by Ken Toole | Dec 30, 2024 | City
The last year has been a roller coaster ride for the Great Falls Library. In February 2023, the city commission voted unanimously to place a levy on the ballot to increase funding for the library. The proposed levy was to raise $1.5 million for needed facility updates and to expand hours and services. The levy passed after an acrimonious campaign with the right-wing censorship crowd vehemently opposing the levy.
Commissioners Ignore Public Support For The Library
Contrast the public support for the library to the resounding rejection of the proposed safety levy to fund police and fire protection. The safety levy was a pet project of Commissioner Rick Tryon. After the elections, which demonstrated public support for the library and rejection of the safety levy, it seems that Tryon, Commissioner Joe McKenney and Mayor Cory Reeves have it in for the library, playing games with board appointments and finally reducing funding for the library and giving that money to public safety. https://wtf406.com/2024/11/city-council-takes-money-from-library-after-the-public-voted-to-increase-funding/
Opponents of taking money from the library have pointed out repeatedly that the small amount of money taken from the library would do very little to meet the $30 million for projected needs for public safety in Great Falls. But it amounted to a cut of almost 27% of the library’s total budget. The majority of the commission (Tryon, McKenney, and Reeves) was undeterred and took the funding anyway.
$1 Million To Replace Seats at The Mansfield Center?
Given that history, many people were surprised to see that the city commission allocated almost $1 million , almost three times the amount taken from the library’s funding, to replace the seats in The Mansfield Center. Most of us understand that budgets for local government are complicated and involve different sources of funding. Some of the money the city administers can be moved around and some cannot. Replacing the seats is part of a larger project and funded in large part by the State-Local Infrastructure Partnership Act which the Montana Legislature approved in 2023. In addition, tax increment district financing is also part of the package. But even with those sources funding it was still short. The city staff recommended moving forward with the full project anyway, despite the overage of almost $360,000. That “overage,” for which no clear source of funding was identified, is more than the amount removed from the library’s budget.
But all the byzantine maneuvering of public funding aside, this simply demonstrates that the attack on the library by Tryon, McKenney and Reeves was more about their apparent problems with the library and pandering to a small pro-censorship minority in Great Falls than it was meeting public safety needs.
by Ken Toole | Dec 27, 2024 | Guest Articles
In response to GOP state representative Greg Overstreet’s guest column, “Our legislators are just like you,” I must say that none of the Republicans mentioned in his column are in any way like me. A job doesn’t make a person. Instead, it’s a person’s integrity and ability to make decisions based on reality that matter.
It’s safe to say that every Republican Overstreet listed voted for Donald Trump, a man found civilly liable for sexual abuse, a convicted felon, an adulterer, a serial liar, and, in general, a disreputable, vindictive human being. But, apparently, as long as Trump hates the same people they hate, he gets their vote. So much for integrity!
Part of integrity is having consistent values. Why are so many Republicans bent out of shape that transgender people be allowed to make decisions about their own bodies, when the vast majority of Republicans think nothing about instructing a doctor to take a knife to the penis of any newborn sons they have? Obviously, it’s not the genital surgery that matters. It’s the bigotry.
Many of those same Republicans proudly use Christianity as a club while ignoring the reality of what is actually in the Bible. Denying a woman’s right to abortion is the most prevalent example of this. The Bible clearly gives instructions for forcing a woman to miscarry in Numbers 5:11-31, and elsewhere it states that life begins at first breath. It’s one reason few Christian sects spoke out about Roe v. Wade until it became a political issue they could profit from.
Also, part of ignoring reality is the Republican Christian Nationalist claim that the United States was founded as a “Christian nation.” Again, there is written evidence to the contrary. The English version of The Treaty of Tripoli was read aloud in the U.S. Senate and unanimously approved before President John Adams signed it on June 10, 1797. Article 11 of that treaty states, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion . . .”
And then there is the science of climate change. That Donald Trump called climate change a hoax doesn’t make it so. Facts don’t care what Trump says, but, obviously, Republicans are willing to ignore the science—endangering their own children and grandchildren—both in the name of greed and in submission to their authoritarian leader.
On the subject of greed, how are an overwhelming percentage of Republicans able to reconcile their claims of Christianity while being led by a billionaire president, who campaigned with the richest man in the world, and will soon give the rich massive tax cuts while cutting programs for seniors, the sick, and the poor? Isn’t that the opposite of what Jesus preached in the Bible?
So, no, I am not at all like Mr. Overstreet and his Republican associates. And neither are the roughly 40 percent of Montanans who voted against most things they stand for. We may be a minority—for now—but fifty years from now, when students study this era in history classes, it will be the Republicans, not the rest of us, who they’ll look at as they shake their heads in sadness and disbelief.
