Month: June 2024

by Travis Mateer

I was busy working on a song with my ukulele when a piece of crumpled paper fell from the sky. I paused my tune and went to pick up the trash that someone had dropped from the bridge above me and was surprised to see the last name NUGENT. How could someone from the well-known NUGENT clan be a blatant litterer, especially when our city is hosting thousands of crazy people who ENJOY running over this busy marathon weekend?

I went to the competitive timing website and confirmed the “J” stands for James, which is the same name as the Nugent dinosaur who called it quits last June after decades of running the city’s attorney office. From the link (emphasis mine):

After nearly five decades, it all came to an end on Monday night, shortly after 9 p.m.

As City Attorney Jim Nugent sat through his last City Council meeting, those around him recounted all the reasons why he’s become an endearing and historic legal figure.

Endearing for all the jokes he liked to tell and historic for his institutional knowledge of Missoula and his ability to recite Montana Code Annotated, seemingly by memory.

“He has served the city for 48 years and has advanced the field of municipal attorney in the state of Montana in countless ways,” said Mayor Jordan Hess. “He’s been a tireless advocate for cities through the Montana League of Cities and Towns. He’s always been a wealth of knowledge and is good for a story you never knew about.”

Oh, so Jim is ALSO a storyteller. Me to, Jim! And lots of MY stories are also ones you, the Missoula public, never knew about, but hopefully will as I continue to identify and dismantle this town’s various mechanisms of narrative control.

After picking up J. Nugent’s trash, I walked to get some coffee and decided another piece of trash I kept seeing needed removing, but before I did I took a pic, since the message on the dirty t-shirt seemed significant.

Moving justice forward will never happen in Missoula until we have a collective reckoning about the unresolved crimes and tragic deaths that have left multiple families in a terrible void where the concept of justice seems more a cruel joke than a tangible reality.

A conversation I had on Saturday reminded me of a young idealist who worked at Forward Montana, but that work ended in 2019 when this young woman chose to end her own life. What were the circumstances that led this woman to make such a drastic decision?

Catherine was brilliantly sarcastic, using an intelligence and a quick, dry wit to either entertain or confound the recipients of her humor. We sense that she never knew how lovable or funny she was.

Catherine’s ideas were out of the ordinary, and she viewed the world in large, global and universal ways. She was an avid advocate of justice, human rights, and the democratic principles of our nation. Her numerous best friends (the “Sisterhood of the Mother of Finn”) are passionate, beautiful, fierce, protective, devoted, adoring, loving, and beloved by Catherine. They cradled her in turbulent times and celebrated with her in happy times, loving her no matter what.

Catherine was the daughter of Oda Sue Tooley and Herbert Warren Shepard. She was born and started school in Billings, Montana. When she was 7, her family moved to Big Timber, Montana where she graduated from Sweet Grass County High School in 2009. Catherine was an exchange student in Bewdley, England, for the first semester of 11th grade. She persevered through many trials, including the death of her father, in order to complete her Bachelor of Science, with honors, in Economics and a minor in Art History from the University of Montana in May 2019. She was immediately granted a fellowship to pursue a Master’s degree in economics, also at UM. She died shortly before beginning those studies in August.

August 16th, the day Catherine died, is the same day my first kid was born. I can’t imagine being a parent and enduring the living hell of experiencing a child’s death, especially if someone contributed to that death in a potentially criminal manner, yet was never held accountable.

The conversation I had yesterday helped me understand the nature of power in Missoula, and how that power is being grossly abused. If laws exist, and justice matters, then NO ONE should be allowed to exist above those laws. Democrats believe this sentiment when it comes to Donald Trump, but do they extend that belief to their own tribe?

No, they don’t, and that’s why my Ellie Boldman problem is YOUR Ellie Boldman problem.

I’d like to think that, like Jim Nugent, I’m “good for a story you never knew about“. If you agree, then please consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). I’m only $102 dollars away from hitting $3,000, and every little bit helps.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

I knew the timing of my attendance at Mountain Line’s board meeting on Thursday was synchronistically ordained when I sat down and listened to the Mountain Line staff talk about nachos. Is it difficult to find a good plate of nachos in London? Apparently so. And, if you’re curious, it’s also challenging to find peanut butter in Morocco.

