Great Falls Parking & ‘A Leader Who Listens’?

ECB Staff on May 10, 2019

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We couldn’t help but notice two related local topics this week:

  1. Tracy Houck announced her intention to run for reelection to the Great Falls city commission.
  2. The City of Great Falls is proposing doubling downtown parking meter fees.

We find it rather ironic, and quite amusing, that Houck is using the slogan “A Leader Who Listens” as part of her campaign branding.

In 2016 Mayor Kelly “tasked” Houck and then Commissioner Fred Burrow with finding solutions to our downtown parking problems, partly by staying plugged into the citizens Parking Advisory Commission.

According to meeting minutes, since January of 2016 there have been 41 Parking Advisory Commission meetings – Houck attended a total of 4 of those meetings.

There were at least 5 PAC Special Planning meetings during that period – Houck attended none of them.

A leader who listens? You be the judge. Meeting minutes here.

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Make Great Falls Great Again! – Changing the Narrative

Tori Unger on May 8, 2019

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Well, Great Falls, you have finally done it. You have turned me into a total cynic in a way I have never been before. I used to be a positive force in my own life, and lately, it seems as though everything has been negative in every way. This “negative narrative” in town has been eating at my soul to the point where I am definitely going to go back to my hometown. But not before I raise some hell to make even the smallest of changes.

People are saying “stop complaining” or “it’s been this way forever”. Guess what? We won’t stop using our voices to raise awareness. It is not our fault that there is such a negative narrative about Great Falls. However, it is partially our fault that we have all settled for less than we deserve.

We deserve so much more and those of us who “complain” are the ones who really need to start getting loud and make the effort to fight for what we deserve.

My goal is to host a series of events over the course of the summer at local venues. These events will be geared towards the youth of our community. Currently, with help from The Alumni Club, I am creating an “All Ages” club night for the teens in Great Falls. I am hoping to make this a semi-regular event to give our teens and young adults a social and musical outlet that does not involve school or church sanctions in a place where their options are limited.

These events are meant to start changing the narrative of Great Falls from our future leaders’ perspective and open the eyes of our exiting and soon to be new city officials. We need those kids to have a positive outlook if they are even going to want to lead our city in the future.

If we can change the opinions of our youth into wanting more from our city, we can actually get more from our city because they are the reason we want more from our local government to begin with.

Details for these events are still under wraps until the first date is set, hopefully, right after school lets out for the summer. However, we do want you to know that we are taking the safety of the kids into the highest consideration in our planning.

This going to be a huge deal for our kids, and the city as a whole. If these events take off in the way I think and hope, we might be able to start seeing more and more acts coming to Great Falls in the future. Acts that we may not otherwise see outside of Missoula, Bozeman, and the State Fair.

These events will easily make the local news, and will just as easily reach out even further from there! Such a small thing can really make a difference in how people see us and how we see ourselves. That’s what we want for Great Falls, isn’t it? Yes, I think so.

Help us change the narrative from negative to positive here. This may be just a small start, but you have to start somewhere. Right?

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Great Falls City Commission Ethics Problems

Rick Tryon on May 7, 2019

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If we really want to change the ‘negative narrative’ about Great Falls then we need to address the actual reasons for that narrative. There’s no better place to start than the ethics and conflicts of interest problems that have plagued the Great Falls city commission for a long time.

Let’s do a quick review of some recent examples of whats wrong and why so many citizens are losing trust in our city commission. Keep in mind these examples are merely the tip of the iceberg. There are deeper and far more troubling examples which will be explored in future articles, but the following will suffice for now.

Commissioners ‘Pet’ Projects

At the April 2, 2019 city commission meeting and vote on the issue, Commissioner Owen Robinson revealed that he and Commissioner Moe had been secretly meeting with a group called Animals First to discuss plans for a partnership between the city (taxpayers) and Maclean Cameron Animal Adoption Center. After lots of public outcry about conflicts of interest and backroom dealings the commission was forced to revisit the issue.

