Kudos are in order for Great Falls Mayor Bob Kelly. Well, sort of at least. At the 2/20/18 City Commission meeting, the Mayor apologized to citizens and to the organizations that won’t be receiving almost $200,000 in CDBG grants. Well, kind of apologized anyway. The reason that some local non-profit organizations will not be receiving…
Author: Rick Tryon
Treasured Presidents Day Memories
This is a special time of year for me and my family. Presidents Day holds so much meaning and so many great memories for me even now as an adult. When I was a kid, every year my brothers and I, with barely contained excitement and anticipation, would count down the days until that magical,…
Cronyism And Great Falls’ No-Growth Policy
Is Great Falls business friendly? Does the City encourage growth? Why are these never-ending questions? Perhaps the answers are obvious after all. The Great Falls City Commission recently voted unanimously to deny a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to locally owned and operated M&D Construction. City staff, the City Zoning Commission and Neighborhood Council 7 all…
No Brainer?
Kudos to Craig Raymond and his staff in the City of Great Falls Planning and Community Development Department for working to find solutions to help keep a local private sector employer, M&D Construction, in the heart of Great Falls. This is the attitude we need from our city employees across the board; not “You can’t…
“I Want To Be A Good Neighbor”
Watch the short video below. It’s Rhett Hulett, owner of M&D Construction which employs 30 folks here in Great Falls, making his case for a Conditional Use Permit at the January 2, 2018 Great Falls City Commission meeting. “I want to be a good neighbor” “We want to be a positive part of that part…
Little Free Library Is A Whole Lot Of Cool
Have you seen the little wooden houses on posts in front yards around town? They look kind of like bird houses with a glass door on the front. Those are Little Free Library boxes most likely. What is a Little Free Library? “Little Free Library is a nonprofit organization that inspires a love of reading,…
How Are We To Select A Great Falls Ethics Committee?
Let’s say you needed to find a watchdog because your henhouse was recently raided by some foxes. Would you go to the local fox den and ask the occupants therein, some with feathers still clinging to their little chins, to select the best watchdog to keep an eye on your cluckers? The Great Falls City…
On Tax Abatements: Billings Says “Yes” Where Great Falls Says “No”
Back in the day, oh, forty or fifty years ago, there was an ongoing friendly competition between Great Falls and Billings as to which was the best and biggest city. The two Montana big dogs battling for bragging rights. I remember because I was a young sprout at the time, delivering the Great Falls Leader,…
Even More CDBG Mania
Have you noticed that when it comes to Community Block Grant funding and voting, the Great Falls City Commission abounds with apparent conflicts of interest, or with situations with the appearance of conflicts? We’ve already seen an article in E-City Beat about Commissioner Houck and the appearance of a huge conflict of interest involving Paris…
Tryon: Wages, Population Stagnant; City Taxes And Utilities Up
With the City of Great Falls moving past the financial fiasco of the $5,553,054 bailout (decrease in unassigned General Fund balance) in 2013 to cover the electric power business (see City 2014 CAFR Financial section, p. 14), the City’s financial position has improved, but the needs of the City are still great. The façade of the…