These people must be highly cultured world travelers, I thought. I’m sure our Mayor and former board member of Mountain Line, Andrea Davis, felt right at home here, considering her husband is from Switzerland. Unfortunately, despite the cultured perspective of this group, no one anticipated that the OTHER member of the public in attendance, besides me, was about to drop a petition signaling the start of a tax revolt against Mountain Line’s special taxing district.

Before getting to the tax revolt I want to highlight an individual on Mountain Line’s board who is a very smart person, a former City Council member, AND an Ellie Boldman enabler: Jason Weiner.

Here’s a little bio info on Jason from the Tell Us Something website:

Jason Weiner recounts his travels in a far-reaching corner of the world.

Jason Wiener is doing things more often than he is buying things and he is always looking for an excuse to go somewhere new. He recently returned from a walkabout and is still unpacking from that trip. He grew up in Concord, New Hampshire. He arrived in Missoula in 2003 to earn his Master’s in philosophy from the University of Montana. He’s worked at The Missoula Independent, served on the City Council and formed a computer consulting company called The Techxorcist. He’s a Ranger in Black Rock City every year at Burning Man.

I ran into Jason earlier this year, at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. I’ve known Jason for many years, so I gave him some perspective on what I’ve been dealing with in Missoula while he gallivanted around the world. Jason indicated he was living a more quiet life now by NOT involving himself with local political drama. I wonder, is there a bitter taste in Jason’s mouth after having been so instrumental in Ellie Boldman’s rise to power?

The link above goes to a Missoulian article about Ellie getting the Time Magazine treatment. Here’s the quote that includes her deep appreciation for Jason Wiener:

Hill, the recently elected state legislator for House District 94 who spends her days running Missoula’s Poverello Center, has been named to Time magazine’s list of “40 Under 40 Political Rising Stars.” Hill will receive recognition at a banquet Thursday night on Capitol Hill, and will be profiled in a forthcoming issue of the magazine.

In an interview late last week, Hill said she wasn’t just shocked to receive the honor.

She didn’t believe it was true.

“Two of my best political compadres are (Forward Montana senior adviser) Matt Singer and (Missoula City Councilman) Jason Wiener, and we mess around with each other a lot,” said Hill. “So my phone rang, and this guy said he was the editor of Time magazine. I was sure it was just one of those guys punking me. I was like, yeah, whatever. When I finally realized it was for real, I was so shocked that there were about a million questions I forgot to ask.”

Did Mountain Line have any questions for the resident of the New Meadows subdivision when she dropped the petition on them yesterday? No, they didn’t, because they were completely blindsided by the public move taken by disgruntled citizens who have realized they are paying for a bus service they DO NOT BENEFIT FROM, since the bus does not actually serve their part of the Missoula valley.

The only thing that the dude next to Jason Weiner was able to sputter out was that they had not seen this petition, so they needed time to look at it. The woman nodded, then told them they officially have 60 days to respond. She also let them know MORE ARE COMING, meaning more subdivisions are compiling signatures to challenge their taxation for a service they don’t receive.

And thus, a local tax revolt has begun.

After I made my public comment about ZERO FARE being a tremendous mistake, and the resulting criminal behavior that has resulted, I left with the petition-dropping member of the public, who told me her neighbors had considered letting the media know what was brewing, but ultimately decided not to.

Luckily (though it’s not luck) I was there to witness and report on something that legacy media will get around to reporting on eventually, because this petition is just the start of what will become legislative action to ensure that wishy-washy taxing districts can’t pull this kind of bullshit in the future with tax-strapped citizens.

If you doubt the synchronistic timing I’m moving in accordance with, just check the date of my article about sexual deviants helping Mountain Line build a new home for their buses (link above). If you don’t feel like clicking, the date is June 27th, exactly one year ago yesterday, and the day my former employer, the Poverello Center, threw a big anniversary party without me.

