If you’re tried to reach us in the past few days, you probably noticed that our website had a few glitches. For that, I apologize. We have been in the process of upgrading to a managed hosting service.
Simply put, E-City Beat now receives too much traffic to operate any other way. In March, this blog received over 24,000 unique page views.
Now, we are fully migrated, and can better and more fully serve the needs of our readers. As a local blog in a town of about 60,000, it is humbling to know that our monthly page views totaled 40% of the population in our community.
So, again, apologies for the delay, but thank you so much for reading!
(Oh, and according to speed tests, E-City Beat is now also much faster!)
We have in the past featured ‘Angry Reader Comments’, but in yesterday’s piece by Phil Faccenda on this blog, the comment section contained some truly bizarre comments that go beyond angry.
Here is an example of one such comment:
“You have the thinnest, greyest, unhealthiest looking skin I have ever seen…”?
This isn’t just juvenile, it’s seething with hatred and downright creepy.
Who says stuff like that? Well, by reading the comment thread on the post, and we suggest you read the piece and the thread, it’s pretty obvious that the anonymous creepy poster is someone with detailed knowledge of the incident referred to in the piece.
No need to make too many guesses as to who that could be, is there?
Starting today, E-City Beat is sporting a new look. We’ve streamlined our blog page design and we hope that you, our awesome readers, like the change.
We’re also looking forward to bringing you additional content this year including local, state, and national information and opinion. Election 2020 should be exciting and interesting at all levels!
If you are interested in contributing content to E-City Beat in your field of interest or expertise, give us a shout.
And please sign up for our newsletter (you can do it on the main page)!
In an October 20, 2019 comment section posted on a public Facebook page, Great Falls city commissioner Tracy Houck accused E-City Beat of publishing untrue “stuff” about her involvement in the City’s recent Community Development Block Grant, CDBG, funding debacle.
“I read the stuff a local blog writes about me and it’s not true.”
Though she doesn’t name E-City Beat she is obviously referring to this blog.
So as the editor and publisher of E-City Beat I’m going to set the record straight here – neither this publication nor any of our contributing writers have ever lied about the CDBG issue or Houck’s involvement.
We have published the documented facts which in turn have exposed Houck’s, and others, damaging dishonesty and actions. Writers publishing on this blog about the CDBG issue and Houcks involvement include:
The list also includes several others writing for this and other local news outlets. A simple Google search will reveal that Houck’s conflict of interest involving CDBG funding is widely known and has been reported on by several sources.
Houck Heroically Exposes Corruption In Great Falls?
Commissioner Houck’s several claims in the comment thread that she was actually the one who “exposed the flawed system” in order to make it better and that “building stronger systems” was her intention all along are patently absurd and belie the relevant documents and facts.
Her spin is akin to a bank robber telling the judge that the only reason he robbed that bank was in order to expose flaws in the security system.
Here are the basic facts concerning the origins of the CDBG issue being referred to here:
The Community Development Council (CDC) voted to allocate CDBG taxpayer funds to various local projects/organizations.
Tracy Houck, at the time a city commissioner and Executive Director of Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art simultaneously, saw the scoring and that her employer, PGS, did not receive the $27,927 they requested.
Houck got her do-over and PGS was subsequently recommended to receive the $27,927 grant.
Her goal was to get a do-over so that the organization which issued her paycheck, and her daughters paycheck at the time, would receive a big chunk of taxpayer money, and she used her position as a city commissioner to accomplish that goal.
Here is the first page of a letter from City Attorney Sara Sexe (I encourage readers to view the letter in it’s entirety) which had to be hand delivered to Houck stating that her allegation of a “potential conflict” also raises conflict concerns for Houck.
Those conflicts for Houck turned out to be far more serious and damaging to Great Falls than her alleged accusations against the CDC Chair.
HUD Steps In
Her statement that “Mine did not” receive funding, meaning her employer, PGS, is a misleading half-truth because although PGS didn’t ultimately receive the $27,927, it was not for lack of trying on Houck’s part.
She got what she intended when the CDC reconvened, reversed their original decision and approved funding for PGS based on her complaint. The only reason PGS did not eventually receive the money was because the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development had to intervene due to Houck’s, and other’s, blatant conflicts of interest in distributing the funds.
