The Election Protection Committee (aka Pete Fontana, Jane Weber, Jasmine Cassandra Taylor, Sharon Patton-Griffin, et al) is busy instructing the public on Facebook to NOT CONTACT THE ELECTIONS OFFICE if they have an issue or alternately, if they come into the office, to request court-appointed monitor Lynne DeRoche be present while speaking with election office personnel.
Posted in their Facebook group by Sharon Patton-Griffin:
“If you have a question or concern regarding an election, please do not call the Elections Office, instead, email the address below.
Likewise, if you go to the Elections Office, please do not speak to any employee there without first having Lynne DeRoche, Election Office court-appointed monitor, join you at the counter.”
The “address below” is the Election Protection Committee’s email. The post also tells the public to call Jane Weber if they want to speak with someone with the EPC.
None of these people are current elected officials. In fact they are just a group of self-appointed ‘sour grapes’ former or wannabe elected officials who resigned or lost past elections, or the relatives of said losers. They have no official designation or authority.
The big question is — why is the Election Protection Committee acting like it’s an official entity for collecting and disseminating complaints and information?
The Election Protection Committee, headed up by former Cascade County Commissioner Jane Weber and Pete Fontana, brother to former Cascade County Clerk and Recorder Rina Fontana-Moore, has created a media maelstrom over their claims against the Cascade County Elections Office. The office is currently run by republican Sandra Merchant who took over this year after winning against Fontana-Moore in the November 2022 election.
What’s most confounding is the Election Protection Committee seemingly dons their blinders for the time when democrat Rina Fontana-Moore was in charge of elections.
For one, they are up in arms over reports that duplicate ballots were sent out during this election. I’m not going to dispute or confirm that here. But I merely want to point out that ballot delivery mistakes are nothing new. Let’s look at the West Side Flood Control and Drainage District election in 2021, shall we?
Flood District commissioners serve three-year terms. This Flood District election certainly wasn’t Fontana-Moore’s first rodeo. One wonders how the experienced Fontana-Moore, who had headed up Cascade County elections for fourteen years at that point, could make that kind of mistake. Where was outrage at that election debacle from Election Protection Committee folks and their ilk? Did it perhaps not matter to them because a democrat was in charge?
On the May 3 during Montana News Right Now, a reporter read a quote from Jasmine Taylor, a member of the Election Protection Committee, complaining that the Elections Office at the annex was closed and locked on Election Day morning, so folks couldn’t pick up ballots. Is she not aware that when Fontana-Moore ran the elections office, it had become standard practice to move the elections office to the fairgrounds about a week in advance of the elections and that voters had to go to the fairground to pick up ballots? Or does Taylor think we would forget that fact?
Here’s the text from the Cascade County Elections Office webpage from November 2022 as an example:
“We will move our office to Exhibition Hall at Montana Expo Park on Monday, October 31st, 2022 through election day on November 8th, 2022. If you would like receive your ballot during this time period, you will need to come over to the fairgrounds.”
Further, folks that attended election judge training in 2022 claim that Fontana-Moore’s son worked in the elections office while she was in charge. A son hired to work for his mother? Isn’t that nepotism? But not one word about that from folks that are now involved with the Election Protection Committee.
Seems to me this Election Protection Committee has a “rules for thee but not for me” attitude.
The Election Protection Committee mentioned to the media that they filed an ethics complaint against Merchant. Pete Fontana filed the complaint with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices (MT COPP), and it was received by the agency on April 20 (Fontana v Grulkowski, Merchant, and Biddick.pdf). The complaint was rejected.
To summarize the contents, I’d opine that it contains some of the most ridiculous allegations I have ever seen.
It seems the Election Protection Committee has an issue with freedom of speech and expression. Regarding Cascade County Election Office volunteers, Fontana wrote:
“Several of these individuals provided controversial and vial [?] testimony at the Great Falls City Commission meeting against the Great Falls Library Levy.”
“Several of the volunteers’ cars display the VOTE NO ON THE LIBRARY LEVY.”