Unfortunately, and almost unbelievably, according to a report from KFBB News neither Robinson or Moe seem to have gotten the message, “During this waiting period, two city commissioners Owen Robinson and Mary Moe continued their work looking into a potential joining of the GFAS MacLean adoption center.”

Here’s a novel idea for Robinson and Moe – instead of secret meetings with GFAS MacLean’s board members to negotiate a merger between them and the city animal shelter, why not invite them to a city commission work session to discuss the issue in public?

See, that way the taxpayers who pay for ALL of the city’s facilities and resources can have the benefit of transparency and an official record.

Houck’s Ethics Panel Debut

On February 6 of this year the newly constituted Great Falls Ethics Panel met to deliberate on an ethics complaint concerning Tracy Houck. No surprises there.

But here’s something that is surprising – according to the city information packet concerning this hearing, “The City has retained outside legal counsel Jordan Crosby, of Ugrin Alexander Zadick,P.C., to represent and advise the Ethics Committee during the hearing.”

The Zadick partner in the law firm hired with your tax dollars is Gary Zadick, who is a past board member of Paris Gibson Square and the husband of Nancy Zadick. Nancy Zadick is the president of the Board of Directors for Paris Gibson Square. Tracy Houck is the paid Executive Director for Paris Gibson Square.

Of course, this is no reflection on either of the Zadicks, who are both longtime active members of our community.

It is however a questionable decision by the City of Great Falls to retain legal counsel to advise the ethics panel on an ethics complaint against a city commissioner who is  employed by the wife of a partner in that firm.

Additionally, three months later there are still no posted minutes on the city website from that 2/6/19 Ethics Panel hearing in which Houck was found to have engaged in the appearance of an ethical violation. Where’s the transparency? We have to do better.

The solution going forward? Zero tolerance for conflicts of interest in our city government and a demand for transparency and honesty at all times.

Here are three action items to help solve some of the problems discussed here.

  • Prohibit any employee or board member of any organization receiving taxpayer funds or resources from serving on the committee/board that recommends or approves allocation of those funds or resources.
  • Require all local elected and appointed public officials to fill out and sign annual conflict of interest forms and agreements.
  • Require the mayor and city commissioners to make public on the city website a list of any of their personal potential conflicts of interest. This would include business/professional associations and clients, personal and family member affiliations with organizations who lobby the city for resources, and campaign donors who do business with the city or seek official consideration from the Commission.

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New Glory Days Ahead For Great Falls?

Rick Tryon on May 2, 2019

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Whenever the topic concerning the lack of growth, development, and good jobs in Great Falls comes up, the discussion often goes something like this:

Mr. Wannaknow: “Why can’t we seem to prosper and grow like other Montana communities?”

Mr. Knowitall: “Well, obviously it’s because we aren’t on a east-west interstate and we don’t have a state college here. Stop being so negative.”

Mr. Wannaknow: “Oh, okay. Sorry.”

I’ve got news for Mr. Knowitall – that dog don’t hunt, or that horse don’t buck, or that chicken don’t lay eggs, or whatever other folksy metaphor you choose that means ‘WRONG-O’.

Whenever people ask me if I’ve lived in Great Falls all my life I tell them, “Not yet”.

But I have lived here long enough to remember when our beautiful little city was the biggest, most prosperous, bustling town in Montana. We were the envy of the Treasure State. We didn’t have a state college or an east-west interstate back then either.

To which Mr. Knowitall replies: “Yeah but we had the smelter and a flying mission at MAFB and Great Falls Select brewery and Burlington Northern. Stop being so negative.”

To which I reply: “So it’s not because we don’t have a state college or an east-west interstate?”

To which Mr. Knowitall replies: “Stop being so negative.”

Actually, we need to stop being so blind. We have the potential here in Great Falls to once again be a thriving, growing place to live, work and raise a family.

In order to do that we need to fix the problems we can do something about and that are right in front of us instead of making lame excuses for our abysmal lack of vision and growth.

