Indefinite Hiatus

As may be obvious to some, this site is on indefinite hiatus.  There is a lot going on in Great Falls that deserves attention and analysis, but unfortunately, I find that I do not now have time to devote to my blogging hobby.

Sites like Electric City Weblog, Firefly, Greaterfalls and Cataract City are doing a great job and I salute these writers.  I hope to be back soon.  

Neighborhood Council 7 December Agenda

AGENDA
NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
DISTRICT 7
Monday, December 10, 2007
Longfellow School Library, West Entrance
6:30 p.m.

Please note: This agenda format allows citizens to speak on each issue prior to Council discussion. We encourage your participation. In the interest that all parties can be heard, please limit your comments.

CALL TO ORDER
OLD BUSINESS

• Appointment of Secretary for December meeting
• Approval of November minutes
• Installation of Ole Johnson as interim councilor
• 9th Street Left Turn Safety Issues
• -->Deb Little and Principal Cal Gilbert
• -->Jim Rearden
• Problem Properties
• -->512/516 6th Street North -> neighbors’ report of unauthorized tenancy
• -->916 3rd Ave North -> court action in November
• -->1021 5th Avenue North -> complaint by neighbor of trash in yard
• -->116/112 12th Street North -> complaint between neighbors
• Downtown Street Conversion -> Letter from Jeanne Wilson
• Resurgence of Graffiti at Skate Park
• Status of City Water Main replacement on Lower North Side
• Other Old Business

NEW BUSINESS

• Zoning at Quality Exhaust Building, 812 15th Street North -> Kevin Willems
• Absentee Landlord Regulation--discussion
• Confirmation of time and date of next meeting
• Swearing In and Neighborhood Council Orientation--Patty
• Neighborhood Concerns

REPORTS
Weed and Seed
Downtown Task Force
Police Advisory Board

ADJOURN

Agenda for Neighborhood Council 7 meeting on 11/12/2007 at Heisey Memorial

AGENDA 

NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL 

DISTRICT 7

Monday, November 12, 2007

Heisey Center, 313 7^th Street North

6:30 p.m.

Please note: This agenda format allows citizens to speak on each issue prior to Council discussion.  We encourage your participation.  In the interest that all parties can be heard, please limit your comments.

CALL TO ORDER

OLD BUSINESS

Approval of October minutes

Pedestrian safety assemblies at Whittier and Longfellow Schools

Problem properties

512 & 516 6^th Street North

916 3^rd Avenue North

Others ?

Northside bicycle thefts

Replacement of Councilman Gaskell

NEW BUSINESS 

Animal Foundation update—Melanie Lattin

Code violations on her block—Gudrun Linden

December meeting location

Carlie Boland—Montana House of Representatives

Neighborhood Concerns

REPORTS

Police Advisory Board—Donna Sadler

Weed & Seed—Jayci Braaten

Downtown Task Force—Erin Tropila

Council of Councils—Aaron Weissman

ADJOURN

Next meeting December 10, 2007  

Thank you for your vote!

I was pleased to finally learn this afternoon that I had been re-elected to Neighborhood Council 7.  Thank you for your vote and support.

Great Falls First has Election Results; Congratulations Mayor Stebbins

These results come from Tim Austin's greatfallsfirst.com site.  100% of precincts reporting; it looks like most of the absentee votes broke to Susan Kahn.  Congratulations to Dona Stebbins, Mary Jolley and Bill Bronson.

Tim also bemoans the lack of any published Neighborhood Council results.  Why the dearth of news?