“A number of these individuals signed a petition to the Cascade County Commissioners requesting the County eliminate the mail ballot process….”
“Moreover, witnesses have also reported that this group of volunteers and the County Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant, begin each day with a prayer. That is highly inappropriate in a public office or county property.”
It appears the Election Protection Committee expects people to give up their First Amendment rights if they volunteer in the elections office under Merchant. If your car has a sticker they don’t agree with; if you signed a petition limiting mail-in ballots to overseas military, disabled or other qualified persons; if you provided comment at a city commission meeting against the library levy; if you prayed at your job — then the Election Protection Committee thinks that’s fodder for an ethics complaint. That’s ludicrous!
Someone needs to remind the Election Protection Committee that what folks chose to support or oppose on their own time and their own dollar, certainly don’t equate to ethics violations — ditto for prayer amongst coworkers, which when I last checked, is legal as long as it was voluntary, and is protected by the Constitution.
Oh wait someone did. Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus wrote in the rejection letter (MT COPP letter-Fontana.pdf):
“Your complaint does not detail or otherwise describe any specific alleged violations committed by a named public employee for me to consider. I would point out that the statute applies specifically and exclusively to public employees, and does not include elected officials of a local government. Similarly the statute does not “restrict the right of a public employee…to express personal political views,” including placement of campaign bumper stickers or related material on a personal vehicle.”
That’s just the tip of the iceberg and I encourage all to read the complaint and the MT COPP response letter.
Related to all of this is another interesting event.
On April 3 of this year, “Liberty and Values Project,” a group opposing the library levy, was registered with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices as an independent political committee. This is necessary once a group makes political expenditures or receives political donations on a ballot issue.
But the next day Jasmine Taylor registered that same name, “Liberty and Values Project” as a business name with the Montana Secretary of State. She then sent a cease and desist letter to the Liberty and Values Project committee. This is documented it on her What the Funk blog – https://wtf406.com/2023/04/wtf406- forces-anti-library-group-to-change-its-name/
Although a case can be made for the committee’s prior use of the name “Liberty and Values Project,” the organizer told me it wasn’t worth the fight. The committee simply added “MT” to their name and registered that with both the MT COPP and the Secretary of State—problem solved.
Draw your own conclusions, but I have my doubts that Taylor has any interest in using “Liberty and Values Project” as a business name. Seems instead like she saw an opportunity to harass a committee she opposes; one that had actually established prior use of that name.
The “progressive” left seems to know no bounds when it comes to attacks and if you think we are immune to their antics here in Great Falls, Montana, I’m hoping the examples given here will open your eyes.
On Election Day in November of 2020 Cascade County Republican candidates for the state legislature defeated every one of their Democrat opponents on the ballot, including several incumbent legislators.
It was an unprecedented red wave in Great Falls/Cascade County.
This year it was even worse for local Dems. It was a red tsunami.
Democrats lost every single contested race on the ballot.
Not only did all of the GOP incumbents retain their seats in the state legislature, even the remaining Dem incumbents went down to defeat:
Longtime local Democrat and incumbent state Senator Tom Jacobson was booted out by voters, losing to relatively unknown newcomer to local politics, Daniel Emrich.
For 16 years the Cascade County Clerk and Recorder position was held by Democrat incumbent Rina Fontana-Moore. Voters replaced Moore with yet another political GOP newcomer, Sandra Merchant.
Democrat stalwart Don Ryan, incumbent Cascade County Commissioner, lost his race to Rae Grulkowski.
Great Falls/Cascade County, once a blue stronghold, at least for now is a deep, ruby red.
If you want to know what politicians really think then you have to be reminded of what they say when they think voters aren’t listening or watching very closely.
E-City Beat has been keeping track of what the most ‘progressive’ local Democrats running for state legislature were Tweeting when they thought voters weren’t paying attention.
And it’s quite different from the image they’re trying to put forward now that it’s election season.
So here’s a brief rundown of what Jasmine Krotkov, Barbara Bessette, and Melissa Smith actually believe – which is not the feel-good, ‘moderate’ happy talk they’re trying to palm off on Great Falls/Cascade County voters now.
