The Who, What, And How Of The Great Falls Good Old Boys And Gals Club

Rick Tryon on May 18, 2018

A local good old boys and gals club does exist in good ol’ Great Falls, and it has real impact on our community. Despite those who yell that I am just being negative, the facts tell the story.

Crony capitalism exists to some extent everywhere and at every level, including right here in Great Falls. Anyone who believes otherwise is either naïve or intentionally ignorant. Unsurprisingly it is often the case that those who most adamantly deny the existence of a Great Falls good old boys and gals club are the same ones who benefit most from it.

In this article I will show one example of how the local crony system has worked, who has benefitted and what the consequences have been to the rest of us.

First is my definition of the good old boys and gals club, hereafter referred to as The Club:

The Club is the relatively small group of people who know each other, have common financial and political interests, often socialize together, and belong to the same clubs and organizations. They serve on each other’s bank, business and non-profit boards of directors and work together behind the scenes to effect policies that benefit each other. The Club poobahs are very good at nominating and appointing their friends and business associates to government and non-profit organization (NPO) advisory boards over those who are just as qualified but not part of the clique.

Many who belong to The Club are in the same or similar economic, social, and professional ranks – lawyers, NPO executives, CEO’s, politicians and former and current government officials etc. They contribute to each other’s political campaigns and give public and private support to each other. You can usually determine who’s “in” by looking at the political contributions of some who hold elected positions of power and seeing who gives them support. Follow the money – and the influence.

They trade in political/professional/financial favors and scratch each other’s backs. One thing The Club hates more than anything is someone who is not afraid to ask questions and call attention to conflict of interest issues, or someone who simply wants there to be full transparency and some public scrutiny.

“The Club poobahs are very good at nominating and appointing their friends and business associates to government and non-profit organization (NPO) advisory boards over those who are just as qualified but not part of the clique.”

Let’s review a series of events which transpired in 2017 concerning the distribution of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) taxpayer funds by the Great Falls Community Development Council (CDC) and the Great Falls City Commission. This sequence perfectly illustrates how The Club operates:

  • City appoints members of organizations which receive CDBG funds to the committee that recommends allocation of those funds, the CDC.
  • City gets big pile of taxpayer CDBG funds.
  • In their FINAL 2017 meeting the CDC recommends $0 for Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art.
  • City Commissioner Tracy Houck is the paid executive director of PGS and she doesn’t like zero dollars for her organization.
  • Tracy Houck leverages her position as city commissioner to get an unprecedented do-over on the entire CDBG allocation process.
  • Given time to do some backroom wheeling and dealing PGS miraculously goes from $0 to $28,000 in CDBG funding.
  • The city commission approves the funding with only two votes out of five.
  • Someone notices and says “Hey you can’t do that! Two votes out of five means it does not pass!”
  • City commission gets another do-over and votes again, this time approving the $28,000 for PGS with a 3 to 1 vote.
  • City commissioner/PGS Executive Director Tracy Houck gets your money. Houck’s daughter was also an employee of PGS,
  • Commissioner Bill Bronson’s son was also an employee of PGS. Bill voted yes for PGS to get the money.

Fortunately several Great Falls citizens were paying attention and called BS on this whole shady, dishonest process and wrote letters of complaint to the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) office in Denver, which oversees Great Falls’ CDBG distribution. As a result HUD began to inquire and investigate.

The February 20, 2018 letter from HUD to the City of Great Falls stated, in part, the following:

“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)

So how is it that these people were in a position to gain “inside information” in the Community Development Block Grant funding process?

Well, 11 of those 14 individuals were serving as members of the CDC, which was responsible for screening applications and making recommendations as to which local organizations would receive CDBG funding. The problem is that they were at the same time also employed by or board members of the organizations they were screening and recommending funds for.

The other 3 individuals are Great Falls city commissioners who not only appointed the CDC members but were also either employed by, board members of, and/or had immediate family members employed by the organizations applying for and receiving the taxpayer funds. Those same city commissioners make the final decision on which organizations get the CDBG funding, which can be tens of thousands of dollars per organization.

