Recently, I asked Great Falls Mayor Bob Kelly if he intended to endorse Tracy Houck in the 2019 City election, just as he did in 2015.
Yesterday, I emailed him this:
On Jun 4, 2019, at 4:23 PM, Phil Faccenda <philipfaccenda@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Mayor Kelly,In an E-City Beat post on May 24th I asked if you would be endorsing Tracy Houck in the upcoming city commission election. I, and other voting citizens of Great Falls would appreciate your answer. The election looks to become very interesting. Please email me your response. I have attached a link to the E-City Beat post in the event that you haven’t read it.Thank you,Philip M. Faccenda, EditorE-City Beat
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In other words, no endorsement. Now, surely Kelly’s backers in the local establishment will say that he’s waiting to see the entire field of candidates before committing to endorsing anyone. Which is sensible, in and of itself.
That said, Bob Kelly pushed hard for Tracy Houck in 2015. He has worked alongside Houck for three and a half years while on the City Commission. He knows as well as anyone about Houck’s temperament, whether or not she’s a problem solver, what kind of worth ethic she has, and moreover, what kind of character she brings to the job of representing all of us, the citizens of Great Falls. Kelly had every opportunity to rant and rave about Houck, but when asked, he didn’t even mention her name.
I appreciate the Mayor for taking the time to respond. Once the roster of candidates is set after the June 17th filing deadline, I will be sure to ask him this question one more time.
Great Falls Mayor Declines To Endorse Houck?
This should be a no brainer for Bob Kelly, Houck should get an unequivocal thumbs down from the Mayor. But instead Kelly is just playing phony politics as usual. What a disappointment and what a disappointing so-called leader.
By way of a brief reminder here is the record and legacy left by Tracy Houck in her tenure as city commissioner. Why is this even a question for Kelly?
-Lied to the public repeatedly about the status of her campaign finances. Lied to the local press repeatedly about the same.
-Lied to the commissioner of political practices in written testimony about the status of her campaign finances.
-Was found guilty and fined $1200 for violating Montana’s campaign finance laws.
-Attempted to illegally deposit left over campaign funds into the bank account of her employer.
-Tried to use her position as city commissioner to change CDBG funding decisions to benefit her employer Paris Gibson Square.
-Was named by the federal Department of Housing and Urban development, along with Bill Bronson and Bob Kelly, as one of 16 GF individuals engaging in intentional conflicts of interest surrounding the disbursement of CDBG funds.
-Was warned and reprimanded in a hand-delivered letter from the city attorney for her blatant conflicts of interest concerning CDBG funding.
-Was brought up on an ethics complaint in February and found to have been engaged in an appearance of an ethical violation surrounding the improper use of her commission FB page.
Endorse Houck? Lol.