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Great Falls, Montana - Election Results

Great Falls Tribune - Montana Election Results - VIDEO
KRTV - Great Falls, Montana - Montana Election Results
Beartooth NBC - Election Results - Montana Election Results
Fox News - Election Results
ABC News - Election Results

GREAT FALLS, MONTANA - ELECTION RESULTS

Includes votes cast at the ExpoPark: 10,344
About 100% of total votes counted.
Updated: 5:00 a.m. - November 7th, 2007

CITY OF GREAT FALLS, MAYOR: 
Dona Stebbins: 4,100 - with 40.7% of the votes
Ed McKnight: 3,824 - with 38.0% of the votes 
Susan Kahn: 1,404   - with 14.0% of the votes
Larry Steele: 704 - with 7.0% of the votes

CITY OF GREAT FALLS, CITY COMMISSIONER: 
Bill Bronson- 4,150 - with 21.3% of the votes
Mary Jolley- 5,148 - with 26.5% of the votes
Diane Jovick-Kuntz- 3,582 - with 18.4% of the votes  
Stuart Lewin- 3,445 - with 17.7% of the votes 
Elna Hensley- 2,069 - with 10.8% of the votes 

CITY OF GREAT FALLS, NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: 
We are unable to find any information from any news source.
Hard to believe that elected council members cannot
find out who won in their Neighborhood council districts.
How do we change this???

Thank you for Voting - Great Falls

Why Not Publish Neighborhood Council Election Results?

My paper just arrived at my door.  I eagerly looked inside for the results on the Neighborhood Council races (there are six people running for the five spots on council 7).

For all the talk about Neighborhood Councils being a bright spot in our community, don't you think that they should rate some mention in our paper?  At least some results, buried and a font size of only four points?

I mean, c'mon ...

Initial Election Observations

As of the insanely early writing of this post (yes, I am an election junky), the Tribune is posting some early election results.  Right now, the following information is available;

7,164 votes have been cast, which represents about 79% of the total.  A little basic extrapolation, and we see that about 9,068 votes were cast in this election.

The votes for Mayor recorded thus far are as follows:

• Dona Stebbins; 2,867 votes
  
• Ed McKnight; 2,697 votes
  
• Susan Kahn; 985 votes
  
• Larry Steele; 455 votes
  

The votes for City Commission recorded thus far are as follows:

• Mary Jolley; 3,561 votes
  
• Bill Bronson; 2,981 votes
  
• Diane Jovick-Kuntz; 2,427 votes
  
• Stuart Lewin; 2,404 votes
  
• Elna Hensley, 1,465 votes
  

Now, tempers ran hot in this race, and everyone seemed to have an opinion.  This number isn't so different from two years ago and two years before that.  I was expecting a higher number of votes cast, especially due to the wonderful weather yesterday.

Why is the vote so low?  I submit to you that a lot of that blame can be placed on the boneheaded decision of the Cascade County Clerk and Recorder to combine the voting locations at the Expo Park.  While it might have made her job easier to count the 4,000 votes made at the polls there, there could have been more votes to count if she had decided to do the job we elected her to perform.

So, I will fire the first shot for the 2008 elections; Lance Olson's job for county commissioner will be up for re-election next November.  My vote will go to a competent candidate that will vote to give me back my local polling place.  I hope that this becomes an issue in that race.

Now, of the 7,164 votes counted and published by the Tribune, the race for City Commission seems to be a pretty done deal.  There is a 500 vote gap between Bronson and Jovick-Kuntz; I don't think that Lewin or Jovick-Kuntz are going to be able to overcome that kind of vote gap with only 2,000 votes left to be counted.  I could be wrong, but I think that we can safely say that we have winners in that race, and they are Jolley and Bronson.  I don't think this result is a real surprise to anyone.

However, look to the 3,561 votes achieved by Jolley.  As the most level-headed coal plant opponent in this race, I think that those votes most cleanly represent the side of our electorate that want a change in our city government.  With that in mind, look to the mayoral race.

You can see that McKnight and Kahn, together, represent about 3,600 votes.  That voting block would have been enough to catapult any single candidate to the mayoral position.  However, as GeeGuy observed last week, as two candidates they split the vote.  McKnight is the clear choice of that bloc; and the 985 votes siphoned by Kahn make her the spoiler in this race if McKnight doesn't pull a rabbit out of his hat.

Don't get me wrong; this is still a horse race.    There are only 170 votes separating Stebbins and McKnight.  Let's see what news the morning brings.