Did I crash the Pov’s shindig at the trillion dollar library? No, I went to sleep early in my box truck with a smile on my face because a $100 dollar donation just came in to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), and that donation was GREATLY needed so I can cover my storage unit bill next month.

If you appreciate getting news LONG BEFORE legacy media gets around to telling you about it (if they even do), then consider making a donation to my TIF fund. Any little bit helps, especially at the end of the month.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Today is the day my former employer, the Poverello Center, is having their GALA at the trillion dollar library. In honor of this special day, please read my SPECIAL PROFILE on Ellie Boldman at Western Montana News.

Will I be attending the GALA this evening? No, I told the person who unofficially outreached me not to worry, I have dishes to wash today, and other things more important than doing what my detractors may expect of me.

Besides, I’ve already seen the Pov display and I am very NOT impressed.

If you appreciate the perspective my new status as UNHOUSED is providing, then consider assisting my work by donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). Any little bit helps.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Why did I choose WHALE for my song? I was thinking of “elephant in the room” and wanted to go bigger, since I was going to combine whale with an incendiary word that rhymes with “trigger”. And why was I going to do that?

My reaction to author Stephanie Land’s literary threat at the second marathon Council meeting in less than two weeks resulted in two N-bombs dropped in this post because I continue to think how Sean Stevenson and Johnny Lee Perry died is monumentally significant, so if I have to use the kind of language that is sure to get noticed, well, that’s what I’m going to do, since I can’t claim the literary privilege of having 100 million people now familiar with my story like Stephanie Land can.

I did NOT watch the end of the Council meeting on Monday, I listened to it in my box truck instead, so I didn’t see the t-shirt Stephanie Land was wearing–I only noticed it while filming her public comment because a lag between the video/audio made me avoid filming her face since the lag was distracting.

Here’s the comment, see why the shirt got my attention?

Yes, Land was wearing a t-shirt featuring a KILLER Whale with the phrase SINK THE RICH on it. Listen to my song and it will just heighten the synchronicity.

Wild Kingdom indeed!

Later today I’ll be throwing up a bonus post with the link to my special profile of Ellie Boldman on this special day for the Poverello Center, my former employer.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

Yesterday I shared something from the Poverello Center on Facebook, but today I see the content isn’t available. Is my former employer taking the Ellie Boldman approach to blocking me and hoping this community continues ignoring what I say about the Homeless Industrial Complex?

Tomorrow, at Western Montana News, my profile on Ellie Boldman will hit, and I hope it hits hard. If I had the resources to better defend myself against the shit this State Senator is shoveling at me, I would, but I think the TRUTH is potent enough to counter the bullshit this Senator rolls around in.

The above Tweet from Ellie reminds me of a story I heard during my first year at the Poverello Center. I was training with our direct staff at the time on an overnight shift, and we were talking about the difficulty of maintaining our ZERO TOLERANCE policy for being under the influence of alcohol. Some of this difficulty came from the director herself, Ellie, and her selective support of this critical rule intended to keep residents and staff safe, since we didn’t have the appropriate space or training to do otherwise.

How did Ellie undermine her own staff? The story I was told included a well-known street character, now dead, who went by Eric “The Black”. Eric was almost always drunk, so he wasn’t allowed to stay at the shelter, but one night Ellie ran into him downtown, and she used her director position to call the staff member on shift that night, and she told him to let Eric stay despite the fact he was drunk.

Was Ellie under the influence of alcohol that night? I won’t hazard speculation on that question. Instead, I’ll bring in some perspective from Reddit, where this thread has some possible insight into Ellie’s alcohol use.

Here’s the story that opens the thread:

And here’s some responses:

Until I came along, these stories wafted out of anonymous accounts because of legitimate fear of retaliation, especially after a Forward Montana intern committed suicide in 2019. Is the fact I talk about these stories under my real name now the reason I got depicted like this from our State Senator?

Do I feel honored to have such desperate enemies throwing anything they can at me as I simply string words together based on may experiences and investigations? Yes, yes I do.

If you would like to support an uncompromising Gonzo journalist, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is the current place to do it online, or you can find me under a bridge in Missoula, possibly playing with Legos.

Thanks for reading!