Here are the names of the 11 CDC members who were board members of or employed by the organizations they approved funding for.

Tina Cubbage – CDC Member – Employed by Big Brothers/Big Sisters which received $5,005 (2012)

Sandy Wright – CDC Member – Employed by Children’s Museum of MT which received $6000 (2012), $5000 (2013)

Anita Fisher  – CDC Member – Employed by Paris Gibson Square Museum which received $3000 (2012), $5000 (2014)

Jolene Bach – CDC Member – Employed by Rural Dynamics which received $18,000 (2012), $7500 (2013) – Employed by GFDA which received $22,780 (2015), $40,000 (2016)

Dave Sutinen – CDC Member – Employed by Quality Life Concepts which received $7500 (2013), $5500 (2014), – Employed by Rural Dynamics which received $11,250 (2017)

Carry Koppie – CDC Member – Employed by NeighborWorks Great Falls which received $84,903 (2014)

Neil Fortier – CDC Member – Employed by NeighborWorks Great Falls which received $84,903 (2014), $22,780 (2015), $75,000 (2016), $82,903 (2017)

Dave Fink – CDC Member – Board member Rural Dynamics which received $10,000 (2015), $11,250 (2017)

Harmony Wolfe – CDC Member – Employed by Paris Gibson Square Museum

Jennifer Fines – CDC Member – Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity which received $25,000 (2015), $70,564 (2016), $65,000 (2017)

Susan Wolff – CDC Member – Board Member GFDA which received $40,000 (2017)

The level of insider rigging of the system here is stunning and it’s outrageous that it was allowed to go on for so long. This was corruption, plain and simple.”

“The level of insider rigging of the system here is stunning and it’s outrageous that it was allowed to go on for so long. This was corruption, plain and simple.”

None of these folks were knowingly violating HUD rules and standards in my opinion but those rules and standards were nevertheless violated by their actions, actions for which there have already been consequences and may well be even more serious consequences to come. And that raises an important point regarding The Club – thinking that “it’s always been done this way” doesn’t make it right and isn’t a justification for participating in a system of cronyism involving public funds. Nor does it absolve any of us from the consequences.

Those who should have known better, and I believe actually did know better but went ahead anyway, are the two city commissioners and the Mayor. For them there is no excuse.

Bill Bronson – City Commissioner – Spouse Employed by NeighborWorks Great Falls which received hundreds of thousands of dollars since 2012 which Bronson voted to approve. From the HUD letter: “Carol Bronson’s relationship to Bill Bronson and her position with NeighborWorks Great Falls creates a conflict of interest, because of the exposure to “inside information” and potential for financial benefit for herself and the organization.”

Bob Kelly – Mayor – Board Member GFDA which received $40,000 (2017)

Tracy Houck – City Commissioner – Executive Director Paris Gibson Square Museum. Houck directly intervened as a city commissioner in the process in an attempt to direct funds to PGS, her employer.

For a full list, year by year since 2012, and detailed CDC and City Commission meeting minutes and funding vote details here is the City of Great Falls response letter to HUD.

So what are the consequences of this one example of the local The Club? Let us count the ways:

  • Destruction of public trust in City government
  • Public officials unable to do their jobs because of their previous conflicts of interest
  • Some organizations being left out of funding because they didn’t have an employee on the CDC
  • The very real possibility that the City will be required to repay over $500,000 to HUD

In conclusion, not only has Great Falls been a community shoulder deep in serious cronyism, but Great Falls wins the gold medal in the Good Old Boys & Gals Olympics! Let’s stop pretending otherwise, stop allowing it to happen, and demand accountability so we can move forward with some honesty and integrity.

Little-Known Important Information For Great Falls Park District Voters

Rick Tryon on April 30, 2018

Did you know that if you own property in Great Falls but live outside the city limits you can still vote either for or against the new consolidated Park District 1 tax increase?

