Journal of Proceedings

City of Missoula City Council Minutes –December 19, 2011 - Page 1

JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS

MISSOULA CITY COUNCIL

DECEMBER 19, 2011

CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

The meeting of the Missoula City Council was called to order by Mayor Engen at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Chambers at 140 West Pine Street. Present were Alderwomen Hellegaard, Marler, Mitchell, Rye, and Walzer and Aldermen Childers, Haines, Jaffe, Strohmaier, Wiener and Wilkins. Also present were Chief Administrative Officer Bender, City Attorney Nugent, Public Information/ Communications Officer Merriam and City Clerk Rehbein. Alderwoman Wolken and Finance Director Ramharter were absent.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of the regular meeting of December 5, 2011 and December 12, 2011 were approved as submitted.

SCHEDULE COMMITTEE MINUTES

The following meetings were announced:

December 19, 2011

December 26, 2011

January 2, 2012

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Doug Grimm, Upper Rattlesnake, said Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and all the things around the country say. He thanked the City Council for the time and dedication they have put in to keep our city running. He said we have one of the best City Councils in the country and he wanted to say thank you. Many years ago, when he was a kid, his dad said to him, you know, if you go to work for somebody or a company for five years, at the end of five years if you don’t own the company, you should quit and find another job. His father had worked for the post office for 33-1/2 years and never owned it and so he’s not really sure his dad’s comment was serious. To those of you that are moving on, he and probably people in the listening audience will remember times when they have left a job. Later, you look back and say that was the greatest thing that ever happened to them. Why? Because they found a job that paid more money or nicer people to work with or a better working environment or greater prestige or any number of things where you said you’re glad you got out of that other job. So, those moving on from the City Council he said thank you and hopes they can say it was a wonderful learning experience and glad I put my time in and glad to maybe waste more time there. Happy New Year and thanks again.

Joseph Gorsch recently he was at a gathering and the subject of government came up. Before the discussion was over, he was nominated to come up before the City Council tonight. As a result of that, he’s here to thank our representatives, Renee Mitchell and Lyn Hellegaard for taking their telephone calls, listening to gripes, being so patient with them, telling them what to do and then making the hard decisions they had to make, like all the City Council, before us. They did a heck of a good job. We, as a whole, appreciate what they have done for us and thank them.

Gloria Roark said she’s a spokesperson for the Missoula Patriots Tea Party. On behalf of their group, they’d like to present Lyn Hellegaard and Renee Mitchell with their Patriot of the Year award. Both ladies have exemplified patriotism to our country and dedication to the residents of our city and the great state of Montana. Through their hard work and leadership they have provided voices for the people. Their efforts to reduce the size of government and excessive spending is most commendable. Above all, they have honored our Constitution which is the supreme law of the United States of America. They are truly states persons and not politicians. It is our heartfelt hope and prayer that in time this Council will be eligible for these awards as well. By following the legacy that these ladies are leaving behind in representing all of the people of Missoula, stimulating businesses to grow in our community, creating a family-friendly atmosphere and reducing the cost of living to the residents you can achieve this award as well. Thank you for allowing us to speak and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Will Snodgrass said he wanted to ask some very basic questions beginning with: Why were Missoula City Councilwomen, Lyn Hellegaard and Renee Mitchell, targeted for political defeat by the forces of Mayor John Engen? Why did Mayor Engen and his cronies and his political allies target Lyn Hellegaard and Renee Mitchell? Why was out-of-state influence and perhaps money brought to bear against them? Why did Lyn and Renee find themselves outnumbered 25 to 1 by canvassers working against them in the street? He understands that Mayor Engen and perhaps others on the Council maintain that Lyn and Renee weren’t team players of Missoula city government. Well, Mr. Sandusky, the alleged child molester and other members of the Penn State Athletic Department certainly were team players, weren’t they? So being a team player is not necessarily a good thing, is it? What does it mean here in Missoula to be a team player? He thinks it means that under Mayor John Engen everyone in the city government is expected to cotton to his agenda, his political plan. Lyn Hellegaard and Renee Mitchell were not team players. He believes Lyn and Renee were targeted for political defeat by Mayor Engen and his political machine not because they refused to play on his team but because they were beginning to ask some very serious questions about the vast sums of taxpayer money passing through the hands of Mayor Engen’s team players. Lyn and Renee were asking for copies of financial reports but the reports were not forthcoming. He understands that when they finally did get them, the reports had been massaged into a new format that could not easily be held subject to computer programs that are employed by forensic accountants and folks like that who are looking for inconsistencies in the documents. They were asking questions about misappropriation of money and massaging or manipulation of city budget reports or asking about certain altered documents and the perception of outright fraud in multimillion dollar public works projects. Lyn Hellegaard and Renee Mitchell were not team players and because they were not, in his opinion, team players but were beginning to expose the corrupt underpinnings of the Missoula city government and its financial system, they were subject to massive, massive efforts to get them out of office. And usually that's the price you pay for telling the truth which he thinks Lyn and Renee had attempted to do. They certainly differed on many political issues and points of view. Above all, Lyn and Renee appeared to him to be the two most honest people on this Council and he applauds them for not buckling under to the politics here.

