts to remove trash from the West Broadway corridor:
Missoula Police Priorities Are Making Vigilantism Inevitable (March 12th, 2024)
On Why Missoula Officials Should Be Apologizing To MDOT And ALL Montana Taxpayers (March 14th, 2024)
Wanna Get Moving With Me? (March 16th, 2024)
Filing My Butthurt Ryan Tollefson Report So I Can Move On To The Larger Trash Opportunity (March 17th, 2024)
On Getting Fisted By Fiscal Malfeasance (March 19th, 2024)
The Political Cost To Prosecute Ryan Tollefson Will Be Steep, So Why Not Pay Me Instead? (March 21st, 2024)
Urban Camps And A Broken Criminal Justice System Are Skipping Hand In Hand Toward Armageddon (March 22nd, 2024)
This Trash Alchemist Doesn’t Need $138,000 To Produce Amazing Feats Of Trash Alchemy! (March 26th, 2024)
Will My Urban Camp Trash Removal Team Get The Clearance To Do The Work? (March 28th, 2024)
We Gonna Do This The Easy Way Or The Hard Way? (March 29th, 2024)
Are You Ready To Play My Urban Camp Trash Game, Missoula? (April 3rd, 2024)
Game On! (April 3rd, 2024)
What Does Garbage Have In Common With Victims Of Sexual Assault? (April 3rd, 2024)
Eclipse Day In Zoom Town (April 8th, 2024)
Goodbye Homeless Sex Swing! (April 9th, 2024)
Declaring My TAAAAAZ (Trash Alchemist’s Awesome And Amazing Autonomous Zone) (April 11th, 2024)
The Long And Winding Road To My Autonomous Zone (April 12th, 2024)
My TAAAAAZ Relocation Plan? (April 12th, 2024)
Yep, in just one month’s time I’ve written 18 posts regarding this town and it’s approach to dealing with “urban camps”, starting with law enforcement ticketing and arresting Ryan Tollefson.
In that last post you can see all six and a half minutes of MY interaction with law enforcement, an interaction I made sure to explain could have been avoided if our local officials weren’t so intent on ignoring me and my impressive skillset, which includes an ability to ADAPT to conditions as they change.
While PAID city officials used their PAID work time to put trash in a big red truck, I took MY trash truck to the California Street bridge where a nice structure now exists for making proclamations and reading poems about certain chaplains and detectives who inspire me.
After this act of creativity, I found a nice spot downtown to park my truck for an impromptu weekend residency between an art gallery that received TIF money and the Florence building, where Lowell Hochhalter has his LifeGuard Group office space.
A few years ago there were more subtle signs that locals were getting tired of the TIF bullshit.
Well, subtly doesn’t seem to be cutting it, so I’ve informed those who might want to know that the TIF kitty is a lion now.
I am adaptable, mobile, and VERY motivated to continue my local efforts, which I’ll be picking back up later today at my downtown location. Come down and say hi! Maybe you’ll even learn some of the more sensitive info I have chosen NOT to write about yet.
On Wednesday the Urban Camping Working Group will meet again at noon to keep talking about whatever stupid ideas they’re going to implement. I have no expectation that anything productive will actually come from this series of meetings. Mayor Davis just needed to APPEAR to do something while proven losers like Susan Hay Patrick give her her marching orders.
Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results, so please explain to me how this entire fucking town isn’t bonkers, because it is.
If you appreciate the work and perspective I provide readers of this blog, consider helping me out with a donation for Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). I guarantee your money will go to some VERY CREATIVE approaches to breaking through their narrative control.
Thanks for reading!
You’ve been saying it for years, but in the past month, you’ve proven that elected officials and civil servants don’t give a damn what their constituents think. They’re smarter than you and I (me maybe, not you) and they have all the answers…..which includes making sure they and their circle forge ahead with the plan.
Not that you need further motivation or words to heed because I can see you know exactly what you’re doing, but if you need bail money, don’t hesitate to ask. And thanks for all you’re doing for my hometown that is the pinnacle of how not to run a city.
I VERY MUCH appreciate the words, especially because my mom reads the comments (hardly ever the actual posts), so she’s convinced I’m the most hated person in this town. I try and tell her that I represent MANY people seething in silence, but she doesn’t believe me.
As for bail, so far so good. I actually had an officer tell me last week that it was a very hard week for police, and I immediately intuited she was referencing a suicide, something I’ve had a lot of friends dealing with recently. I told her that spring is when that kind of shit spikes, which is something first responders know already. It’s one reason I avoid unnecessarily taking up more of their time than what’s needed to make my point right now, they are dealing with A LOT of shit.
Report on The Economic Impact of Homelessness in Missoula, prepared by Missoula Economic Partnership.
https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/d3/9a/783f944c4c75a3bd1cf5c336961d/economic-impact-of-homelessness-1.pdf
I saw that, thanks for posting the link. Here’s a report from the Trash Alchemist: my California street trash sculpture has been taken by scavengers, so if that car grill is spotted anywhere, I’d like to know. My trash tribe will then initiate a reclamation op for this treasure.