Now here’s the good news.

Back in 2014 when I was serving as the Government Affairs Director for the Great Falls Association of Realtors we organized a group of realtors, developers and business leaders called the Coalition to meet with City officials and staff to discuss the local development process and policies. As a result we identified three major areas that needed to be addressed:

  1. One point of contact – Having one city contact from the beginning stages of a project all the way through completion would help guide the developer through the process and greatly increase customer satisfaction.
  2. Streamline the overall development process – Either do away with the Design Review Board, which is currently suspended, or make it completely optional. The added expense and time involved for developers is an unnecessary burden and hassle for design issues that could be addressed in city code.
  3. A verifiable document trail – signed onto by city staff for every step of the development process required, including inspections and permitting. Having such a record for each project readily available, preferably online, would insure against future disagreements and misunderstandings between city staff/officials and developers. It would also provide accountability and transparency.

According to a recent article in The Electric, the City Planning and Community Development Department is undertaking some of the changes we advocated for and discussed back then. This is awesome news for Great Falls and congratulations and kudos are in order, City staff has listened to local stakeholders and is implementing the much needed changes.

This will go a long ways towards getting Great Falls back on track. I know we can’t return the old glory days, but we can and must make new glory days.

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Cascade County 0.4% Growth Too Cold

Rick Tryon on April 24, 2019

Last week the U.S. Census Bureau report revealed some surprising information about county population growth in Montana between 2010 and 2018. It’s not only surprising, but for Cascade County it’s troubling.

Looking at this data I’m reminded of the story of the Three Bears.

TOO HOT! – Gallatin County (Bozeman/Belgrade area) grew by 22,363 people, or 25%.

TOO COLD! – Cascade County (Great Falls area) grew by 320 people, or 0.4%.

JUST RIGHT? – The Helena, Missoula and Billings areas grew by a little over 8% each.

I think most of us Great Fallsians would agree that we don’t want 25% growth or the rapid boom development Bozeman is experiencing, even though it has real advantages. But I don’t think we should be celebrating, or even accepting, a measly 0.4% percent growth rate either.

In fact we should be alarmed that we grew by only 320 people since 2010. Very alarmed. Heck, even the Butte area more than doubled our population growth.

We need more people and “new blood” in Great Falls/Cascade County. It’s that simple. Here’s why:

  • Adding population means we grow our workforce – something almost every local economic development analyst and civic leader recognizes as the number one need for Great Falls.
  • New people are new customers for local businesses.
  • An expanding population results in an expanding tax base which results in more revenue for infrastructure, schools, and parks.
  • A stagnant population means higher local taxes because of the rising costs of infrastructure, schools, and parks.

So, why are people flocking to the other counties and cities in Montana but not ours?

Please don’t try to palm off the oft-heard, phony answer that “It’s because we a have a negative narrative and we’re not thinking positively enough in Great Falls”. No, that’s not the reason.

We need to address the reasons behind the “negative narrative” and lack of enthusiasm and optimism for our community. Here are a few goals that we should bring a sense of urgency to achieving and that speak directly to the reasons Great Falls/Cascade County continues to struggle to remain stagnant.

  • We will earn the reputation of having the most honest, ethical and transparent city/county government and public officials in the state.
  • We will become known as the most business and jobs friendly community in the state, with a motto of “How Can We Help You Succeed”, not “You Can’t Do That”.
  • We will be the safest community in the state.
  • We will have a consensus vision and a plan of action for measured growth and prosperity over time.
  • We will encourage new ideas, innovation and full participation by ALL of our citizens.

Stay tuned as I and others begin to flesh out some of these ideas and goals. We can do it, we can achieve JUST RIGHT!

Great Falls’ Cult Of ‘Believe Or Go Away’

Rick Tryon on April 22, 2019

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In an article I wrote last week called ‘Mr. Narrative Comes To Great Falls’ I discussed the bogus notion that a ‘negative narrative’ is the reason that Great Falls continues to struggle to remain stagnant. In that piece I referenced the local Future of the Falls young professionals group and their upcoming event, BaseCamp.