• Bio: Marty Essen is a college speaker and multi-award-winning author of three nonfiction and five fiction books. His latest, “The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles,” will be published on January 10, 2025.
by Ken Toole | Dec 2, 2024 | Elections
An investigator with the Montana Human Rights Bureau issued a report finding that the Secretary of State’s office discriminated against Rina Fontana Moore when it emailed the Cascade County Commission urging them not to hire her for a position running the election office.
After removing election duties from Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant last December, the county commission opened an election administrator position. Rina Fontana Moore applied for the open position. In a highly suspect hiring process, the commission hired Terry Thompson, who had no experience or training in running elections. Fontana Moore has 16 years experience and extensive election administration training. (See our post about the hiring process: https://wtf406.com/?s=Rae+Grulkowski+)
Secretary Of State Urged County To Deny Fontana Moore Election Job
On February 14th, the Republican Secretary of State, Christi Jacobsen, sent an email to the Cascade County Commissioners urging them not to hire Fontana Moore: “Please do not hire Ms. Moore or a member of her administration as Cascade County’s Election Administrator. Doing so would directly undermine the voters of Cascade County, among other reasons.” Her letter closed, “Thank you and God Bless, Christi”. The next day the county commission voted to offer the job to Terry Thompson.
Commissioners Joe Briggs and Jim Larson said they were surprised by the email. Both said they felt it was inappropriate. Briggs said, “I took it as a personal political statement that was done inappropriately.” The county attorney’s office contacted the secretary of state’s office. Jacobsen’s legal counsel said she had a First Amendment right to make the comments. When contacted by The Electric, Jacobsen’s office did not respond.
Fontana Moore Files Discrimination Complaints
Eleven days later (February 27), Fontana Moore filed discrimination complaints with the Human Rights Bureau of the Department of Labor. \One complaint was filed against Cascade County for discrimination based on her political beliefs in denying her the election administrator position. The other was against the Montana Secretary of State for advocating a discriminatory action by Cascade County.
Merchant And Grulkowski Mum About Meeting With Secretary of State
On March 1, two days after Fontana Moore filed her complaints, Jenn Rowell of the Electric was at a meeting in the Capitol building in Helena. She saw County Commissioner Rae Grulkowski and Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant going into the Secretary of State’s office. They came out about 20 minutes later. The Electric contacted Grulkowski and Merchant and asked what their business was in the Secretary of State’s office and if county funds were spent on their visit. They did not respond.
Cascade County Settles With Fontana Moore
The Human Rights Bureau accepted Fontana Moore’s complaints and initiated an investigation. As part of the process, the parties in human rights complaints attempt to resolve their complaints through mediation. On October 4, the Cascade County Commission approved paying Moore $52,500 to settle the complaint against the county on the advice of their attorney. The settlement resolved the complaint.
Rae Grulkowski was the only county commissioner voting against the settlement. Her actions on the hiring committee clearly put the county at risk in the discrimination complaint. Ironically, the county paid for Grulkowski to have an attorney separate from the outside lawyer the county hired to defend against the complaint. (See our post on Grulkowski’s legal fees: https://wtf406.com/?s=Grulkowski+)
Secretary Of State Declines To Settle; Complaint Goes to Formal Hearing
The Secretary of State’s office declined to participate in mediation. Election administrator and former chief legal counsel for the Secretary of State’s office, Austin James, argued that Fontana Moore should not be appointed election administrator because she lost her 2022 reelection to Merchant for Cascade Clerk and Recorder. Since the case was not settled in mediation, the investigator completed her investigation and found that the Montana Secretary of State’s actions were discriminatory. The case will now move forward to a formal hearing.
by Ken Toole | Nov 24, 2024 | Militia and Hate Groups
In early 1992 during the standoff between the FBI and white supremacist Randy Weaver, John Trochmann, a snowmobile dealer from Minnesota who retired and moved to Noxon, Montana, formed United Citizens for Justice to support Weaver. Trochmann and Weaver met through their mutual connections to the Aryan Nations in the Idaho panhandle. United Citizens for Justice quickly morphed into the Militia of Montana.
Militia Of Montana Racist And Anti-Semitic To The Core
Trochmann, and others in the white supremacist movement, began promoting far-right conspiracy theories while downplaying their ties to hardcore anti-Semitic and racist individuals and organizations. Very few people were watching the expansion of the “militia movement,” and those who were aware of them generally dismissed them as a bunch of kooks.
In 1994, the Montana Human Rights Network published A Season of Discontent, an expose of militia organizers and their connections to activists in the white supremacist movement. On April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed, killing 168 people. Today it remains the largest domestic terror attack in American history. The Oklahoma City bombing brought the militia movement under the scrutiny of the media, the public, and law enforcement.
