by Ken Toole | Oct 27, 2025 | Guest Articles, LGBTQ+ Issues, Mayor
Guest Editorial by Allen Lanning
I have been more focused on national and international affairs lately, but this is LGBTQ History Month, so I’m going to weigh in on an issue in the Great Falls mayoral race.
There is a meme circulating on social media about kids looking at a Halloween costume labelled “Homophobic Mayor of Great Falls” which is clearly intended to represent our current Mayor, Cory Reeves. Cory is offended and disappointed, asserting he has never been homophobic, period.
But here’s the deal. Prejudice occurs on a spectrum, or slider, from mild, unconscious biases to intense, hostile attitudes. Prejudice against LGBTQ people is called homophobia. People like Cory consciously or unconsciously push the slider in their mind so that only the most egregious and open conduct qualifies as homophobia to them.
Granted, if you narrowly define homophobia that way, Cory is not homophobic. I believe he would never gratuitously physically attack an LGBTQ person, he would never call someone the “F” word, he would never join in bullying or making crude, hurtful jokes about LGBTQ people or fire someone just because of their sexual orientation.
But his definition of homophobia is too narrow. It’s wrong and misleading. Homophobia at the low end of the spectrum is still homophobia and is still hurtful.
When you take official action as Mayor out of a desire for LGBTQ people to remain invisible in the public eye and the public record, that’s homophobic.
When you change the City’s longstanding policy or practice of issuing proclamations or flying celebratory flags to avoid having to make a Pride Month Declaration or to avoid hanging a Pride flag on public property or to avoid publicly acknowledging the history of oppression and harm LGBTQ people have suffered, that’s homophobic.
When you assert governmental neutrality between oppressed LGBTQ people and the people who would oppress us, that’s homophobic. We see it. We know it for what it is. And we remember it.
I have always had polite communications with Mayor Reeves. He is generally friendly and accessible. I recognize that he has done positive things in his private and his public life. But homophobia doesn’t change its nature because it’s manifested in subtle ways by genteel people. And polite regard for one’s friends and family members who are part of an oppressed group does not excuse actions taken to further that oppression, even small ones.
So yes, if you judge Mayor Cory Reeves by his mayoral actions on LGBTQ issues, he is homophobic, despite his protestations. It’s fair to describe him as mildly homophobic. But it is not truthful or fair to allow him to slide himself out of the label entirely. Obviously, this is but one aspect of this race. But if that is an important issue to you, and it should be, remember that when you vote.
by Ken Toole | Oct 24, 2025 | Guest Articles
Jackie (Mike) Brown over at The Western Word Blog has published his recommendations for the city elections. Enjoy and follow the Western Word.
The MAGAs in Great Falls are spending a lot of time attacking mayoral candidate Jasmine Taylor. Some commentators on social media claim that incumbent Mayor Cory Reeves will have an easy time getting reelected, but with all the attacks, I think Reeves and his supporters might be a little worried.
I would be worried, too, if I had raised taxes, fees, and rates as much as he has in just two years. I don’t think the voters in Great Falls want more of that.
The attacks have intensified, and there are 12 days left until Election Day, which is November 4. The ballots have been mailed, and people are starting to return them. This is crunch time.
Yesterday, I told readers that I would like to see some new faces on the Great Falls City Commission. The current commission is a rubber stamp for the city department heads and the city manager. We need some forward-thinking younger people on the commission.
Therefore, I will support Jasmine Taylor for Mayor, Casey Schreiner for City Commission, and Matt Pipinich for City Commission. I hope you will join me.
by Ken Toole | Oct 18, 2025 | Guest Articles
Despite the fact that coal vs renewable energy has become a flashpoint inTrump’s culture wars, the dye is cast. The future belongs to renewable sources of energy. Politics may slow down the advancement of renewable power but technology and economic realities will continue to drive cleaner, more efficient renewables into the market displacing old, expensive coal.
Guest Post From Tammy Jenkins
Not Enough Bidders For BLM Coal Sale
BLM held a lease sale for 1,262 acres in Big Horn County, Montana that attracted one bid from the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, which operates the nearby Spring Creek Mine.
The numbers shaking out from a Montana coal lease sale on Oct. 6. According to AP reporting, the top bid was $186,000 for 167 million tons of coal, penciling out to one-tenth of a dollar per ton. For comparison, the region’s last successful federal sale went for $1.10 per ton of coal.
Had the recent Montana lease gone for a similar rate, it would’ve been about $183 million.
Kendall said that matters, because half of that money is returned to states and local governments for things like public infrastructure and schools.
“I think the big question and the moment of truth will be whether the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) actually accepts the bid,” Kendall said.
BLM Can Only Accept “Fair Market” Bids
The BLM is supposed to only accept “fair market value” bids under those 1976 federal rules protecting taxpayers and public lands. The BLM doesn’t disclose what it deems fair market value, so if it accepts a bid at a significantly lower rate, Kendall said that’s telling.
“I think the concern is that the offices and the systems that were put in place in order to ensure that the public is getting a fair return for taxpayers is under threat,” she said.
The bid of $186,000 for a lease with an estimated 167.5 million tons of recoverable coal equates to less than a penny per ton.
Public land leases for mining and logging have been opened up by the current administration. Most folks in Montana want to keep public lands in public hands.
