by Travis Mateer
At first I thought it was just an insurance scare tactic, but after the Riverbank Run article, I’m now convinced our local media is DESPERATE to help our city “leaders” convince strapped taxpayers to attach a fire levy weight to the concrete boots we’re expected to swim with.
The first link goes to apparently the first shot in an all out blitz to make sure what happened to the crisis mill levy doesn’t happen again.
What happened to the crisis mill levy, you ask? Since I take partial credit for killing it with my appearance on KGVO, I’ll provide some helpful links to show you exactly what I think happened to the crisis mill levy in 2022, and my continued perspective after the fallout.
More Reasons To Vote No On The Crisis Mill Levy (October 11th, 2022)
With Ballots In The Mail, Local Leaders Make Final Plea For Crisis Mill Levy Money In Perpetuity (October 14th, 2022)
The Blame Others Strategy Is In Full Effect (November 11th, 2022)
This Toxic Air Extortion Scheme For Revenue Bond Crack Is A Move Only Shameless Public Money Addicts Would Consider (January 23rd, 2023)
A Figurative Hand Job For Montana’s Attorney General, Courtesy of KGVO (July 25th, 2023)
Anyways, let’s take a quick look at the insurance fear tactic coming from the city if you don’t vote YES on the levy:
As the city asks voters in Missoula to consider passing a fire levy this spring to help the Missoula Fire Department keep up with growth, it’s also reminding residents that doing so may be tied to their insurance premiums.
Missoula Fire Chief Gordy Hughes over the last two years has warned City Council that the department’s response time to emergencies, including structure fires, was beginning to lag.
As it stands, he said, current response times are roughly two minutes slower than what’s called for by the National Fire Protection Association.
While strategic fear can be found in this article, you will find NOTHING about the role of Tax Increment Financing draining the “General Fund” of tax revenue with the skim&give scheme that siphons it to the Missoula Redevelopment Agency (MRA). Check out this fantastic documentary I couldn’t show at the ZACC or Roxy if you want the nitty gritty on this detrimental scheme and its detrimental impact on our town.
Moving on to the article about someone collapsing during the Riverbank Run, here’s the shameless use of that incident to remind readers about the upcoming levy:
Saturday’s incident comes as the Missoula Fire Department is asking Missoulians to vote for an MFD levy in June, a request that would give them more funding to support an uptick in call volume across the city.
In an update to the city council earlier this year, Missoula Fire Chief Gordy Hughes reported medical calls eat up the majority (roughly two-thirds) of what MFD responds to on a daily basis.
Do you want to hear more from our Mayor about this levy and why voters should vote YES? Well, if you can handle it, then watch the video below and tell me whether or not Tax Increment Financing gets a mention, because I suspect that this community and its retarded “leaders” are going to continue exhibiting cognitive problems by NOT acknowledging how the TIF mechanism has eroded the ability of the General Fund to pay for essential city services.
Having made a significant impact during the last panhandling levy request put to Missoula voters, what’s my capacity to bring my unique style of attention to THIS panhandling levy request?
Unfortunately I realized something about myself while sitting in my Trash Truck the other day, and instead of using my words to describe this realization, here’s a picture that should immediately communicate how the public might view me these days.
If I wanted to give City Council an update on my Farley-esque living situation, then calling in a public comment via phone is the only way I’m able to do it.
Why? Because I was told explicitly by a Municipal Court judge that I am NOT allowed to attend City Council meetings on Monday OR Wednesday because of the legal trouble a former collaborator and romantic partner has made for me by exploiting the criminal justice system to depict herself as a victim. It’s been QUITE the learning experience for someone like myself who has had to use orders of protections several times against mentally unstable homeless clients who presented threats to me and my family. One woman even found my home address and sent me dozens of crazy letters back when I was still married and living within city limits.
It’s important to neutralize people like me who know things about this community and, more importantly, have shown a willingness to TALK PUBLICLY about what I know, so I’m sure my petitioner’s former boss, Susan Hay Patrick, is VERY HAPPY to have a pawn that can moved around the chessboard in order to give our local officials a level of protection from my truth-telling, like a forcefield.
Yes, not even a Trash Truck can penetrate the amazing forcefield that now surrounds our elected leaders thanks to a professional victim who did the only thing she could in order to try and shut down my ability to inform this community (where my kids are growing up) about what is happening and NOT happening when it comes to serious life and death matters.
If you appreciate what I’ve had to go through to continue writing and publishing blog posts, then please consider a donation to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). Any little bit helps.
Thanks for reading!