Jasmine Krotkov, Candidate for HD25
Looks like we know where Krotkov stands on teaching critical race theory in our public schools.
Employees who lost jobs for refusing vaccine mandates, take note.
Trickle down economics is a ‘killer’? Pure garbage from Krotkov!
Barbara Bessette, Candidate HD24
Is Bessette running to represent all of us – or just ‘the resistance’?
Oh, it ‘sounds like’ our Lt. Governor is a racist, huh? What a dangerous and bigoted presumption by Bessette, a candidate for state legislature.
Unacceptable, nasty, and hateful Tweet from Bessette.
Melissa Smith, Candidate HD23
Nice reminder of Smith’s priorities for our community.
Do we really want someone like Melissa Smith in public office deciding who should and ‘should not have money’?
Wait, ‘we could just stop burning fossil fuels’? You mean like in my car that takes me to work in the morning and in my home this winter?
There’s more, lots more, but I think you get the basic idea here.
Krotkov, Bessette, and Smith are nowhere near ‘moderate’. They are far left ideologues with an agenda that they intend to push if elected.
Don’t let them succeed in pulling the wool over your eyes.
My name is Sandra Merchant and I am running for Cascade County Clerk & Recorder. I believe I can use my private sector experience to make this office more efficient, accountable, secure, and customer friendly.
With my experience being outside of government office, I can bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to make improvements to the operation and hope to engage the people. I believe our country was designed for citizens to be active and involved in their local government, and elected officials are there to serve them.
I have many years of working with customers, organizing groups and events, as well as keeping and submitting records for those groups. I am currently in Civil Air Patrol, teaching Character Development to the cadets.
I am originally from upstate NY where I had a horse business. I still have a horse and like to ride; I also enjoy many outdoor sports, especially on the water.
I have been a Medical Coder for about 10 years, handling private information and a variety of projects. I have to be flexible and able to move from project to project, sometimes more than once in a day. I have to know and adjust to different rules for each individual project.
My son attends a local high school and his 4 siblings are grown and have their own homes and lives. I enjoy visiting and doing things with them as much as possible.
The people of Cascade County will always be welcome in my office; that’s what we are there for. I will do all I can to be sure that any questions are answered and that their voices are heard. I will make public records available and encourage active participation in local government offices.
Election security is a big topic right now. I will do all I can to be sure we have fair, accessible, honest, and accountable elections. I will recruit and be sure people are thoroughly trained to assist with elections, including workers from all parties represented.
The goal of the County Clerk office will be honesty, efficiency, and customer service, with the good of the citizens and the county at the center. I plan to be a public servant, not a politician!
I’ve been asked to put on my amateur political analyst hat here for a little minute to talk about Tuesday’s primary election results in the Cascade County Sheriff’s race between incumbent Republican Jesse Slaughter and challenger Jay Groskreutz.
This race wasn’t even close. Groskreutz got ‘slaughtered’ in a 70% to 30% landslide. That’s 9,248 votes for Jesse and 3,925 for Jay.
So why was it such a drubbing? Well, I can think of three reasons:
Reason One
Groskreutz didn’t have a coherent, convincing platform. His radio ads featured his plan to fight the drug crisis in our community by educating kids. ‘Just Say No’ sounds nice but folks here understand it’s just not enough, not by a long shot.
Education is a part of the solution but I think citizens prefer a sheriff who focusses on declaring war on local drug dealers and aggressively going after and arresting them.
Reason Two
Groskreutz said and did nothing about the slimy, personal, unfair and untrue smears against Slaughter by the far left and their lapdogs in local ‘news’ media and blogs, painting Slaughter as a white supremacist, militia kook, and worse.
The problem with those kinds of outright lies is that folks in this community have known Jesse and Undersheriff Reeves personally for a long time and they understand the absurdity contained in the kind of tripe being pushed by the Great Falls Tribune and others.
Groskreutz should have and could have repudiated that sewage, which he knew to be lies, and still run an honorable and vigorous campaign. I think someone gave him bad advice.