For more information:
Federal coal lease sales muster low bid in Montana and delay in Wyoming | Wyoming Public Media
by Ken Toole | Oct 16, 2025 | Politics, Racism
Politico obtained 2,900 pages of internal chats between leaders of national republican youth groups. They reveal a culture filled with bigotry, hatred and references to violence directed at their political opponents. No matter what you think of Politico’s reporting (which is left leaning and generally rated as accurate by media watchdogs) these comments stand on their own. Whatever happened to the Grand Old Party?!?
This link takes you to the full Politico report
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146
by Ken Toole | Oct 14, 2025 | City
The City of Great Falls has reached a labor agreement with the Great Falls Police Protective Association (GFPPA). The cost to the city in the first year of the agreement is $430,000. For the second year, it’s $455,000. The total cost for the agreement is $885,000.
Gaye McInerney, the city’s Human Resources Director, said that as of July 1, 2026, GFPPA members will have received increased wages of 24% over four years.
Here’s where the money for the contract comes from. State law limits municipalities’ ability to increase taxes to one half of the inflation rate. In Great Falls that amounts to $448,882 in the current budget. This new contract uses that entire amount. For comparison purposes, funding taken from the library’s voter-supported levies was projected to be $471,413 for fiscal year 2026.
The Specifics of the Agreement
The new agreement sets wages for entry level police officers who are no longer in their probationary period at $74,559 (that is effective last July 1). In the second year of the contract, effective July 2026, wages will increase to $79,116. This applies to new/less senior police officers.
In addition to the entry level amounts above, current, more senior and higher ranking officers are also getting pay increases. The average for these officers is referred to as base wage. For a police officer in the first year of the agreement, base wage is $89,842. In the second year, base wage increases to $94,325. According to the city, the ‘base wage’ is the wage floor, to which additional time in service wages are added. Base wage would be higher for a captain versus a sergeant, etc.
In addition, the salaries for all officers will increase by a total of 6% – 2% for market adjustment, 3% for cost of living, and 1% for health insurance adjustment. Shift differentials are also increased. Officers working the afternoon shift will receive an additional 75 cents per hour, and those working late afternoons and nights will receive an additional $1.25 per hour.
Police officers will be paying more for health insurance. Officers will now be paying 20% of the insurance costs instead of the 15% in previous agreements. That increase is consistent with other city employees.
It is also worth mentioning here that most police officers are eligible for overtime pay in addition to regular pay.
How Does Great Falls Compare with Other Cities?
As stated previously, under the new agreement, Great Falls’ average base wage for a police officer in the first year of the agreement is $89,842, and, in the second year, it’s $94,325.
Butte: Average police officer salary is around $60,000 to $78,000 per year.
Kalispell: Police officers’ average salary ranges from approximately $61,654 to $72,328 per year.
Helena: The average police officer salary is around $55,943 to $69,326 per year.
Billings: The average annual salary for a police officer is approximately $68,000 to $70,000.
Bozeman: The average salary is approximately $63,422 per year (as of November 2024).
Missoula: Starting police officers are paid approximately $88,670 annually.
Cascade County Deputies: Salary ranges from $73,777 to $79,768.
Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) trooper: $74,598 after completion of probationary year.
Note: Comparing officer compensation from jurisdiction to jurisdiction is difficult, because there are many differences in health insurance, overtime, leave and other benefits. In addition, there is no information regarding where various jurisdictions are in their process of contract negotiation. Moreover, the Montana Department of Justice apparently does not keep, or make available, comprehensive officer compensation information. The figures above are provided by internet searches.
The Politics Of “Public Safety” in Great Falls
The failure of the public safety levy in November 2023 was a stinging rebuke for one faction of city government, particularly council members Rick Tryon, Joe McKenney and, more recently, Mayor Cory Reeves. In March 2023, the city commission unanimously (before Reeves was mayor) voted to send a public safety levy to the voters which requested approval of $10,717,305 to fund public safety. In addition, they authorized $150,000 to the Wendt Agency to conduct a “public education campaign.”
Repeated warnings from some in the community (significantly Jasmine Taylor who is currently running against Cory Reeves to be mayor) stated that the proposed levy was asking too much of the voters and recommended that the city break the levy into smaller component parts (police, fire and emergency services). At the time, the city asserted that a home valued at $200,000 would see a property tax increase of $280.11. Most people understood that owner-occupied homes valued at $200,000 or less did not represent voters in the election. Instead, the numbers presented were seen as cynical propaganda to promote the levy.
After the safety mill levy failed and another, much smaller, levy to support the library passed, Tryon, McKenney and Reeves, with the support of local opponents of the library, targeted the library and took voter-passed funds and gave them to public safety. For a complete explanation see our previous post. https://wtf406.com/2024/11/city-council-takes-money-from-library-after-the-public-voted-to-increase-funding/
But the sad truth is that,during this campaign season, neither Reeves nor McKenney has said much about alternatives to support public safety in Great Falls. Nor have they talked about ways to reduce the cost of public safety activity, such as using mental health workers to help reduce the cost of uniformed police officers, which mayoral candidate Jasmine Taylor has advocated for years. The city deserves better from its elected officials.
Thanks to the Electric for its coverage of this issue. It’s easy to overlook the service provided by The Great Falls Electric. Case in point is the recent coverage of the new contact for the Great Falls Police Protective Association. The information about the provisions of the new contact would not be easily available to the community with out the work of the Electric.