As I said then and will say again, I appreciate and applaud the hard work being done by the volunteers in Future of the Falls even though I am dubious about the motives and extent of involvement by the original organizers of the group – Mayor Bob Kelly and Commissioner Mayor Moe.

Subsequently several current and former participants in the group have contacted me to express their opinions about my article and the Future of the Falls/BaseCamp organization. All of them said basically the same thing – the group went from ‘several hundred’ participating in forums last year to the current number of around 35 because many participants were disappointed in the goals and mission of the effort as pushed by Moe and Kelly.

…the group went from ‘several hundred’ participating to the current number of around 35 because they were disappointed in the ultimate goals and mission of the effort as pushed by Moe and Kelly.

Here’s an example of an email I received and have permission to publish on the condition that the sender remains anonymous, for obvious reasons:

“Rick, 

First, I wish to remain anonymous but your latest piece hit me where I live, if you know what I mean. I was at the FoTF (Future of the Falls) events initially and this is how it ended. I came away with a strong sense of disappointment that never recovered.

I invite you to look into the attendance numbers from the FoTF events right up until the real agenda was revealed and anyone not committed enough was invited not to return. As I remember it, there was significant support at that last meeting from many “young professionals” to continue with the FoTF forums and form the Basecamp group as a sub-committee for anyone interested but Moe saw it differently — “a cloud” as she says.

As such, it’s my impression that the entire thing was simply a screen for her ultimate goal: this Basecamp event. Only time will tell, and I do think Basecamp could be a good thing for the community, but as for the FoTF, I think we can safely say that the summit was the end game.

I felt this was relevant to your last piece so, without further ado, here’s how it ended:”

Following is the content of the email Commissioner Mary Moe sent to the October 2018, forum participants

“Dear Ones,

I am writing to confirm that we will meet next Wednesday, Jan. 16, from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. in the same room to plan the “summit” or whatever we’re going to call it.  I am really excited about the potential of this event. I am even more excited about the prospect of seeing all of you roll out your potential and your considerable talents to plan and deliver it.

But mainly I am writing to follow up on the feeling that was in the room last night, a cloud I tried to push away with my closing comments. Although I think the discussion we had last night had to happen, I worry that many of you found it discouraging. Heck, I found it discouraging. But I never stay discouraged for long because I learned a long time ago only one person can keep me down. And that’s me. That’s as true of communities as it is of individuals.

You asked last night to see the feedback from the forums. I am attaching the spreadsheet I created for the feedback from the first one.  I altered it slightly last night to protect the confidentiality of the commenters, but otherwise it’s the same document recording the take-aways people had as they left the forum into the October sunset. If you do nothing else between now and next Wednesday, look through those take-aways. You will conclude what I still believe: The one thing that binds this group together is not a interest in economic development or a distaste for the way “the city” does things. It’s a thirst for a more positive conversation in Great Falls, a more positive self-image, a more positive message that we send to visitors and new arrivals and to each other about who we are. And the second take-away is also worth remembering: There is an “ah” of relief that almost bounces off the spreadsheet: “I’m not alone! So many other people feel like I do!”

That’s where we need to start. That’s what we’re trying to build on with the summit. As I tried to convey last night with my “not getting married” comment, the summit isn’t the end game. But, boy, it sure is a good way to throw the first pitch. Great Falls has a great story to tell, and a lot of people want to know about it and figure out how they can be a part of it. Like all good stories, it has a lot of subplots and characters, and the summit is a way of not only telling the story but pulling people into it in the way they choose. Let’s engage in a little show-and-tell.

Believe. And if you don’t, no offense intended, but please don’t come next week. We have work to do.

Mary” (Emphasis added)

I suppose one could ignore that the “Dear Ones” greeting sounds downright cult-like if it weren’t for the last line in Moe’s email which actually is cultish – believe, or don’t bother coming back? What? I’m sorry Dear Leader Moe, that is really weird.