“Originally, the CDC did not fund the proposed project at PGS, but after the chair recused herself and the matter was reconsidered, PGS was recommended to receive $27,927…
…But in reconsidering the public facility applications, several other organizations were also recommended for funding that had previously been denied. Quality of Life Concepts was initially denied but in the new recommendations was slated for $20,877. The YWCA’s recommended allocation went up slightly. But that also meant funding for other applications went down. The Center for Mental Health was reduced from $20,000 to $10,000 and funding for the city Public Works department for a grant program providing assistance to low income homeowners to remove and replace hazardous sidewalks within the city limits and replacement of existing intersections with ADA accessible ramps was reduced from $65,297 to $29,177.” – (Jenn Rowell – The Electric, https://theelectricgf.com/2017/05/16/conflict-of-interest-concerns-plague-this-years-cdbg-allocation-decisions/)
The February 20, 2018 letter from HUD to the City of Great Falls is very clear about their rules concerning “inside information”. Commissioner Houck is one of the “14 individuals” referenced here. I encourage everyone to read the entire letter.
“With regard to the City of Great Falls, we consider any member of the City’s Commission or Community Development Council to be in a decision-making position and able to gain “inside information” on the CDBG funding process. The City’s letter dated December 20, 2017 identified 14 individuals who participated in the Commission or Council between 2012 and 2017, and who would also be identified as persons covered by Section 570.611(c). In total, $522,252.00 was awarded by the Commission and Council between 2012 and 2017 to entities from which the 14 members noted above, or those with whom they have business or immediate family ties, obtained a financial interest or benefit.” (emphasis added)
No one on this blog has been making up “stuff” about Houck. Anyone who is actually interested in the truth, cares to take a closer look at the many facts and documents, and applies common sense will indeed conclude that Tracy Houck’s expostulation is the only “stuff” being made up.
Okay, so I was intrigued when I was informed by a friend this morning that someone was bashing poor old Ricky Tryon on the E-City Beat Facebook page. When I went and took a look and saw it was someone called Jasmine Cassandra my first impression was, “Who?”. But then I remembered that this Jasmine person has kind of had it out for me for awhile.
Last October she went on a public Facebook page and referred to me as “…a man that is known for his misogynistic behavior”. Wow.
As you might imagine, this attempted public assassination of my character by trying to paint me as a misogynist was not received too kindly by my wife, my daughters, my granddaughter, my mother, my nieces, my sisters-in-law or my many female friends and colleagues whom I respect and love. Of course, the page administrator for Great Falls Area Concerned Citizens removed her ridiculous and slanderous comment.
I would ask Ms. Cassandra if she can provide even one example of my apparently well-known misogynistic behavior? Since she did not and cannot, I would next ask if she even knows or understands the definition of ‘misogynist’?
I would ask Ms. Cassandra if she can provide even one example of my apparently well-known misogynistic behavior? Since she did not and cannot, I would next ask if she even knows or understands the definition of ‘misogynist’?
I have no clue as to why Cassandra, who I have never met or had any contact or conflict with, and who knows absolutely nothing about me, my personal life, or where I’ve come from, insists on trolling me. So I did a little digging after I saw her additional ugly comments from today.
Jasmine Cassandra is also known as Jasmine Taylor and is listed as a board member in charge of ‘outreach’ for the Great Falls LGBTQ+ Center.
“He’s (Rick Tryon) a failed wannabe politician who is openly prejudiced.” – If I’m ‘openly prejudiced’ then Ms. Cassandra/Taylor should be able to provide an example, but of course she doesn’t.
“Prejudice would be based on falsehood and preconceived notions. I’m assessing Rick based on his multiple prejudiced posts.” – This is classic troll talk here, mentions ‘…multiple prejudiced posts’ without giving even one example.
“I agree that Rick is like Trump in that he spews (the word is apropo here) hateful rhetoric, because being incendiary is easier than being logical and insightful.” – So, where is an example of the ‘hateful rhetoric’ I’ve been spewing? Does ol’ Jasmine think folks should just take her word for it?
Apparently I’m a hateful, prejudiced, misogynist according to Cassandra/Taylor who doesn’t know me, has never met me, and can’t provide even one example corroborating her ridiculous and hateful personal insults against me. Is this what the Great Falls LGBTQ+ Center considers “outreach”?
Finally, there’s this from Cassandra/Taylor: “Rick doesn’t get to be both vitriolic and hateful AND sensitive.” – What’s that old saying about when you point your finger at someone there’s three pointing back at you? Jasmine provides the perfect example of that right here.
My advice to this person who is so casually and ignorantly lashing out at me for some strange reason: Jasmine Cassandra/Taylor, if you don’t want to continue to be thought of as a shallow, mean little troll then stop acting like a shallow, mean little troll.
You know who deserves some credit? Jenn Rowell, that’s who!