Retraction

I went a bit overboard in an earlier post about the October 20 candidate's forum.  I used a word, jail, that was not mentioned by any candidate.  However, to be fair, at least one candidate, Stuart Lewin, did talk about referring "stuff" to the Attorney General.

Mary is right.  Neither she nor any other candidate specifically said that they wanted to put people in jail.  That was only my inference.  So, I apologize.

Revised Cost Estimates for One Way Conversion

I just got back from the Council of Council's meeting. Andrew Finch,
the senior transportation planner for the city, gave a presentation
on the BID's proposal to convert downtown one way streets to two way.

I will spare you from the entirety of the discussion. However,
remember the city's original estimate of $500,000 to perform the
conversion? Mr. Finch told me that the State transportation
department added some requirements to any conversion that will push
the cost of the conversion to the range of $1.5 Million - $2.5 Million.

Anybody still think this is a good idea?

Logically Critical shutters its doors

One of my favorite podcasts is Logically Critical.  It is funny, thought provoking, intelligent and extremely well-produced.  Unfortunately, as of October 28, it is also no more.

Before the audio files are pulled from the site, do yourself a favor and listen to some of the episodes.

Great Falls Citizen Council Agenda and Minutes

TSJ's notes:  Does anyone find anything interesting about the list of attendees at the last meeting?  Or rather, by who is not on this list?

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GREAT FALLS CITIZENS COUNCIL

Council of Councils Meeting

AGENDA

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Gibson Room—Civic Center—7:00 p.m.

Please note:  The Great Falls Citizens Council agenda format allows citizens to speak on each issue prior to Council discussion.  We encourage your participation.  In the interest that all parties can be heard, please limit your comments.

CALL TO ORDER—Chairperson Ron Mathsen—Neighborhood Council #1

OLD BUSINESS

 Approval of minutes from the last meeting

Other

NEW BUSINESS

Disaster Preparedness—Asst. Fire Chief Steve Hester & Emergency Preparedness Officer Sarah McCafferty (15 minutes)

One-way conversion—Sr. Transportation Planner Andrew Finch 

(15 minutes)

Other

OTHER BUSINESS

Council information sharing

Other 

ADJOURN

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Great Falls Citizen's Council

Council of Councils Meeting Minutes

May 29, 2007

Delegates and voting members of the Council of Councils present were: Ron Mathsen, Neighborhood Council #1; Phyllis Hemstad, Neighborhood Council #2; Tim Austin, Neighborhood Council #3; Tawny Newth, Neighborhood Council #5; Matt Ott, Neighborhood Council #6; Aaron Weissman, Neighborhood Council #7; and Gary Schoenthal, Neighborhood Council #9.  

Others present were Brandyce Berg, Emily Costea, Shelby Lilley, Ashley Lilley, Shannon Newth, Betty Stimac, Larry Stimac, and Patty Cadwell.

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by acting Chairperson Gary Schoenthal, Delegate for Neighborhood Council #9.

The one order of Old Business was a discussion, and subsequent consensus of opinion, on the proposed Neighborhood Council boundary changes.  All delegates present agreed that leaving the boundaries as they are would be best and several commented that "if it's not broken, let's not try to fix it."  All agreed, also, that a goal of trying to match Council boundaries to voter precincts would be unattainable, now and in the future.  Matt Ott, NC #6, and Phyllis Hemstad, NC#2 both expressed their concern about the already small size of their Councils.  Gary also reminded everyone that the County has decided to have the single voting location at the Montana Expo Park, but for those who can't or don't care to vote there, absentee ballots are available for any reason.  Aaron commented that he believes the single voting location will present a hardship for many of the citizens in his Neighborhood Council area.