It’s also troubling that Moe seems completely oblivious to the reality that a lack of “economic development” and a genuine “distaste for the way the city does things” is precisely the reason there is a negative narrative here.

Trying to treat the symptom rather than addressing the cause is a fools errand. But Moe and Kelly aren’t fools. They understand perfectly well that by claiming that the boogie man is a “negative narrative” rather than failed leadership, they can deflect attention away from their own incompetence, cronyism and neglect.

Now here’s the good news.

Mike Bicsak, the sponsorship coordinator for the upcoming BaseCamp event, posted this on the comment thread on E-City Beat’s FB page concerning the article I wrote after he and I had a good conversation about the subject of partnering with city commissioners or the City of Great Falls.

“I had a very nice chat with Rick today over coffee. After this Facebook discussion I had a talk with a few other members of the Future of the Falls and we have decided that we will be proceeding on our own in the future.

Although there has been no wrong doing by anyone regarding BaseCamp or Future of the Falls, we agree that we can’t have the perception that we are puppets or pawns to anyone’s political agenda.

Good talk, Rick. Thanks again.”

And thank you too, Mike. I encourage everyone to check out the BaseCamp event on May 18th from noon to 6:00 PM at the Civic Center.

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Mr. Narrative Comes To Great Falls

Rick Tryon on April 15, 2019

Heads up, Great Falls. There’s a new guy in town named Mr. Narrative.

Here is an actual comment on the BaseCamp Great Falls Facebook page from city Commissioner Mary Moe: “A group of young professionals in Great Falls is tired of the negative narrative about this community and is determined to turn it around.” 

So, the city poobahs are going to try to give us a different shiny object to distract us from that mean old Mr. Negative.

Of course BaseCamp isn’t really a “group of young professionals” that spontaneously coalesced in response to the “negative narrative” about Great Falls. BaseCamp is another incarnation of the former Future of the Falls group that met a couple of times last fall. BaseCamp exists because, “Commissioner Mary Moe and Mayor Bob Kelly rallied us young professionals together…” as the BaseCamp spokesperson explains in a recent promo video.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that BaseCamp Great Falls is a great idea and can do wonderful things for our community. I admire and applaud the folks who are volunteering their time in this effort.

But let’s not kid ourselves – this is the brainchild of Mary Moe and Bob Kelly and is an obvious attempt to introduce Great Falls to the shiny new Mr. Narrative in the hopes that we’ll all be smitten by his positivism and bright sunny outlook rather than looking at the dishonesty, incompetence and cronyism still residing in our city commission.

The new positive Mr. Narrative is polished and slick. He’s such an important figure that the City has hired a Communications Specialist at a cozy salary figure (paid by us taxpayers) to make sure his voice is heard. As if the Assistant City Manager couldn’t possibly handle communications, as previous assistant city managers have.

Instead of a focus on public safety (and how about more police officers?), government transparency, careful avoidance of conflicts of interest and outstanding ethics on the part of city commissioners, we are paying for an opaque polishing finish with smiley faces tattooed on top.

The latest shenanigans by Commissioners Mary Moe and Owen Robinson, who’ve been secretly meeting (can we say ‘Transparency’?) to negotiate some deal with our tax dollars with the Animal Foundation, is another example of “they just don’t learn” (remember the Community Development Block Grant conflicts of interest?) and “they forget who their constituents are” – which is us, the taxpayers. Commissioner Robinson has a long and monied history with the Foundation. Can we say more conflict of interest? See The Electric’s excellent piece here.

Now after the red flag is raised on these secret meetings and conflicts of interest and the public has been made aware, Moe suggests the City get rid of the recently established Ethics Committee – “During the April 2 meeting, Moe said she would argue that the ethics committee is not needed since there are provisions in state law regarding ethics and public officials.” (from The Electric)

Well, maybe that will solve her problem of being held accountable to the public for obvious ethical violations but it doesn’t sit right at all with me and many others.