I didn’t know that very significant piece of information and I’ve been a voter here for decades. Someone asked me about it on Monday so I called Cascade County Clerk & Recorder Rina Moore and she confirmed to me that, yes indeed, it is a fact.

She also told me that they posted the following information on the Cascade County Elections Department website just today, Monday, April 30. Ballots went out a week ago.

“If you are a property owner within the City of Great Falls you are entitled to vote in the current election for the City of Great Falls Park District #1.  You must go to the elections office with a copy of your property taxes in order to receive a ballot.  We are located at 325 2nd Ave N, Monday-Friday 7am-5pm and on election day Tuesday May 8th, we will be located at the Exhibition Hall 400 3rd St NW from 7am-8pm.”

Moore also told me that the elections office posted the information in the Great Falls Tribune three times. Did anyone see it? Usually those “public notices” are buried somewhere deep in the paper and you have to have a microscope to read them. So it doesn’t surprise me that some folks were totally unaware of this option.

“I think our public officials need to do a better job with press releases, social media and more timely notices on their websites to make the public aware of this kind of important voter information.”

I think our public officials need to do a better job with press releases, social media and more timely notices on their websites to make the public aware of this kind of important voter information. In the absence of a more robust attempt to “get the word out”, some people could come to the conclusion that there are those who prefer the public to remain in the dark on issues like this.

Anyway, I encourage everyone to spread the word about this little-known option for Great Falls property owners who live outside the city limits.

Eggselent Observations And Questions

ECB Staff on April 17, 2018

Editor’s note: The following is a piece from one of our readers who is a local consumer, Jo Russell. We thought it was pretty interesting and hope you do too.

Just curious if anyone knows why…

Last week, a friend told me that the eggs she preferred to buy at a local supermarket had increased in cost to almost $6.00 for a carton of 18 eggs. The store clerk she talked to apologized for the high price but did not know why the increase had occurred.

I visited the East End Walmart and the Super 1 stores and found that indeed, a carton of 18 AA Large eggs from our local Montana Eggs, LLC, was priced at $5.48. These eggs were not labeled as organic or cage free, etc. The store brand eggs at the two stores, same number, same size, from a company distribution center out of state were priced at $1.88 and $2.18.

“We are just wondering why a business that was given some generous breaks to build and market here in Great Falls charges almost 3 times as much for eggs.”

And here’s a recent update to Jo’s original observations:

I know this is not headline news around town but my friends and I became more interested as we looked into it. Three different grocery store employees could not explain the price differences, but they didn’t tell us they can charge whatever price they wish for their merchandise or dismiss us as old and not very smart.

We all understand  that Great Falls shoppers have the freedom to purchase  the size and “quality” of eggs they wish. We were just a bit confused when we noticed all  the price differences between the “local” Montana Eggs, LLC business and the eggs shipped into town under grocers’ labels.

The Montana Egg cartons I have seen at Walmart, Albertson’s, and Smith’s advertise that their eggs are “United Egg Producers Certified.”  Does this imply that a higher price is justified?

I visited some stores today to recheck some prices. Sam’s Club offered 5 DOZEN AA Large Montana Eggs in cartons and packaged,  for “around $12.00”,  according to a customer who posted on April 9.

Walmart offered their own brand of Great Value AA  18-count Large eggs for $2.33.  Their MONTANA EGGS 18-count Large eggs costs $5.48.

Smith’s offered their Kroger brand 18-count AA Large eggs at $2.38.

The MONTANA EGGS 18-count AA Large eggs are $6.59.

PLUS:  Smith’s had stickers near the eggs, stating these were “CUSTOMER REQUESTED ITEM.”

Albertson’s displayed their Lucerne store brand 18-count AA Large eggs at $2.39.  The MONTANA EGGS 18-count Large eggs cost $6.59.

Super 1 store brand Western Family 18-count AA Large eggs cost $2.28.  There were NO MONTANA EGG 18-count cartons on display when I visited today.