The only item of New Business was a presentation by General Deltoro, Commander of the Montana Air National Guard (MANG).  He was accompanied by and introduced Colonel Mike McDonald who will soon become the new Commander of the 120^th Fighter Wing of the Guard.  He stated that MANG also oversees the 219^th Red Horse Squadron.  He explained that MANG's responsibilities are to uphold the Constitution of the United States and to uphold the Constitution of the State of Montana.  The members of the Guard are local people who stay here to protect the citizens of Montana.  They all have been or will be deployed to Iraq, acting to protect the Constitution of the US, but they work for the Governor of the State of Montana all the time.  He pointed out that concern for new missions at Malmstrom may not be GF citizens' highest priority—that building on the capacity of both MANG and Malmstrom would be the best benefit locally.  Currently, MANG is working to implement a program where experienced MANG pilots will work with inexperienced Air Force pilots for the benefit of both.  Other things MANG has done recently include development of a wireless system that enables MANG, GFPD, and Great Falls Fire Rescue to communicate, and chemical and biological detection and containment systems for disaster response.  Future training for the Guard includes a train derailment exercise in August and a FEMA level exercise next year.  General Deltoro also made a recruitment call to anyone in the audience who might be interested.  Ron Mathsen and Phyllis Hemstad addressed the General on their concerns around the airplane noise containment issue which affects both of their areas.

In Other Business, the Council Delegates commented on their thoughts concerning the upcoming Animal Appeal process and their involvement in same.  Aaron Weissman offered his displeasure with the City Commission for "dropping this in our laps," referring to each Neighborhood Council's option to hear the appeals of Neighborhood Council area citizens denied or revoked the permit to own multiple animals.  Gary Schoenthal saw no problem with the appeal process but did have concerns about the fee schedule that goes with the new Animal Ordinance.  Ron Mathsen pointed out that each Council has the privilege of opting out of hearing appeals.  Tawny Newth was concerned that the Council members would not have clear instructions on how to hear the appeals and Tim Austin also wants training.  Patty Cadwell mentioned that Kory Larsen did indicate that he would do a training prior to the Animal Ordinance's effective date.  Aaron Weissman anticipates problems with hearing some appeals and not hearing others.  Ron Mathsen thought that hearings at neighborhood levels would be positive measures.

Also in Other Business, the Council Delegates expressed concern over the City Commission's lack of response to their February letter requesting that the Commission put in place funding for capital improvements to the City parks.  Patty said she would follow up on that.  Tawny talked about the New Neighbor Packets that were being developed by the members of the ACTION Team.  Also mentioned was an upcoming Leadership training opportunity and the Councils' involvement in Riverfest.

Gary adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m.    

0-3-1?? Worst Season Opening in Memory ...

I can't remember a worse October for my Terriers.  However, this looks like it was a good game.

Michigan's goaltender, Billy Sauer, turned away 27 shots on goal in just the first two periods, and held BU scoreless.  I would say that this guy has a future.

Here's hoping to a better November ...

Candidate Stand on Downtown Street Reconfiguration

Question:  Do you support the idea to reconfigure 5th and 6th Streets, and/or 1st and 2nd Ave S, as two way roads?

Bronson:  Did not attend October 20 forum.

Helnsley:  Did not attend October 20 forum.

Jolley:  Does not support without more public input.  Thinks this may be "solution in search of a problem."

Jovick-Kuntz:  Did not attend 10/20 forum.

Kahn:  Does not support without more public input.

Lewin:  Does not support, as he feels it will increase traffic on 9th Street.  He thinks that 9th Street creates a "wall" through an existing neighborhood.

McKnight:  Does not support.

Stebbins:  Did not attend October 20 forum.

Steele:  Does not support.

For those candidates that did not attend, or wish to further explain their answer, I offer comments to this post as a public forum on this issue.

Candidate Stand on Southern Arterial

Question:  Last month, the City and State held a public meeting to move forward their plans for a Southern Arterial connecting 57th Street to I-15.  Their idea is not for a bypass, as was the original plan for this route.  Do you support this plan, and if so, what do you envision for this new road?  Will it be like I-115 in Butte, King Avenue in Billings, etc.?

Bronson:  Did not attend October 20 forum.

Helnsley:  Did not attend October 20 forum.

Jolley:  Attended public meeting, and listened to about 70% of attendees that they did not want this route.  She thinks this should be studied further, but wonders why we are building a bypass that will not be used by any through truck traffic.