These are just a couple of the most recent examples of the reasons Great Falls continues to struggle to remain stagnant. I will continue to highlight examples like these in the coming weeks, in detail.

I really wish our so-called leadership would stop treating us like we’re stupid by trying to con us into thinking that a “negative narrative” is the problem rather than the actual, real-world reasons that folks are angry and speaking up about around here.

But we’ve seen this picture many times before. The mayor happily led the charge to slap the happy face of Charlie Russell, flying saucer included, on a parking structure that is bleeding for real fixes, not just fresh paint. And Commissioner Moe is helping to clear the path for Mr. Narrative.

In truth our City Commissioners do not seem to care what we think and seem determined to run their agendas behind closed doors.

So keep your eyes open for Mr. Narrative, I have a strong feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of him around town saying, “Welcome to Great Falls where everything is fine and we’re getting better all the time. And if you don’t agree then shut up or leave.”

Folks, we’re being fed more propaganda from the Machine and I for one won’t be silent about this farce.

Cronyism Continues In The Great Falls City Commission

Rick Tryon on April 8, 2019

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There’s really no other way to say it – Great Falls city commissioner Owen Robinson should not be voting on any issue regarding a proposed City of Great Falls partnership with the Maclean Cameron Animal Adoption Center. But he did anyway.

Robinson’s actions as a city commissioner stink to high heaven and anyone who is familiar with this matter knows exactly why.

  • Robinson is a former president of the center’s foundation.
  • Robinson donated a quarter of a MILLION dollars to the foundation.
  • Robinson is a long-time advocate for the Maclean Cameron Animal Adoption Center and the creation of a partnership between the city and the center.

At the April 2, 2019 city commission meeting, Robinson along with Commissioner Moe and Mayor Kelly voted to postpone the decision on a $462,000 contract for a cattery at the Great Falls Animal Shelter. Not only is this a major conflict of interest for Robinson it’s also another boneheaded commission decision potentially costing taxpayers another pile of hard-earned money and further delay in order to re-bid the addition at a later date.

To add insult to injury Robinson revealed that he and Moe have been secretly meeting with a group called Animals First to discuss plans for a partnership between the city (taxpayers) and Maclean Cameron Animal Adoption Center.

What??? Two city commissioners secretly meeting with a non-profit to discuss a “partnership” without any public scrutiny or input?

This is outrageous and totally unacceptable. And it appears that including only two commissioners in these meetings was intentional so as to avoid a quorum which would require public participation and the necessity of an official record.

Do these people never learn? What in the world makes Robinson and Moe think they can go behind OUR backs and meet with MCACC to discuss plans like this? What arrogance and total disregard for transparency.

The cronyism and good ol’ boys and gals nonsense continues unabated right here in River City. Regardless which side you come down on with the animal shelter issue itself there’s absolutely no way Robinson should have voted or be voting in the future on this issue given his past involvement with and his official position as president of the MCACC foundation.

And where is Mayor Kelly’s leadership here? Why didn’t anyone on OUR city commission insist Robinson recuse himself and that he and Moe immediately stop their secret negotiations with MCACC?

The damage to public trust here is significant.

No wonder Great Falls has the reputation of being run by the good ol’ boys’ and gals club. Better wake up fellow citizens, and soon.

You can view the city commission discussion and vote on the issue here starting at about 1:40:00.

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E-City Beat Responds

Philip M. Faccenda on April 5, 2019

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This week E-City Beat received an article submitted by a writer named Janice Penberthy. After reading the piece, as editor and publisher, I found the article to be well written, entertaining, interesting and relevant so we published it.

The article was not written or conceived by anyone at E-City Beat or by any of our regular contributing writers. Period.

I leave any judgments as to the author and the content of the piece to our readers who have expressed a wide variety of opinions on it. Good. I’m very glad so many people are reading and engaging.