Jo Russell

The Whole Truth

Philip M. Faccenda on April 10, 2018

Are we getting the whole truth about the $13.9 million in new levies that the Great Falls Public School District ($1.348 million) and the City of Great Falls ($12.6 million) wants us to approve? And if we, the taxpayers, don’t approve them will that cause the dire consequences listed in their distributed promotional materials?

Okay Chicken Littles, let’s take a look.

First, the taxpayers of this city just got done giving the school district nearly a tenth of billion dollars only 18 months ago. Yes, that’s right, a tenth of a BILLION dollars! Oh right, that money can only go to building and repair projects, and this year’s request of $1.348 million is for operational costs. So what? It matters far less to taxpayers which District accounts the money goes into than which accounts it comes out of: OURS! All of it.

“Oh right, that money can only go to building and repair projects, and this year’s request of $1.348 million is for operational costs. So what? It matters far less to taxpayers which District accounts the money goes into than which accounts it comes out of: OURS! All of it.”

Many of our neighbors and families live on fixed incomes, not like the school district and the City, and just can’t afford higher taxes. We have all heard about elderly people cutting back on their medical prescriptions because they can’t afford the never-ending taxes and costs of living increases that are forced upon them.

The school district treats taxpayers like a checking account with overdraft protection.

And, is the school district really cutting back on expenses? In a January 16, 2018 Email from Superintendent Tammy Lacey she said this:

“I confirm that the number of administrators increased by one, but contended that quantity of work and more importantly, the quality of the work (given Shelly’s and Susan’s previous experiences) are worth adding to the administrative footprint. As I have said, every time an administrator leaves our organization, it is a good to re-evaluate. Sometimes the re-evaluation reduces the footprint and as in this case, sometimes it increases it. The Bottom line for either outcome is what is best for student outcomes.”

Oh really?

The enrollment trend has been down, not UP for the Great Falls School District over the last 20 plus years from well over 12,000 students to just over 10,000 students. Should it also mean a reduction in personnel? You would think so because if it was the other way around the District would have cried that they needed more staff.

The enrollment for the school year 2007-2008 was 10,985, this year it is 10,449, a decrease of over 500 students in the past 10 years. Enrollment was down about 100 students last year alone.

To add insult to injury, the huge majority of the proposed $1.348 million levy goes to “Contractual Obligations”, added health insurance premiums and raises, and that includes administrators making six figures.

Are we living in the Twilight Zone, or what? Just tell us the Truth, we can handle it and vote accordingly. We know who needs a “footprint”, and where!

Please take our poll on the upcoming GFPS tax increase.

[poll id=”11″]

Park Pickpocket

ECB Staff on April 6, 2018

Did you know that the City of Great Falls is spending Great Falls taxpayers money to promote a ballot measure to, wait for it…get more of Great Falls taxpayers money!

The Great Falls Parks and Recreation Department’s yearly Summer Guide, paid for with our tax dollars, came out today in the Tribune and last week at various locations and it was filled with “information” about the new proposed consolidated Park District tax which will be on the ballot this May, including warnings of the dire consequences if voters don’t vote in favor of it and a big, red “VOTE MAY 8, 2018”.

In addition, city staff, paid for by our tax dollars, has been busy with “informational” presentations and flyers and meetings with Mayor Kelly and others. Your city government has been using its resources and moolah, our tax dollars, to promote the Park District plan. And the cost of that plan to taxpayers?:

“The cost of the proposed improvements for the district is $1.5 million annually for the first three years; the assessment method will be based on taxable value; the estimated 2018 assessment for a property with a 2017 Market Value of $100,000 would be $22.92 per year ($1.91/month).  The amount of the assessment can be adjusted annually and must be set by resolution and adopted by the City Commission.” – (emphasis added) https://greatfallsmt.net/recreation/great-falls-park-district-number-1

This expenditure of your money by the city in a campaign to get more of your money is made possible because the City of Great Falls formed an Incidental Political Committee registered with the Montana Office of Political Practices for the purpose of influencing the May election in favor of the Park District levy. The City of Great Falls Incidental Committee lists Melissa Kinzler as Treasurer. Ms. Kinzler is also the Director of Fiscal Services for the City of Great Falls.

