Great Falls Commissioner’s ‘Nefarious’ Pet Project
_______________________________________________________________________
Below is more important information provided by Great Falls resident Pam Hendrickson concerning efforts by Great Falls city Commissioners Moe and Robinson to secretly negotiate a partnership between the City of Great Falls and the Maclean Animal Adoption Center.
Every concerned citizen in Great Falls should read this and share it widely. The shenanigans by our city commission that have surrounded this issue (and several others) are the polar opposite of transparency and honesty.
Thank goodness for Ms. Hendrickson and the increasing number of local citizens like her who aren’t afraid to speak up and stand up.
_____________________________________________________________________
“WE’RE FINALLY GETTING AN OFFICIAL UPDATE ON THE CITY SHELTER AND MACLEAN ANIMAL CENTER PROPOSED PARTNERSHIP.
Commissioners Robinson and Moe will be updating the public on the status of their private discussions with Maclean on Tuesday, July 2 during the commission work session. Whether you have a dog in this fight or not, or even if you just want to see how they supposedly will save money for the taxpayers, I hope everyone will take an hour or less to go to the meeting and just listen.
It is at 5:30 at the Civic Center and it is the first item on the agenda. There is a public comment period at the beginning of the meeting where everyone is free to offer an opinion, but we’re not sure if the public will be allowed to ask questions or comment during the actual agenda discussion which would be the ideal time to speak – after we hear what they have to say on the matter. It would be nice if the citizens of Great Falls can offer pertinent comments and questions after the commissioners fill us in (with their load of baloney).
I wish I had the time to fill you in on the nefarious dealings of commissioners Robinson and Moe in particular, and the Mayor (Kelly) and the rest of them to boot, but I just don’t. I do, however, have lots of interesting information from several FOIA requests (Freedom of Information Act), which I was told is the only way to force the city commission to answer my questions.
Suffice it to say that I have documentation that Robinson and Moe have both tried to shut down public information and input on the matter.
That Moe’s previous assertion that this partnership could potentially save the City $500,000 per year sure looks like it would cost us even more than we’re paying now.
That Robinson has failed to file a disclosure form that acknowledges his previous involvement with the Maclean center.
That John Huber of the Animal Foundation sent an email on Wednesday, March 27, to Moe, Robinson and another Maclean person to schedule a meeting for April 1.
Robinson called Huber to tell him that the city commission the following week was holding a vote “that could affect what we are doing…” On April 2 the commission voted to postpone awarding the cattery contract.
The implications here are clear. What isn’t so obvious is that Robinson called a private entity a) before that agenda item was made public; and b) seems to me that Robinson and Moe allowed a private entity to influence their recommendations to the full commission.
Let me just end my diatribe with information I obtained that indicates that Maclean’s approximate operating costs are $66,000 per month (which may or may not include personnel costs). According to commissioner Moe’s “Joining Hands” document (see below), the city would end up paying most of that. ON TOP OF OUR CURRENT SHELTER EXPENSES.
I hope I’m wrong about the expense. But since the commission will not answer my questions, and I have been told in my FOIA requests that there is no financial data to share, I can only put the pieces together best I can.
I obviously have a dog in the fight. Woof woof. Hope to see you there.
Pam Hendrickson”
________________________________________________________________________