Carol Bellin, resident of Ward 3, said she’s here tonight because she’d like to thank Alderwoman Stacy Rye for eight years of exemplary public service. Living in Ward 3 she’s been very fortunate to have, in her opinion, the best representation in the city with Councilors Rye and Jaffe. She’s sad to see Stacy Rye leave City Council. She first met Stacy in 2003 when she was campaigning for her seat on the Council. She came to her house to explain her views and her motivation to serve and Ms. Bellin was struck, even then, by how bright and energetic she is. She felt immediately that Stacy offered the city a tremendous resource as an intelligent, professional leader and felt then and still do today that Stacy has the potential to even be Mayor some day in the future. It’s with great regret to her that we’ll be losing the perspective of a representative who’s currently living the life of a busy working mom in Missoula. There are not many on City Council with young children in the home. We need to make sure that the challenges of raising a family in Missoula are considered when we design and plan our future. Stacy is to be lauded for giving our large community the benefits of her service that came with her sacrifice of family time. For those of us who come and speak for three minutes and then pack up and go home, it is a sacrifice to sit in deliberation for hours after the public commenters have gone home. As a mom, it’s not easy to know that at times it can be a sacrifice given by your child who must learn early to be patient with the endless adult conversations that unexpectedly come up at the grocery store or at the school or even at home when people knock on your door. But Stacy’s always worked hard to find a balance and she is an incredibly positive role model for her daughter. She knows Stacy’s daughter has inherited her mom’s sharp mental abilities and that she’s very proud of her mom so she thanks Stacy for showing her daughter that it’s important to care for the community outside of the home as well. She’d like to recognize Stacy Rye and thank her directly for just a few of the contributions towards a better life in Missoula that she made over her eight years of service. Thanks for your hard work and discernment, bringing some great recreational facilities into being. Ms. Bellin loves living just a few blocks away from a great baseball stadium and an indoor water park. Thanks for alerting her to proposals to increase the speed limit on her street and thanks for voting to keep it slow. Thanks for speaking up for pedestrian and bicycle safety by supporting new sidewalks and trail ways and improving streets like the Arthur/Fifth Street intersections. Thanks for caring about our city trees and reminding us to water them. Thanks for being a squeaky wheel for needed playground improvements at Sacajawea Park. She was a primary reason that it got done and there’s lot of playful squeals from kids in the neighborhood. Thanks for being a leader for justice and fairness by sponsoring the antidiscrimination ordinance. Thanks for listening to her concerns about the panhandling ordinance and taking a principle stand against the aspects that could be vulnerabilities for poor people. Thanks for your service on the Montana Workers’ Rights Board. Thanks for helping to move the Champion Mill site a lot closer to redevelopment into the potential that it offers to Missoula. And thanks to listening to her views about being committed to practices that ensure that all public meetings are transparent and open meetings, and thanks for modifying her personal practices to make that so. It reflected a high level of commitment to professional development. She hopes that Stacy has the best of holidays with her family, relieved of public responsibilities but Ms. Belli hopes that after some period of rest and reflection she will consider returning to public service. We need women of your caliber so come back soon.

CONSENT AGENDA (1 ROLL CALL VOTE)

1. Approve claims totaling $2,600,167.17. (Detailed Claims) (Chart of Accounts) (A&F) (12/20/11)
2. Set a public hearing on January 9, 2012, to consider a resolution revising city of Missoula Parks and Recreation fee schedules for Parks and Recreation programs, Facilities and Concessionaires. (Cons)
3. Resolution 7667—Adopt a resolution declaring certain city of Missoula property as surplus and authorizing its disposal. (PS&H)

Mayor Engen said, thank you, Ms. Rehbein. Anyone in the audience care to comment on any of the items on the consent agenda this evening? Any questions or comments from Council members? Seeing none, we’ll have a roll call vote.