It appears that so far the city has spent $6052.78 to promote the Park District plan to get more of our money. Here is a detailed accounting.

This kind of stuff shouldn’t surprise anyone here. Remember last year when the city spent $16,403.35 (not including labor cost) on a full color fancy brochure mail insert promoting the Park District levy which they included with the tax levy protest form! You can’t make this stuff up.

So even though they are not explicitly declaring “VOTE YES FOR THE PARK DISTRICT” in their “informational presentations”, which would not be permitted even under the label of an incidental committee, the City of Great Falls is nevertheless promoting a big new local tax and they are using your tax dollars to do it.

“So even though they are not explicitly declaring “VOTE YES FOR THE PARK DISTRICT” in their “informational presentations”, which would not be permitted even under the label of an incidental committee, the City of Great Falls is nevertheless promoting a big new local tax and they are using your tax dollars to do it.”

Are you okay with that? We’re not.

Loser Out

Philip M. Faccenda on March 27, 2018

In the midst of a conflicts of interest plague, Great Falls seems relegated to loser out status in the tournament of economic development in our state.

Why has Great Falls lost population, manufacturing jobs and a brighter outlook for the future? Certainly, Great Falls Development Authority chief Brett Doney’s stated solution to the problem: “we must recruit and retain young talent” is true. But how do we accomplish this feat?

I think we would all recognize that we cannot win without a team effort and without a level playing field.

When arbiters and decision makers in in our City Commission and School District willfully allow themselves to determine the direction of the City based upon relationships, bias, and mediocrity, they establish a culture that undermines innovation and makes it impossible to establish an environment that attracts and retains talent. In other words, talent attracts talent, opportunity attracts innovation, and no amount of open space, urban trails, great schools, or recreational opportunities can supply sufficient motivation for new talent to immigrate to, return to, or to stay in Great Falls.

“In other words, talent attracts talent, opportunity attracts innovation, and no amount of open space, urban trails, great schools, or recreational opportunities can supply sufficient motivation for new talent to immigrate to, return to, or to stay in Great Falls.”

The truth is that Great Falls was built and succeeded based upon innovation and its decline can only be reversed with a new focus on innovation. If founder Paris Gibson returned to Great Falls, he would surely say that his successors have “dropped the ball”.

FACCENDA ARCHITECTS | PLANNERS

It is interesting to note that when you ask young people what they would like to see happen in Great Falls they often say “more big-name concerts and events”. We are lacking a venue that can compete with the Billings Metra for concerts and events. We lose double A tournaments to the Metra. We lose conventions to the Metra. We lose big-name concerts to the Metra. We lose national political events and rallies to the Metra. Great Falls is Loser Out and we are falling further and further behind Billings, Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, and Helena.

FACCENDA ARCHITECTS | PLANNERS

If we want to get back in the game we need to build an events venue that will seat more than the 12,500 seat Metra, say 25,000 seats. A venue that would accommodate multiple sports and events. A venue that is sensitive to our climate. A venue that is the best in Montana.

That venue is the Electra Arena!

FACCENDA ARCHITECTS | PLANNERS

Little Free Library Is A Whole Lot Of Cool

Rick Tryon on January 11, 2018

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, builds community, and

sparks creativity by fostering neighborhood book

exchanges around the world.”

I’ve got one in my neighborhood which my wife and I have used a few times to exchange books as we go on our daily walk. The other day I stopped by the house where the Little Free Library box sits to tell the folks who live there just how awesome it is that they installed a box.

It’s at the home of a local couple who for a long time have been deeply involved in the Great Falls community, Brad Talcott and Linda Caricaburu. I asked if I could take a picture and as you can see, that little library is as cool as the other side of pillow.