Reason Three
Goskreutz readily accepted the endorsement of the local Democrat machine. When a Republican is the Democrat’s favorite and handpicked candidate on the GOP primary ballot no one should be surprised when the vast majority of Republican voters filling out that ballot take note and vote against the Democrat’s pick.
Sheriff Slaughter deserved the win because he’s done an outstanding job for four years as Cascade County Sheriff and because he campaigned hard and with honor in this primary. Congratulations to him and Cory Reeves.
Now local Democrats and their pals in the media are coordinating a smear campaign against Sheriff Slaughter, coughing up their hairballs of hate and rage just as ballots are being sent out to voters for the June primary election.
More on that in a bit, but back to The Breakup for a minute: Should anyone really be surprised that a lifelong law enforcement officer like Slaughter would choose to disassociate himself from a political movement that engaged in the ‘Defund The Police’, anti-law enforcement hate, hysteria, and histrionics that characterized the Democrat Party, including the local branch, starting in 2020?
As Slaughter said then, “I didn’t leave the Democrats, they left me.”
So here we are today and the local Democrats’ need for revenge is strong. So strong that they are urging Democrat voters to vote the GOP primary ballot.
“You may never have imagined Democrats encouraging citizens to vote the GOP primary ballot, but it’s imperative if we want to deny Slaughter another four years as Cascade County Sheriff…WHY REPUBLICAN in JUNE? Sadly, no Democrat candidate filed for the sheriff’s race, so the sheriff election will be determined in the June primary…”
This document is the exact same garbage and nonsense about Sheriff Slaughter recently printed in the Great Falls Tribune. It’s straight ahead, far left Democrat propaganda against Slaughter from the partisan hacks at an extremist liberal advocacy group called MHRAN, whose “research”, objectivity, and credibility is a pathetic joke.
But the local Democrats are desperate because they know what’s coming in November, nationally and in Cascade County. It’s why they have no candidate for Sheriff here.
‘Gutter politics is alive and well in Cascade County! This past week our “friends” in the Democrat party unleashed an all-out assault on Sheriff Jesse Slaughter. This political assassination attempt has to be one of the most underhanded efforts to sway an election in memory…Someone needs to remind candidate Groskreutz of the old saying, “By your silence you give consent!” ‘
I agree. I’m a Republican. I voted on the Republican ballot.
In 2018 I ran for Cascade County Sheriff because I saw an opportunity to improve leadership and accountability at the Sheriff’s Office. I was inspired to bring transparency to the office and restore confidence to the people of Cascade County. I knew it would be challenging and I knew a culture change would not be embraced by everyone. However, I knew our community deserved it.
As soon as we took office, and each day since, we’ve made it our mission to put our community first. Simply put, we’ve kept our promises.
The team at CCSO has accomplished so much in my first term. Here is a short list of things we’ve done that directly affect public safety:
Streamlined staffing to put more deputies on the street
Added 5 deputies to the annual budget
Added 3 detention officers to the annual budget
Added an Internet Crimes Against Children Detective
Created a Violent Crimes Prevention Task Force
Created a civilian Use of Force Review Committee
Improved capacity at the jail, by removing state prison
Made major repairs to the jail, improving security
Started the CCSO’s first online crime reporting system
Introduced an improved body camera program
Created a new K9 Program
Introduced the Angel Initiative, which provides drug addiction assistance
Moved the 24/7 program to downtown Great Falls
Revitalized the Reserve Deputy Program
Updated patrol vehicle video systems and body worn cameras
Created a Resident Deputy Program
Introduced the Drug Endangered Children Program
Acquired a body scanner for the jail
Purchased new riot gear for Our community
Moved processing juveniles, with felony charges, to the JDC
I have served in law enforcement for over twenty-two years. I am guided by my faith and my family. My wife, Christie, serves as a Victim Witness Advocate on the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole. We have three amazing children and Christie and I each serve as volunteers in multiple facets in Cascade County.
I am proud to be your Sheriff and I truly care about the people of Cascade County. I am dedicated to putting the community first, keeping the promises I make, and protecting your freedoms.
