Missoula Red Tape

John Quandt is a former business owner and current father raising his 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. (Nothing stay-at-home about it — Quandt was at Bonner Park when he called.)

His wife is a Billings native, and her job brought Quandt to Missoula from Seattle three years ago. In Seattle, he watched the community change from a family-friendly place to a much less-friendly metropolis.

“You didn’t know your neighbor no matter how long you lived there,” he says.

He doesn’t want the same thing to happen in Missoula. So he wants to get citizens active in local government and said he wants the city to do a better job of bringing people into the conversations.

“I’ve been here for three years. I haven’t received any notices about public hearings or anything of that matter,” Quandt says.

He’s up against Ward 3 Councilman Bob Jaffe, who puts out a weekly committee report on his listserv. Quandt’s review?

“The city should be able to do that directly and not just rely on a single Council member to do it, although it’s great,” he says.

He used to own a plumbing business and is a fan of local shops — especially the trades and their potential to inspire students who might otherwise drop out.

“I’d like to see the City Council work more closely with local businesses,” Quandt said.

He’s a registered Republican who describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially moderate. And he became a fan of Missoula when he first visited.

“It’s kind of a nice little town and everybody seemed friendly,” Quandt says.

– Keila Szpaller

May 18th, 2009 | Tags: City Council, city elections, Missoula | Category: City Council, Elections, Uncategorized | Comments (3)

First, though, there’s a little competition in Ward 3. The Elections Office tells me John Quandt has filed to run against Councilman Bob Jaffe. (Calls to Quandt later.)

O’Herron is running against Councilman Dick Haines in Ward 5. (Haines filed and so did Councilman Dave Strohmaier.) O’Herron introduced himself in an e-mail, saying he’s ready to build relationships with other Council folks and the administration.

“I believe in continuing to build a strong, vibrant local economy that generates jobs and recycles money locally,” O’Herron wrote. “After running a business with my wife for 10 years in downtown Missoula (O’Herron’s Hot Dogs), I have a unique understanding of economic issues that Missoula faces.”

“Some of the issues that will continue to be important to work on in Ward 5 are traffic, zoning, providing services for seniors, maintaining our fine parks and safe streets for kids, and keeping property taxes as low as possible.”

O’Herron said he holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the UM School of Forestry and his background is in both traditional forestry and urban forestry. He currently works at Montana DNRC as a planner in the forest management program.

– Keila Szpaller

May 15th, 2009 | Tags: city elections, Missoula | Category: City Council, Elections | Comments (5)

The city of Missoula first got its taste of CDBG money back in 1999. That year, some $700,000 of the HUD money came in, said OPG’s Mike Barton. Community Development Block Grants have helped organizations such as the Missoula Food Bank, Garden City Harvest, and Partnership Health Center.

Funding crept up to about $750,000 but then what went up started heading the other direction. Barton said the last couple years the influx has been around $620,000.

This year, there’s a kink in the trend. It’s one Councilman Bob Jaffe praises this week on his listserv.* “We did the original grants assuming our allocation would go down as it always does,” Jaffe wrote. “But it turns out that our allocation actually went up this year. I assume this is one of the side effects of having a few more Democrats in Washington.”

Here’s details* from committee. This year, the city got an extra $162,000 in stimulus dollars and Barton reports the presidential budget proposes a 15 percent CDBG increase for next year.

“We’re hopeful if Congress adopts Obama’s budget that it would go back up to $700,000 again,” he said.

Others are wondering where that stimulus money is coming from. Councilwoman Renee Mitchell has called it “magic money” and she abstained from an earlier vote on ARRA money.

– Keila Szpaller

May 14th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

…never grows old. Check out how Washington D.C. deals with its backyard poultry here.

– Chelsi Moy

May 14th, 2009 | Tags: Moy, urban chickens | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Put the “conserve” back into “conservation lands.” Pay the sheep herder a rate that isn’t “serfdom wages.” And get people who use the land to take care of it, pulling weeds and doing other chores.

Those are some comments Parks and Rec got in a recent public survey that’s the foundation for a Conservation Lands Management Plan. Nope, dogs and leashes didn’t dominate the input. And yes, it’s clear Missoulians still love open space. Some 62 percent of respondents would pay more taxes if the city would spend more to maintain conservation lands. They don’t want the money spent on things like benches, though. Some 80 participants filled out the survey.

One important note from a respondent: “I think the right questions are being asked.” Conservation lands manager Morgan Valliant sent over compiled comments here.* A few excerpts:

*Recreation: “Why are we protecting elk here (on Jumbo)? It is not a wilderness area.”

*Recreation: “Many (bikers) almost run me over when traveling in parks. (They) need education.”

*Park Locations: “The County Lands adjacent to the Tower Street Complex should be transferred to the City, and managed in concern with the open space. It’s too confusing to the public when we have multiple jurisdictions.”

*Trail/Trailheads: “Given that these are ‘conservation lands’ there seems to be abundant trails. Many are ill-conceived and located and should be closed to protect resource values.”

*Vegetation Management: “I question the use of sheep. They tear up the ground with braided trails. Regardless of the effectiveness, what we pay the shepherd is an embarrassment to Missoula.”

*Vegetation Management: “I have seen people who walk dogs for a job on public lands and do not think this fits in Missoula open space use.”

*Vegetation Management: “Spraying in the North Hills appears to be killing both Lupine and Arrowhead Balsam. Cheat Grass is taking over.”