Ms. Caricaburu told me that she hopes the library box will encourage more children’s and young teen books to be exchanged on a regular basis.

I agree. I think we could probably all benefit from a lot more reading and a little less TV and video games. So keep your eyes peeled for the Little Free Library boxes in Great Falls.

And check out their website which includes plans to build your own box, and a whole lot more. https://littlefreelibrary.org/

Local City And County Board Openings

ECB Staff on December 13, 2017

There are a couple of local government boards with fast approaching application deadlines readers should be aware of (and might be interested in applying for) – The Great Falls Ethics Committee and the Cascade County Zoning Board of Adjustments.

The newly created City Ethics Committee is seeking three members to serve three, two and one year terms. For more information contact Krista Artis at 455-8450.

The five member County Zoning Board has two openings for two year terms. This is the board that will decide whether or not the proposed Madison Food Park will receive the required special use permit. You can fill out and return a board application here and call  (406) 454-6810 with any questions.

Both boards meet on an as-needed basis and both have application deadlines of Friday, December 15 at 5:00 PM.

Principles Or Politics

Philip M. Faccenda on December 11, 2017

A couple of months ago during the Great Falls City Commission campaign, I posted a Facebook request for then candidate Mary Moe calling for her to provide voters with a definitive position on historic monuments and references to local figures. The Columbus Day post was recently reposted to E-City Beat.

I think it is safe to say that most notable memorialized individuals from our collective history were not without flaws, especially when taken out of historical contexts and judged by today’s standards. Now historic statues are being vandalized, or removed from public property, and streets are being renamed to progressively purge any reference to notable individuals and causes not to our liking.

History is a continuum and our references to individuals should be viewed as celebrations of their accomplishments, not necessarily their personal faults, or commonly held views and practices of the times in which they lived.

In Great Falls, we have only a few statues and monuments to those who have influenced and contributed to the development of our region, but we also have schools named after national figures as do almost every part of our country. Local monuments and references include Lewis and Clark, Charles Russell, Paris Gibson, and Captain John Mullan. We know that both Lewis and Clark were slave owners and that Clark was particularly brutal to his human property.

Captain John Mullan’s statue is located at the southern end of Gibson Park and honors his work in constructing the Mullan Road which In 1978 was named a National Historic Engineering Landmark. 

John Mullan, Jr. (July 31, 1830 – December 28, 1909) was an American soldier, explorer, civil servant, and road builder. After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1852, he joined the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey, led by Isaac Stevens. He extensively explored western Montana and portions of southeastern Idaho, discovered Mullan Pass, participated in the Coeur d’Alene War waged against the area’s native inhabitants, of whom 17 were hung, and led the construction crew which built the Mullan Road in Montana, Idaho, and Washington state between the spring of 1859 and summer of 1860.

Keith Petersen’s book, John Mullan: The Tumultuous Life of a Western Road Builder, asserts that John Mullan was a racist. He was upset that the Civil War was being waged on behalf of African Americans and slavery rather than maintaining the union, yet also felt that secession was a “fraud” and that war would only lead to devastation. He believed that government was “a white man’s government” and that laws should be written “by white men, for the benefit of white men.” He believed “negro suffrage was forced upon the people”, opposed Asian immigration (except for commercial purposes, such as coolie labor), and opposed naturalization of Asian immigrants. “There is no way to whitewash Mullan’s racism,” historian Keith Petersen has written. “Even for his time and that place, his opinions were vile”

(Petersen, Keith (2014). John Mullan: The Tumultuous Life of a Western Road Builder. Pullman, Wash.: Washington State University Press. ISBN 9780874223217.)

Will a city commissioner Mary Moe offer a motion to haul off Captain Mullan into the sunset and rename the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, simply the Corps of Discovery Interpretive Center?