I am accountable to the community members of Cascade County, my boss.
I believe the best predictor of future performance is past performance .You hired me in 2018 to bring a change to the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office. I am proud to say we’ve done that, but there is more to do. To keep moving forward, I’d be honored to have your vote on June 7th.
I’ve worked for Cascade County Sheriff’s Office for 22 years. I have served in a supervisory role as a corporal and sergeant at the jail, and in numerous leadership positions as a patrol deputy, including SWAT, coroner, Search and Rescue, a School Resource Officer, a resident deputy for the town of Belt, and as a corporal. My wife of 22 years and I have raised our two daughters in this county. We love to hunt, fish, camp, and spend time together as a family. I want to serve Cascade County as sheriff to make our county safer and our sheriff’s office stronger.
The number one public safety issue plaguing our county is drugs. I intend to wage a county-wide battle against the drug problem, because not only is the drug abuse a problem, but it creates other issues for our county too – thefts, assaults, sex crimes, and one of the most overlooked – crimes against children. That’s why the Drug Endangered Children approach is at the core of my plan. This nationally recognized approach does not cost us more money and has the potential to bring drug-fighting money into our county. The DEC approach allows us to proactively help children through better collaboration with agencies and community partners, such as Alliance for Youth, Toby’s House, and the Dandelion Foundation. It also means enhanced training for our employees.
Another of my priorities as sheriff is to provide leadership for our sheriff’s office, which will, in turn, improve employee retention and morale. I will spend every day as sheriff making sure our deputies and detention officers have the tools and training they need to make them effective and to keep them safe so they can go home to their families. These men and women need to know how valuable they are to me and to our county. They need a leader who communicates a vision and works alongside them to carry it out. I want our detention officers to be emboldened, and I want our deputies to know the county. We play a huge role in making this county better and safer, so we have to know the citizens and businesses who make this county great. When deputies and detention officers get the leadership and training they deserve, they are more effective at their jobs, and that means a safer Cascade County.
We also have to make current sheriff’s office programs and task forces work for OUR county. A lot of the ineffectiveness of our programs is related to poor employee retention and a lack of leadership and vision. If we could maintain higher retention, we’d be able to keep deputies on task forces and in specialized fields, such as K9 handlers. The sheriff needs to be the one to provide a vision for these programs. You can’t just start a program or a task force and waste incredible resources – namely our people – on mediocre plans. You have to finish it. That requires leadership. I intend to provide that leadership for Cascade County.
Editors note: the opinions expressed in our letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of E-City Beat, our volunteer staff or contributors. All letters to the editor are welcome and will be considered for publication. Please include your name and city of residence and email to ectitybeat@straymoose.com.See our local legislative primary rundown here – 4 Statehouse Primaries On Tap In Cascade County: 3 GOP, 1 Dem
I am proud to write this letter in support of Representative Wendy McKamey, candidate for the office of Senate District 12. I have had the honor of serving with Wendy McKamey in the House of Representatives during the 66th and 67th Legislative Sessions. In addition, Wendy and I have served together on the House State Administration Committee which Wendy served as Vice-Chair of in 2019 and Chair of in 2021.
In Committee and on the House Floor, Wendy has consistently supported and sponsored bills promoting strong election integrity access and efficiency. Wendy has also worked with Veterans and Veteran programs throughout her tenure to promote and strengthen Veteran’s programs and services. In 2019, Wendy sponsored HB 351, which provides unlimited pathways for personalized, proficiency-based education honoring local school trustees control and providing support through grant funding.
Wendy is a proven leader, mentoring new legislators, such as myself. She utilizes her experience and knowledge to explain the processes of committees, navigating bills through the legislative system, and helping to search out solutions. As a Legislator, Wendy always takes the time to talk to and address the concerns of her constituents and works tirelessly to advocate for the issues of her District and for the betterment of all Montanans.
Vote for Wendy McKamey for Senate District 12, a Leader with Experience!
Rep. Julie Dooling Montana House of Representatives House District 70 -Broadwater & Lewis and Clark County 406-471-4125