We want everyone to read, learn from, and enjoy E-City Beat. But if our blog gives you heartburn may I suggest having some Tums or Rolaids close at hand. We will continue to publish the content we think our readers are interested in and enjoy.

We have absolutely no obligation or intention to explain, apologize for, or provide anyone with justification for the content on the E-City Beat blog.

Stay tuned and thank you for reading E-City Beat.

Phil Faccenda, Editor & Publisher

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The Top 5 Ways To Make Great Falls More Progressive

Janice Penberthy on April 4, 2019

As a feminist, even the thought of writing for E-City Beat makes my skin crawl. However, until we’re able to successfully shut it down, I thought the best, most patriotic thing I could do was drown out the constant stream of negativity with some actual good ideas. Giving me this platform was probably the only decent thing Phil Faccenda has ever done, so thanks, Phil…I guess you’re not a total fascist after all.

Without further ado, here are five things we can do to make Great Falls a more progressive place:

1. Declare Great Falls a sanctuary city. 

As usual, us Democrats know what we’re talking about when it comes to immigration. (Is it really THAT hard to not be a raging xenophobe?) Joe Biden said that undocumented migrants “are already American citizens.” Kamala Harris wants Dreamers to work in Congress. If Great Falls is serious about diversity and inclusion, the only logical move is to pursue a formal sanctuary city policy, and pronto.

2. Elect woke city commissioners.

First, we have to rally around Tracy Houck and work to get her re-elected. Who would you rather have representing YOU? Someone like Rick Tryon, who mansplains about “conflicts of interests” and stupid election laws that no one cares about, or an educated woman who’s passionate about the arts? (That was a rhetorical question, for those of you who tend to vote “R.”)

Second, we need another incisive female voice to join forces with Houck and Mary Moe on the commission. How about someone with a proven track record of getting things done? Dona Stebbins might have a handful of vocal, male, Trump-supportin’ critics in this town (gag me), but anyone who pays attention knows she was obviously a great mayor. Some of these same fact-challenged ankle-biters blame Stebbins for Electric City Power and attack her for throwing out a conspiracy theorist from a meeting who was clearly asking for it. These “people” are misogynists. Houck’s re-election coupled with Stebbins’ return to the commission chambers would be a watershed moment for intersectional feminism in our community. #DraftDona

3. Pass a hate speech ordinance.

The city commission did right when it condemned alt-right, white nationalists in Whitefish, but there is still important work to be done to combat hate speech in our own backyard. Advocates of Christopher Columbus should be prosecuted. Reactionaries who question the wisdom of bike lanes should be cited and fined up the wazoo. In the meantime, we should all do our part as individuals to clean up the local discourse by turning in offenders to the social media platforms they pollute with their bigoted, Republican racist views. In fact, I just reported Joe Briggs to Facebook right now. I’m sure he’s guilty of something. And don’t get me started on Don Petrini.

4. Institute personnel quotas for the City of Great Falls.

How many Muslims work for the City? Is Greg Doyon an Islamophobe? Is the LGBTQ- community adequately represented on the City’s payroll? Inquiring minds want to know. I demand an immediate investigation.

5. Outlaw all casinos within the City limits.

Gambling is a scourge on our community. While technically “legal,” no one can claim that casinos are a good thing. They are the invention of a capitalist-at-all-costs white patriarchy, and thrive on the subjugation of women, particularly single mothers. Worse yet, many casino owners in town are right-wingers, and fought to allow their nicotine-addled customers to blow smoke into their exploited employees faces (many of whom, again, are mothers.) What about their children? Have they not heard of third-hand smoke?

Thankfully, we the people have had an important ally in this fight for many years: City Commissioner Bill Bronson. While a beneficiary of white male privilege, at least Bronson is a partisan Democrat who had the good sense to wield his various positions of power to settle personal political scores against conservatives who were critical of him. He will be missed.

And that’s it, five ways to improve Great Falls! There are plenty more, but don’t worry; I will be here again to impart more wisdom at a later date.

God knows this site needs it.