In today’s “Questions I Shouldn’t Have To Ponder” I’m faced with a truly strange situation. After E-city Beat’s bizarre, ill-researched, and oddly sexualized attack on school board candidate Russ Herring, I’m sitting here considering when (if ever) it is appropriate to discuss a political candidate’s penis. Before last week, I’d have easily said “Never. This couldn’t possibly be relevant to a local election.” Yet, after E-city Beat clearly spent significant time staring a Herring’s, well, package, it seems the conversation is at hand. Let’s start with a relevant example. If E-City Beat downloaded a picture of me in a bikini I had shared on my personal Facebook page, we would all regard this as creepy. If they went further and then PUBLISHED that picture, claiming it made me an unfit candidate, we would all recognize that behavior for what it is- sexual harassment. The writer, Phil Fascenda, claims this picture is ill-befitting a candidate for school board. It seems Fascenda’s tune has changed since E-city Beat contributor and city commissioner, Rick Tryon’s inappropriate Facebook posts were discussed in a city commission meeting. Flash back to the City Commission meetings during the Non-Discrimination Ordinance conversations. Members of the commission were presented with a print-out of Rick’s transphobic “joke” he had shared on his page. Rick quickly retorted that this was on his personal facebook page, was merely a joke, and shouldn’t even be brought up. So, if its Rick’s personal page, Fascenda seems to think it is of no consequence, even when it is directly relevant to the question at hand. And now E-City Beat is scouring the personal pages of candidates they don’t like and attempting to find problematic posts. Here’s the thing though- a guy in his shorts (be they boxer or swimwear) is NOT problematic. Its not even inherently sexual. In fact, its only weird because Fascenda and E-City Beat tried to make it weird, claiming that Herring had an erection. Now, 99.9% of the time, it really isn’t okay to make fun of anyone’s penis size. But let’s be clear. Herring in no way has an erection in the photo and its pretty hilarious to try and claim that he does. The fact that the author tries to claim this, well, he’s basically telling on himself here. My takeaway from this desperate attempt at a smear campaign is that the folks at E -City Beat have, well, itty bitty…arguments. As we know, E-City Beat writer and everyone’s least favorite commissioner, Rick Tryon loves to talk about himself in the third person and use various nicknames which surely have never been uttered by anyone but himself. Of course, Tryon is silent about the hypocrisy of this attack by his pal at E-city Beat. I can’t help but assume that if we published anything from his personal face book page Tryon would be outraged. And it makes me wonder if Rick thinks a candidate’s penis size should be a topic of conversation in a political campaign. Although E City Beat likely can’t be held liable for what is clearly a libelous attack, I wonder what responsibility they hold for the slew of utterly false remarks made by readers in the comment section of E-City Beat about Herring as a result of their post?
The Gianforte Administration regularly acts as if laws, ethics, and norms don’t apply to them. Gianforte has demonstrated his ethics (or lack thereof) ranging from physical assault, stripping protection from public lands, to illegally hunting. It’s not surprising that his Lieutenant Governor, Kristen Juras, would flout norms too. Enter Cascade County District Court Judge David Grubich.
Judge Grubich is in a race to retain his seat following his interim appointment by Gianforte in 2021. This appointment itself was an astounding violation of non-partisanship. The Republican-led Montana Legislature refused to confirm the appointment by Democratic Governor Bullock of Michele Levine to the Cascade County District Court. It was the first time in 50 years the Montana State Senate failed to confirm an interim judge.
In a clear violation of the Judicial Conduct Code, Juras hosted a fundraiser on behalf of Grubich on April 14th.
Cover image for Facebook event, page accessed on April 4th, 2022.
Perhaps Judge Grubich doesn’t know the rules are different for judicial candidates versus legislative or executive branch officials? By accepting the Republican Lt. Governor’s partisan endorsement with a sponsored fundraiser, Judge Grubich is violating the Montana Code of Judicial Conduct. The Code specifically spells out the following:
Rule 4.1 – Political and Campaign Activities of Judges and Judicial Candidates in General.
A judge or judicial candidate shall not:
(7) seek, accept, or use endorsements from a political organization, or partisan or independent non-judicial office-holder or candidate.
The accompanying General Considerations text for Rule 4.1 explains why judges are held to this higher standard of impartiality and independence.
“Rather than making decisions based upon the expressed views or preferences of the electorate, a judge makes decisions based upon the law and the facts of every case. Therefore, in furtherance of this interest, judges and judicial candidates must, to the greatest extent possible, be free and appear to be free from political influence and political pressure.”
Does Judge Grubich appear to be free from political influence by accepting the partisan endorsement of Lt. Governor Juras? No.
How can we trust that Judge Grubich will be impartial and independent as a judge, if he’s willing to welcome a partisan endorsement to raise money for his campaign? Judges are not above the law, and Grubich’s failure to follow the Code of Conduct is a grim beginning to a “nonpartisan” campaign.