Militia Of Montana, The Freemen And Tactical Civics Are All The Same
Militia and other far-right organizations began trying to downplay their racist and anti-Semitic beliefs, instead donning a mantle of patriotism and local protection from unspecified threats.The most recent iteration of this tactic is found in Montana with a relatively unknown organization called Tactical Civics. Here in Cascade County, Tactical Civics has been very active. See our previous posts. https://wtf406.com/2023/03/lola-sheldon-galloway-brings-bill-on-behalf-of-convicted-felon-militia-group-leader/ and https://wtf406.com/2022/09/galloways-host-militia-fundraiser/
A Deep Dive By The Montana State News Bureau– Check It Out!
The Montana State News Bureau is running a multi-part series on Tactical Civics in Montana and other far right groups. The links below will take you to articles in the series. It is an excellent recitation of far right activity in Montana and here in Great Falls. (Note: You should not encounter a paywall to read these stories)
Article #1 https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/county-militias-tactical-civics-grand-jury-government-overreach/article_7bdbd240-09f6-56c4-b29b-355138c68930.html
Article #2 https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/freemen-montana-history-tactical-civics-antigovernment-extremism/article_e3363613-c585-5437-9147-bcb79a7d0193.html#tracking-source=home-top-story
by Ken Toole | Nov 20, 2024 | City, Elections, Taxes
The successful attempt by Rick Tryon to take money from the library and give it to public safety in Great Falls has less to do with protecting the public and more to do with the attack on public libraries here in Montana and across the country. Let’s recap the attack on our local library.
Remember The Library Mill Levy
In February of 2023, the city commission voted unanimously to place a levy on the ballot to increase funding for the library. The proposed levy would raise $1.5 million. In April, anti-library activists, including members of the Pachyderm Club and other loosely affiliated individuals, formed a political action committee to raise money and oppose the levy. They ran a very nasty and aggressive campaign with lots of misinformation and false allegations. Sandra Merchant’s administration of the election was so suspect that a judge appointed a special monitor to assure that the election was conducted properly. The election was held on June 6th. The proposed increase in mills was approved by voters.
Tryon and McKenney Seek Revenge in Board Appointments
The first indication that Tryon and his supporters were going to “get even” with the library came in July with the next appointments to the library board. Based on recommendations from the library board, Jerry Hopkins, a current librarian for the school district, and current board member Anne Bulger came before the city commission for appointment. All of a sudden Tryon, accompanied by Joe McKenney, raised concerns about the “process” used to appoint board members. They wanted to see the positions advertised, something that had not been required in the past. In fact, both Tryon and McKenney had voted to reappoint two members of the Business Improvement District just two weeks before. Neither raised any concerns about the “process” in making those appointments. https://wtf406.com/2023/08/city-commission-changes-the-rules-for-library-board-appointments/
The library went through the new selection exercise, advertising the openings, conducting public interviews, and came back with a recommendation to appoint Bulger and Hopkins to the library board. Rather than accepting the library board’s recommendation, Tryon, McKenney and Eric Hinebauch voted to appoint Noelle Johnson without interviewing any of the applicants. Johnson had pointed out in her application that she had opposed the library levy. After forcing the library board to jump through the hoops of advertising and interviewing 11 applicants and then ignoring their recommendations, the Electric reported that Tryon said of his vote that he wasn’t basing it on technical qualifications.
Tryon’s $30 Million Safety Levy Failed Popular Vote
Now let’s take a look at Tryon’s failure to pass a safety levy. In January of 2021, Tryon floated the idea of putting together a task force to examine the needs and costs for improving public safety in Great Falls. In March, Tryon presented a draft resolution to implement the study process to the full commission. The city commission approved setting up the task force. In November, the task force recommendations were presented to the commissioners. The recommendations from the task force presented a long (and expensive) list. In spring and early summer of 2023, the commision authorized placing a $21.17 million public safety infrastructure bond, and a separate $10.7 million public safety operations levy, on the ballot. In November, the public safety levy and accompanying bond both failed by wide margins.
Library Funding Cut Has Little to Do With Public Safety
To recap, the identified need for public safety in Great Falls was estimated by the city to be a little over $31 million. The total raised by the library mill levy passed by voters was $1.5 million. If the city takes back its portion (the library serves the city and county) of the approved mill levy for public safety, it will cost the library $842,800, which is 27% of its total budget. That means reducing hours, services and staff. The library board has proposed giving $301,000 to the city as a compromise. The library believes the compromise will still allow it to meet the goals it advertised in the mill campaign, which was approved by voters.
Cutting through all the crap, Tryon and McKenney have dished out about needing the money, the truth is that taking the small amount available from the library budget does almost nothing to alleviate the $31 million needed for public safety. But it does provide a nifty pretext for siding with the far right in their effort to censor our public library.