Rowell is a former Tribune reporter who now runs The Electric, a local news site. Unfortunately, she seems a little upset with us today. This morning we ran a story about HUD coming down on various conflicts of interest within the city’s CDBG program. We pointed to information (including the letter from HUD, a public document) that was posted on Rowell’s website. Within minutes, Rowell took issue with us on our Facebook page:
It’s true! Rowell posted it before we did. She published yesterday and we ran our piece today. However, as stated above, we DID include a link from our post to her’s. Isn’t that what bloggers do? You link back to other sources. We even identified her publication, The Electric, by name in that very link. If Rowell’s complaint is that we did not specifically state that the public document itself was published by her first, then I will concede that she has a point. Our original post has been updated to reflect this. I will happily admit that she ran the document before anyone else, including us. It was never the intention of ECity Beat to suggest otherwise.
And that’s OK by me. Frankly, we’re not consumed with breaking news so much as we are with providing commentary. If someone else gets a story out there, great! We just want to talk about it. I’m much more interested in providing a platform for real DIALOGUE about local issues.
That said, we do want to get it right. We won’t piggyback on someone else’s reporting without at least linking back to their story. In this instance, we provided a link, but it could and should have been attributed better….. ie., in the form of a second link that exists now.
Rowell is right when she says that giving credit where it’s due is how things are done in the journalism business. I appreciate her for reminding us of that fact.
I can’t help but note, however, what a few of our readers took the time to remind me of earlier today: that WE were the ones who broke the CDBG story in the first place. As I read through The Electric’s archived content about the city and CDBG….. and I looked and looked….. I noticed that while a lot of the established facts were the same as what we had initially written, I didn’t see one iota of credit to ECity Beat for OUR original reporting anywhere, which as Rowell intones is “customary in the news business.” (In contrast, Trib reporter David Murray credited ECity Beat in his first article on the subject. Thanks David!)
Amusing ironies aside, I did want to address this issue, since a sincere effort was made to provide attribution. Could it have been executed better, and more precisely? Absolutely! Next time, we will.
Finally, I do want to say that Rowell (truly) breaks more news than anyone in Great Falls and on the whole she does good work. Her site is more newsy, ours is more of a blog. I think that, collectively, The Electric and ECity Beat provide a nice complement to the gaping hole that exists in traditional local media. And I sincerely hope everyone reads her site! The more sources out there, like her’s, to get our local government’s dealings out to the public, the better served we all are.
Here’s hoping everyone had a wonderful holiday season and wishing all a marvelous, prosperous 2018.
We look forward to continuing our mission to publish great content about our city, state and region in the coming year.
Stay tuned this week for a very interesting and informative piece written by Great Falls Public School District board member Jan Cahill in response to an earlier article we published written by Steve Alley concerning the expenditure of funds from last years $98 million local school bond. You can read Mr. Alleys piece here.
Once again, thanks for reading and following E-City Beat and Happy New Year!
This morning, we published a post by George Nikolakakos, leader of the Great Falls Area Concerned Citizens group opposing the slaughterhouse.
In the interests of balance, several days ago we also reached out to Todd Hanson of Norseman Consulting Group, who has been working with project developer Friesen Foods. We hope Hanson will take us up on our offer to write.
Since this is a such an important community issue with many layers to it, I would also invite anyone else who has some degree of knowledge and who can write to please do so.
After several months of inactivity, E-City Beat is back! We have spent our hiatus adding contributors and developing an improved reader-centric site and we think we have succeeded. Our core values remain the same: to examine and to comment on important and timely issues that matter to residents of Great Falls, our Central Montana region and our State. We will continue, with your help and commentary, to advocate for Accountability and Transparency in our various units of government, be it our City Commission, our School District, or our Montana Legislature and State Bureaucratic maze.
Remember that you own the resources of our community, its City government, its Parks and its Schools. If you are tired of USA Today and Associated Press sourced and slanted reporting, then E-City Beat will be for you and you won’t have to keep your thoughts under 250 words, or wait 60 days before you can comment again on issues you care about. E-City Beat is all about YOU, whether your focus is on Economic Development, creating a more business friendly environment in Great Falls, the importance of Art in our community, or if you just want to share the world’s best brownie recipe, we want to hear from you. As Brett Doney recently said: “Great Falls needs to Retain and Recruit Talent”. We need your IDEAS.
We invite all points of view from writers and cartoonists on relevant issues facing our City and State.
We know you haven’t heard from us in some time. Some of you wondered (hoped?) if we were simply going to go away. The truth is, we have been in transition. Effective today, founding Editor Kelly Parks has resigned, and Phil Faccenda will be taking her place.
“Kelly deserves tremendous credit for getting this project off the ground, and it’s important to keep up the momentum now. With so many issues here in Great Falls and with City elections upon us, this is an exciting time for local news,” Faccenda said.