Jovick-Kuntz:  Did not attend 10/20 forum.

Kahn:  Supports construction of road.  Unclear as to design.

Lewin:  Supports route as good opportunity for well planned commercial development, with service roads, etc.  Does not think route should follow alongside Missouri, thinks it should cross it to minimize environmental impact.

McKnight:  Does not support condemning any private property for public road.  He discussed his grandparent's home in Western Montana, which is now under I-90.

Stebbins:  Did not attend October 20 forum.

Steele:  Thinks a bypass for truck traffic is a good idea.  Agrees with Lewin that it should not be alongside river, as that makes roads icy.

For those candidates that either did not attend or wish to further explain their answer, I offer comments on this post as a public forum on this issue.

Candidate Stand on Police Staffing Levels

During the last two candidate forums, I have had the opportunity to ask a few questions.  In the next three posts, I will attempt to summarize my questions and the responses received.

Question:  Over the past several months, the Great Falls Police Department has been operating at less than a full budgeted force.  What are the reasons for the staffing shortfall?  If this is a problem, what would you do to correct it?

Bronson:  Insufficient pay is the reason for the problem.  He would offer more pay to officers.  He also feels that the new contract with the Police Beneficial Association will solve much of this problem.  He says that he has reviewed the contract.

Helnsley:  Insufficient pay.  She would offer more.

Jolley:  Insufficient pay.  She would offer more.

Jovick-Kuntz:  Insufficient pay.  She would offer more.  She also feels that it is a problem that communities like Missoula hire officers that we have trained in our police academy, which is recognized to be one of the best in the region.  She feels that we are training individuals and then they are being hired immediately by other communities that offer more pay.

Kahn:  Insufficient pay.  She would offer more

Lewin:  Lewin recognized that insufficient pay was part of the problem, and that we should offer more.  He also referred to "the elephant in the basement," which was duplicative services being performed by both the city and the county.  He would like to work with the county to combine services whenever possible.

McKnight:  Insufficient pay.  He would offer more.

Stebbins:  Did not attend October 17 forum.

Steele:  Insufficient pay.  He would offer more.

For those candidates that did not attend or wish to further explain their answer, I offer comments on this post as a public forum on this issue.

UPDATE -- GeeGuy has posted a video of the candidate's answers on this question up on his blog.  Instead of reading my very sparse notes, go view the candidate's answers yourself!

Lots of Red Meat at Last Night's Candidate Forum

For a good part of the evening, I struggled with the best term to describe last night's event.  Then I read GeeGuy's blog.  Last night was certainly a forum for the anti-establishmentarians out there; both the candidates and the audience.

It was very disappointing that the incumbents, those that support them, and all of our local media chose to skip this forum.  About three dozen people attended the forum, which was a 'debate' among Mary Jolley, Ed McKnight, Susan Kahn, Larry Steele and Stuart Lewin.  And yes, most of the questions were about the coal plant.

However, these candidates responses among what ended up to be a mutual admiration society or campaign rally were still instructive.  Quite frankly, I was horrified when Jolley, McKnight and Kahn suggested that the new commission spend its time investigating current city employees through use of its subpoena power.

Let me say that again.  Jolly, McKnight and Kahn said that they want our commission to hold hearings and investigate current city employees over past acts.  They want to exercise the commission's subpoena power, and they want to put people in jail.

I submit to you that we don't need a commission that spends our time and money making themselves into a Starr chamber.  We have real problems in our city government and neighborhoods that need to be solved.  Prosecuting a vendetta is not helpful to anyone.

Our city police department has been operating at less then full force for months, and I submit to you that this is part of the reason we have had a mini crime wave in the Lower North and South sides.  Part of the reason for these department vacancies is not enough pay being offered to new recruits and current officers.  However, a big part of the problem is that the city's recruitment officer, Lt. Lockerby, has had his hands full trying to run a dog pound.  This is one of the unintended consequences when the commission goes half-cocked into ill advised adventures.