Some folks say the areas are urban and shouldn’t managed to be “pristine.” Others want the lands managed first for habitat. A survey — toward the end of the document — gives details. Valliant also sent these notes* from a working group meeting.

– Keila Szpaller

May 13th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Downtown Missoula is a nearly perfect place to get around on your own two feet. So says a ranking here* in a link OPG director Roger Millar sent as part of his regular “interesting articles” email. The stories he sends cover development issues. I plugged in the address for Council Chambers, and it scored 95. From there, you can get coffee, catch the bus, buy a meal, see a movie, visit a park, and borrow a book a the library — all by walking less than a quarter mile. Here’s the features* that Walk Score considers.

I can’t tell at a glance how these guys are funded but they’re linked to Google and The Brookings Institution. Walking expert and Missoula fan Dan Burden is on their advisory board. He led some brainstorming workshops on the Russell Street redesign early on and walking and biking folks like his ideas.

Plug in your own address for fun. Also, Walk Score suggests realtors advertise a property’s walk score. I’m wondering if you can get a break for off-street parking if you have a high walk score. Anyway, happy ambling.

– Keila Szpaller

May 12th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

That’s your regular Monday meeting of the Missoula City Council.

*Mayor John Engen offered props — “extra credit” — to Assistant Fire Chief Jason Diehl for his work hashing out an ambulance contract with Missoula Emergency Services, Inc. Councilors praised city folks and MESI folks alike for hammering out lengthy negotiations. The contract is a first for Missoula.

*Bike-Ped Advisory Board member Jed Taylor said bikers won’t get off the sidewalks downtown until the streets feel safe. That means good travel lanes for bicycles. He spoke in favor of 5.5′ lanes. On Orange Street, though, he said a recent repainting could have put in 5′ lanes but didn’t.

*The Council unanimously approved annexing a parcel that will be the site of a rebuilt Matz chiropractic clinic. It’s at S. 14th St. W. The Public Works Department’s Carla Krause said the business will end up generating enough revenue to pay for the city services it uses.

*Councilwoman Renee Mitchell voted to approve the ambulance ordinance but said she thought a $250,000 bond was excessive. She called it a “hostage fee.”

*Councilman Ed Childers again vented about a group petitioning against the zoning rewrite. He said the information they’re circulating is wrong and he wants to know who they are. Some council members have said they’re involved. But Childers also apologized to Councilwoman Mitchell for being wrong about building heights being addressed. Mitchell said at least Childers’s comments generate some conversation on the topic.

*Councilman John Hendrickson disputed Childers’s idea that a flier coming from petitioners is untrue. “I don’t think it’s full of lies.” Maybe, he said, it includes differences of opinion. Plus, he said, “to call citizens liars I find offensive.”

*Councilman Dave Strohmaier said the notion that council always splits on a 7-5 vote just isn’t true. In fact, Monday’s meeting was an example. All votes were unanimous — and on some potentially controversial topics. Mitchell abstained from one on stimulus funding. (She called those federal dollars “magic money” and said the federal government is just digging itself a deep hole by doling out that money.)

And that’s a night.

– Keila Szpaller

May 11th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (10)

Not pants. Flood waters. OPG’s floodplain administrator Todd Klietz sent over some brochures to help you navigate the newly drawn floodplain in federal maps. The Federal Emergency Management Agency drew new ones, and they’re here.* Some folks have had a hard time with the maps — but Klietz is answering questions in person at 435 Ryman and over the phone at 258-4657.

Klietz points to this brochure* as probably the most informative. It’s from North Carolina, and Klietz writes the following: “We don’t have V zones in Montana (those are for coastal states) but other than that and the North Carolina phone numbers, it’s very applicable here.”

Here’s one* on getting a grandfathered insurance rate. These new maps haven’t been a friend-making tool for FEMA. Some 500 people in Missoula County will have to buy flood insurance or up their protection in the next year or so.

Last one’s here.* FEMA folks will be in town 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14 in Council Chambers to answer questions. More here.*

– Keila Szpaller

May 11th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

… this day just got away and I had two more things to post. First, meet Mark Fitzgerald. He’s the candidate taking on John Hendrickson in Ward 2.

Briefly, he was on the Planning Board, and some folks on Council and in City Hall asked Fitzgerald to take a shot in Ward 2. He ran against Haines four years ago. He said he’s an independent who leans left but doesn’t cling to any ideology. He figures he’s most different from Hendrickson in style and views himself as more open-minded.

“I really try to get to yes before I just say no,” Fitzgerald said.

He’s been in the service business for 30 years, so he’s a fan of “legendary service” and wants to offer that value to constituents. He’s an advocate for affordable housing. He said he hopes the zoning rewrite creates regs that are easy to navigate. The rules should help developers stay competitive while creating more affordable housing, too.

OK — The End for now. No full-blown profiles ’til later.

Second thing: Here’s the full report* from the lobbyist the city hired to do interference in Helena this year. Basically, John MacDonald said Missoula did a good job on defense and didn’t have much energy left for offense.

One of the city’s biggest foes was the Montana Department of Transportation. I think MDT folks and city government folks are talking and trying to work through some things, though. I wondered if the city managed to remove that 14 percent or 17 percent cap the state keeps when it filters money to cities, and CAO Bruce Bender said he believes Missoula now gets to keep the full amount for some projects — but just a handful.

Over and out and back on Monday.

– Keila Szpaller

May 7th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (2)