The Monday Memo

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Welcome to Monday – Here are some of the topics that caught my attention for today’s column:

  • State Representative Scot Kerns
  • City Manager Greg Doyon
  • The Easter Posts
  • One More Thing

STATE REPRESENTATIVE SCOT KERNS:

I happened to catch the following story that was posted Friday afternoon by the Montana Free Press (MTFP).

“Rep. Scot Kerns, R-Great Falls, was convicted of a DUI after police found him sleeping in his car with an open container at arm’s reach. This session, he brought a series of traffic crime bills — including one that would allow people convicted of the same crime to get their records expunged.”

Kerns is my state representative. He represents House District 23 in Great Falls. I had words with him when he came to my door campaigning. He does not like to be called a MAGA.

The Western Word has been around since 2005. If you have been on this journey with me, then you know I hate drunk driving and that my sister had her life (and my family’s) significantly changed when she and her two friends were hit head-on by a drunk driver.

The MTFP reported:

“Great Falls Republican Rep. Scot Kerns, a Lutheran pastor and former Air Force officer, was convicted of first-offense DUI, obstructing a peace officer and unlawful possession of an open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle in 2022, according to Great Falls Municipal Court documents obtained by Montana Free Press and first reported here.”

Just imagine what would have happened in his last election if the Cascade County Democrats would have done a little opposition research on Kerns.

The MTFP says there was a “scuffle” and described it like this:

“Kerns then refused a field-sobriety test, and the officer informed him he was being detained and asked him to exit the vehicle, according to court records. The report then describes a sort of scuffle, the cause of the obstruction charge.”

Here we have a state representative scuffling with our fine police officers and endangering the lives of people by driving drunk. Shameful. Why should Kerns continue to serve?

The Montana Legislature has been soft on drunk driving forever.

Read the complete report from MTFP HERE.

CITY MANAGER GREG DOYON:

I’ll bet that Great Falls City Manager Greg Doyon won’t have any problems paying for an increase in his sanitation bill, for the county public safety levy, or even for the city public safety levy if it’s approved.

Why…

According to a report from The Electric last week, the Great Falls City Commission extended Doyon’s contract from April 5, 2023, to April 5, 2026, and voted to increase his salary by 3.5 percent, bringing Doyon’s base salary to $190.142.

The present crop of commissioners and mayor seem to have the urge to spend a lot of our taxpayer dollars. Are there any fiscal conservatives who want to run for office to try to stop the spending, taxing, and raising fees?

You can catch the complete report from The Electric HERE.

THE EASTER POSTS:

I don’t think I have posted an Easter Message for a few years not because I no longer believe in God.

It’s important for politicians to post something on religious holidays. I think it is more about politics than anything else. It fills a block. If you are a conservative then you just about have to post something about Easter.

The politicians did not disappoint this weekend. In no way am I saying their messages are not sincere, I just think that on the other days of the year, they should show how much they care about God’s people. Some even got two messages for the event, as they posted a “Good Friday” message!

Even a local city commissioner got in on the Easter message parade. He is running for reelection.

Click on the name to see their Easter message:

Joe Biden
Kamala Harris
Greg Gianforte
Jon Tester
Steve Daines
Matt Rosendale
Ryan Zinke

ONE MORE THING:

“Before you speak to me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people; before you tell me how much you love your God, show me in how much you love all His children; before you preach to me of your passion for your faith, teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I’m not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as I am in how you choose to live and give.” – Cory Booker

## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##

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12 thoughts on “The Monday Memo”

  1. if you drive impaired and make it home, no crime has been committed. There should be some reward if someone has the commonsense to get off the road.

    • I don’t agree with that. If you’re smart enough to call for a ride, then reward is good. Who knows what happened between the time the person left the bar/party and decided to pull over and sleep.
      They need strong laws for first time DUIs, and let people know if they drink and drive, it could be costly. Second and more DUIs should have even stronger penalties.
      -JmB

      • When the police station themselves outside a tavern and tests every driver who gets inside their car, then we will have effective DUI control. What do you suppose the booze lobby in the state would say about that? I think we should encourage drunks to get off the road as soon as they realize they should not be driving. Drunks should be able to call the police and have a ride home sent to them. Then the tavern owner should be notified of the happening. I agree about stiffer penalties and really stiff penalties for subsequent DUIs. Trouble is, driving impaired does not fit the true definition of a crime. There is no victim. When an incident,even minor, occurs throw the book at them.

  3. re: Kerns

    I especially liked this part of the story:

    “(In an interview Friday with MTFP, Kerns presented a different version of events, claiming he was out celebrating his birthday, realized he was too drunk to drive, got into his parked car and went straight to sleep).

    “I was sleeping prior to that,” he said. “I’m not sure where the curbs come from.”

    Dude, unless you were “celebrating” at Smith’s, you probably drove from somewhere. That strip mall isn’t exactly packed with hoppin’ nightspots. Even the walking distance sushi joint that does serve alcohol closes at 9:00 p.m.

    And if you were just done for the night and and decided to sleep it off instead of drive, why was there an open beer in your rig?

    But what a great bill this might be. People could get their first DUI expunged, behave for a bit, and then always be on their first DUI instead of their 7th or 8th.

    • Someone should have told him that sometimes it’s better to say little. -JmB

    • If you have the keys in the car you are in control of a motor vehicle. He should release the video that LE took. Did he plead guilty? He doesn’t mention that his DL was suspended for 6 months as is required for refusing to do a breathalyzer test or submit to a blood sample.

  4. I had to laugh out loud when I saw the advertisement featuring Sean hannity at the end of your post today. Really???

    • The advertisements are computer generated and not selected by me. They can range from the left and the right. -JmB

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