When it comes to politics, lots of folks are simply over it. They’re tired of the divisiveness, the rhetoric, and the smarmy out-of-staters posing in their $400 cowboy boots proving they’ve never once stepped in a cow pie. And what does it matter anyway? Every few years, we’re inundated with un-skippable commercials and hordes of flyers that go immediately from our mailbox to the trash. Somebody wins. Somebody loses. And nothing much seems to change as the average Montanan tries to navigate rising bills and stagnant wages.
Yet, one political position affects us year-round. Each month, as we hand over our hard-earned cash to pay our utility bills, we see the work of the Public Service Commission in action. Did your heating bill double this year? That’s more than an unfortunate change in prices. That’s the work, or lackthereof, of the Public Service Commission (PSC).
So, what is the PSC? And why should you care about it? Their website summarizes the PSC as:
“[…] Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) strives to ensure that ratepayers have continued access to utility services that are affordable, reliable, and sustainable for the long-term. In pursuit of this goal, the PSC regulates the rates and service quality for investor owned electric, natural gas, water, waste-water, and legacy telecommunication companies”
Notably, the PSC is not a consumer advocacy group. The PSC website explains, “It’s the PSC’s job to balance the interests of ratepayers who are concerned about utility rate increases, with the need to maintain a financially sound utility that is capable of providing reliable service.”
However, with dramatic price increases during Montana’s coldest months, many are wondering exactly how the interests of us “ratepayers” are really being represented. Perhaps “affordable” means something different to our representative, Randy Pinocci, who currently pulls in about $108,000 per year in his role as PSC Commissioner for District 1 (which includes Cascade County).
While Pinocci’s salary continues to rise, so does the cost of natural gas heating for folks in Great Falls. In November 2021, the PSC noted a coming increase between “47% to 62%.” Link Many of us have already felt the brunt of that steep increase when facing our 2022 heating bills. As election season gears up, we simply can’t afford to ignore the work of the Public Service Commission. So, as I peruse my nearly $200 gas bill this month, I’m forced to wonder: Is Randy Pinocci doing his job?
The Great Falls Public Schools (GFPS) are holding a school trustee election on May 3rd and it is shaping up to be a bigoted, partisan mess.
Historically, the Great Falls Public School Board elections have had non-partisan candidates with a strong public education background. That’s not the case this year. It seems the last few years of polarizing politics have infected the Great Falls’ school board race. We now have a slate of far-right, partisan candidates who have stepped forward to run. And they are campaigning hard.
What the Funk is Happening With the School Board Election?
The local right-wing attacks on school boards are part of a nationwide, conservative movement to take over local government. Historically, political parties have made an effort to limit endorsements in non-partisan races like school boards, judicial systems, and city government. Ignoring this precedent, Cascade County GOP is pushing heavily for their preferred candidates in all of these areas. In the Great Falls School Board election, a crop of far-right school board candidates have been endorsed by the Cascade County Republicans PAC. The PAC is an ultra-conservative break-off group of Republicans so extreme that moderate Cascade County Republicans have distanced themselves from the group [The PAC also likes to do campaign finance violations from time to time…]
WTF 406 did a little research into the positions of the GOP-endorsed candidates:
The right-wing candidates are led by out-spoken homophobe, Brian Cayko. Brian wants people to pronounce his name correctly so badly that he boosted Facebook ads, stressing that his name is pronounced “psycho.” Yes, he really did. Aside from his questionable priorities regarding campaign messaging, Brian has been openly vocal about his anti-LGBTQ sentiments. He has commented online that LGBTQ-friendly schools promote “destructive physical and mental health. Most importantly that is immoral in the eyes of God.” Brian submitted a lengthy, bigoted rant against LGBTQ+ community members as he urged our city commission to vote against a proposed non-discrimination ordinance. With that hate-filled perspective, how is Brian going to support our LGBTQ+ students and staff?
Paige Turoski previously ran for the Great Falls City Commission and she thinks taxation is theft. It’ll be interesting to see how Paige thinks our schools are funded.
Scott Jablonski thinks masks are unconstitutional. Rodney Meyers wants to insert partisan politics so badly into a non-partisan race, that he sought the endorsement of Republican Lieutenant Governor Juras.
These ultra-conservative candidates would jeopardize the ability of the school board to function and serve our children well. It’s not surprising that the Great Falls Education Association (GFEA) didn’t endorse any of the candidates on the GOP slate. Our teachers’ union knows what works best to support our students as we strive to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. The GFEA endorsed the three incumbent candidates (Mark Finnicum, Gordon Johnson, and Nathan Reiff), along with Russell Herring for the additional one-year term. Let’s keep partisan politics away from our kids and out of our schools.