Upon a roll call vote, the vote on the consent agenda was as follows:

AYES:Childers, Haines, Hellegaard, Jaffe, Marler,

Mitchell, Rye, Strohmaier, Walzer, Wiener, Wilkins

NAYS:None

ABSTAIN:None

ABSENT:Wolken

Motion carried: 11 Ayes, 0 Nays, 0 Abstain, 1 Absent

COMMENTS FROM CITY STAFF, AGENCIES, COMMISSIONS, AUTHORITIES, AND COMMUNITY FORUM - None

SPECIAL PRESENTATION - None

PUBLIC HEARINGS - None

COMMUNICATIONS FROM MAYOR

Mayor Engen echoed the sentiments heard from folks this evening and thanks to all Council members for their service and dedication to the cause and Ms. Rye, in particular. He and her actually served together on Council and she, Mr. Childers and Mayor Engen are the only folks who were on Council at that time and he appreciated her then and appreciates her now and thank you for all the good work you’ve done.

GENERAL COMMENTS OF CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

Alderwoman Marler echoed some of the nice comments they had from folks in the audience and she’s sure a lot of folks at home are thinking the same thing. Thanks to everyone on Council but thank you to those of you who are at your last City Council meeting of your term. She appreciates having a chance to serve with you even though we don’t agree on everything but she appreciates having had the chance of getting to know them better and serving with them on the City Council.

Alderman Childers thanked Pam, Renee, Lyn and Stacy for their service to their constituents in the City of Missoula. He thinks that’s important and he hopes that they’ve all served their constituents to the best of their ability and at least pleased some of their folks in their wards. He knows he’s never pleased everyone but you do what you can. Welcome aboard to all the new Council members. Also, he had mentioned in committee about requests for information. It’s helpful to make your request clear and try to solicit the support of other City Council members so everybody knows what you want and probably you’ll find the whole City Council will do their best to get behind you and get the information that you’re looking for because all of us want to know what’s going on and none of us knows everything so try to do that, keep your fellow Council members informed and best of luck to all of us. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukah, happy take-a-little-time-off to everybody.

Alderwoman Mitchell said she was deeply touched by the words said earlier and the award presented to her and to Lyn and it’s true that she’s never considered herself a politician but she also never would have applied the word statesman. If she had the choice she’d rather be a statesman than a politician and she’s very flattered and honored. Four years ago, in January, she was sworn in as the duly elected City Council Alderman Ward 5 and congratulations to her successor. Serving as Council representative during the past four years has been her privilege. When she first made the decision to run for public office in the spring of 2007, she surprised no one more than herself, except for perhaps her husband. Public office was never on her list of things that she’s ever considered doing, however, she is very grateful to have had this experience. She is appreciative of the voters who chose to trust her to represent them in local city government. Prior to being elected to the City Council she was actively involved in our 39th Street Neighborhood Council and she served as the Neighborhood Community Forum representative. In the past four years she has often been in the minority of major decisions made by this body but her decisions were never made lightly, always made with her constituents in mind and there were a number of contentious issues and many difficult decisions to be made. Fiscal accountability, transparency and honesty are all essential to good government, at least in this country. That’s what she had promised and that’s what she had sought to attain. It was evident to her that the recent election was less about representative government but had more to do with going along to get along. As an independent and as someone who doesn’t have a huge political machine to back her, she’s sure that Christmas came early for the Mayor, the Council supermajority, two local newspapers, Missoula County Democrats, Montana Conservation Voters, LGBT, Forward Montana plus other special interest groups who were able to deliver to this Council what they wanted. Her unwillingness to buy into what she perceived at times to be the process of less than honest government was akin at times to waving a small flag in order to stop a herd of stampeding buffalo. Through her life she’s learned that what is popular isn’t always right and what is right isn’t always popular. It was her good fortune to be born in Montana, in these United States of America to some pretty cool parents that, even though they had their difficulties, did a fine job of raising her and her siblings and she wanted to say once more thanks to Missoula, thank you to her friends. She was at a time in her life where she thought she had all the friends she needed. She has a great family. She’s had a good life with a lot of nieces and nephews. She’s been working with the youth homes. She’s made a lot of friends with young people and helped them in their lives and she didn’t realize that even as you get a little older you meet more friends and your life just becomes fuller and fuller. So, even though she’s saying goodbye tonight to the Council, she’s not saying goodbye to Missoula and probably will say hello again to some of her friends to whom she’s been out of touch, and she’s pleased for the new friends that she’d made over the last four years throughout her endeavors and it’s been her privilege to serve as Council Alderwoman Ward 5 for these past four years and thank you very much.