Lewin was actually the most reasoned and moderate of the candidates last night.  He has it right; we need to move forward.

Bypass??? What Bypass?

Dave over at Dave's Gift Shop Weblog has an interesting post up on his site supporting the idea of a Southern bypass.  (Dave, I would have left this post as a comment on this site, but didn't want to deal with the tsuris of creating an account on your wordpress).

Now, I think that a Southern bypass is a good idea.  I think that it has been a good idea for the 30 years it has been proposed.  My only question about the current plans for the "Southern Arterial" is that the current plan is NOT a bypass.  It will not be an "Interstate 25."

According to current plans, we are to spend between $100 Million - $162 Million for a 2 to 4 lane local road with controlled intersections every mile or so.  The likely speed limit on this road will be 40 MPH.

So, why are we building this?  It isn't to get a bypass.  It is to get an Arterial; one that likely will be not too much more than an opportunity for commercial development.

Now, commercial development isn't a bad thing.  However, it isn't a bypass.

Attend Candidate Debate Tonight

As I have been posting, two local bloggers are sponsoring a mayoral and city commision candidates debate tonight. I encourage any reader of these pages to attend the debate.  See you there!

October 17, 2007
7:00 p.m.

Northwest Center
2201 Northwest Bypass


View Larger Map


Admission: $5.00

To Vote for a Winner: $10.00

Bike Thefts in Lower North and South Side

Over this Summer and early Fall, there have been a rash of bike thefts in the Lower North and South sides of our fair city. I haven't been unaffected by this; some young punk broke into my locked garage and stole my son's brand new West Coast Chopper bike, which we had given him for his birthday.

The city should do more to prevent bike theft. This is a gateway crime, that encourages punks to think of private property as something that is not worth respect.

In addition to taking bike thefts seriously, Great Falls should follow Missoula's lead and institute a voluntary bike registration program. A bike owner should be able to register the particulars about his or her bike, including serial number, with the GFPD. Pawn shops should be required to check against this registry before they are able to buy a bike. The registered owner should be contacted by the shop or the GFPD whenever a bike is brought into a pawn shop, and it should be returned to the lawful owner if it was stolen.

I understand that the management of such a registry database is a bit daunting. However, the fact that the city just pooh-poohs current thefts is deplorable.

More Ideas for Questions

Well, I think that is enough questions from one source. However, there are a lot more issues that the Commission candidates should be prepared to tackle. Here are some ideas;

• The 5th-6th Street/ 1st Ave-2nd Ave South reconfiguration idea. Should those streets be converted to two way? What issues and challenges do the candidates see in that reconfiguration?
  
  
• Working to Ensure Northcentral MT remains a Medical Center. Many jobs come to Great Falls because of our medical facilities. All of Northcentral Montana utilizes our medical resources. However, I submit to you that the ongoing and continued spat between the Clinic and Hospital reduces both the morale and the effectiveness of these resources. In addition, many elderly residents of communities like Havre, Ft. Benton and Shelby have no way to get to Great Falls, as there has been no regular bus service between our communities for about three years. Our City Commission should work to make sure that our medical facilities remain effective and they continue to serve all of Northcentral Montana.
  
  
• Promotion of Bringing Canadian Tourism Dollars to Great Falls. The strength of the Canadian Dollar presents a real opportunity to bring many outside dollars to our community. We should be doing everything in our power to make it easy for Canadians to spend their loonies and toonies here. These currencies will be strong for the foreseeable future. However, many Great Falls retailers will not take these dollars, and even have signs up saying that they will not accept Canadian change. This is largely due to policies at local banks.
  
  We should be be doing more than just promoting our shopping opportunities to residents of Lethbridge and Calgary (however, we should be doing more of that). To start with, we should begin accepting Canadian currency in our parking meters. While I would not support getting the city into the currency exchange business, we should support and encourage those in that business to set up shop here. What will our City Commission and Mayor do to promote Canadian tourism here?
  
  

Those are a few ideas off the top of my head. The candidate forum is on 10/17. More information can be found at greaterfalls.com and the Electric City Weblog.