The following by now commissioner elect Mary Moe appeared in her Facebook campaign site: https://www.moe4citycommission.com/refined-processes/

“We recently saw several examples of cities tearing down monuments in the heat of the reaction to the events in Charlotte, NC. Having written policies for establishing and/or discontinuing such memorials forces a community and its governing body to take a step back from the emotion of the moment and apply the standards created for such a situation in the cool voice of reason. Does the City of Great Falls have a naming policy for monuments and memorials on city property? We should – and the policy should provide guidance for how that honor might be rescinded.”

Should the citizens of Great Falls expect Mary Moe to pursue and advance such a policy to selectively rewrite history and act as judge and jury for naming rights and the rescission of existing historic acknowledgements?

We recently witnessed the gravity of the issue with the resignation of a school district trustee over the naming of the New Roosevelt School. Quite frankly, Mansfield Elementary sounds pretty good to me, or maybe it could have just been named Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary.

Be it Principle, or Politics, I think you owe us an answer, Commissioner-elect Moe.

How Are We To Select A Great Falls Ethics Committee?

Rick Tryon on December 5, 2017

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 Commission is accepting applications for a newly created Great Falls Ethics Committee. The deadline is December 15 for applicants to the three-member advisory board. 

So an ethics committee will be appointed by a City Commission which has one member, Tracy Houck, who was found guilty of and fined for violating Montana campaign finance practices. And who later in a separate incident required a hand delivered reprimand and warning from the city attorney for her blatant conflicts of interest surrounding the allocation of taxpayer funds, $29,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds which have been subsequently revoked by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development due to her self-serving conflicts. 

The very same Houck who also repeatedly lied to the public and press about sending reports to the State’s Commissioner of Political Practices, backdated official documents to avoid accountability for cheating, and attempted to deposit leftover campaign contributions in the bank account of the organization by which she is employed, Paris Gibson Square. 

An ethics committee to be appointed by a City Commission which has another member, Bill Bronson, who has repeatedly voted to allocate taxpayer funds to two separate local organizations, Paris Gibson Square and NeighborWorks Great Falls, organizations which employed his immediate family members. Conduct which has triggered HUD to require an investigation and audit going back three years for which our tax dollars are now paying. 

An ethics committee to be appointed by a City Commission which has another member, Mayor Bob Kelly, who not only has said and done nothing about the misconduct of the commissioners mentioned above but who also served on both the Great Falls Development Authority and NeighborWorks Great Falls boards and then voted to allocate CDBG money to those organizations shortly after resigning from those boards and against explicit HUD policy. 

These are the foxes – oops, I mean folks – who will be selecting our local watchdog ethics committee? A committee which is supposed to serve as an extra layer of transparency and help resolve ethics issues for not only city staff and other appointed boards but for the City Commission and its members. 

In my opinion a better way to select the three members of the Great Falls Ethics Committee would be to either elect the members at large during regular city-wide elections or to have the nine Neighborhood Councils each nominate a candidate from their respective areas and then have the Council of Councils elect the final three. 

Personally I prefer the Neighborhood Council selection method because it emulates a district or ward system of representation (a system I would like to see us adopt for electing our City Commission) and because it gives the Neighborhood Councils some extra heft and responsibility. 

Unfortunately, as I understand it, either of the two alternative systems for selecting an ethics panel I mention above would require a provision to be inserted into the City Charter, which in turn would require a vote of the people during the next municipal election. And to even get such a provision on the ballot would require the City Commission (yes, the same Commission which is about to select an ethics committee) to pass an ordinance or adopt a resolution – or by a referendum petition requiring signatures from at least 20% of the city electorate. Not much hope this City Commissions will choose to do so.  

For now it appears that we’re stuck with the current City Commission making the decision as to who their own watchdog will be. A City Commission with members who have been pelted with numerous conflicts of interest and ethical issues both in appearance and in reality. Again unfortunately, because of this lack of credibility, any Ethics Committee appointed by this City Commission will lack the vital confidence and trust of many local citizens. Including me.