Happy Monday, friends! Here are the topics for today’s commentary:
- Election Protection Committee
- Commissioner Tryon Responds
- Did You Know?
- Powerball Lottery
- One More Thing
ELECTION PROTECTION COMMITTEE:
In case you missed it, the Cascade County Election Protection Committee (EPC) sent a letter to the Cascade County Commissioners in support of the Great Falls Public Schools that requested the duties of the Cascade County Elections office be transferred to the Cascade County Commissioners.
In a press release received by The Western Word, EPC spokesperson, Jane Weber, said “Ms. Metrchant {sic} has demonstrated her inability to run elections, and Cascade County voters deserve fair, transparent, and free elections. America’s elections are our greatest right and should not be damaged by incompetence.”
The EPC also said that county commissioners in six Montana counties (Missoula, Yellowstone, Sheridan, Lake, Carbon, and Bighorn) already manage their election operations with an election administrator on staff. Weber said, “it’s already working elsewhere, so why not make the change in Cascade County where the current Clerk and Recorder is failing to run correct elections.”
I think the best answer to the concerns about the elections in Cascade County is to let the County Commission manage the elections. What are your thoughts?
You can read the letter on the EPC Facebook page.
COMMISSIONER TRYON RESPONDS:
I think that Great Falls City Commissioner Rick Tryon responded to an ethics complaint filed by Jasmine Taylor of Great Falls. In case you missed it, The What the Funk 406 blog posted the following message on their Facebook page about an ethics complaint against Tryon, and it made some of the local news websites:
Just submitted an ethics complaint against Commissioner Rick Tryon to the City Commission and also presented a cease and desist to Tryon himself.
Turns out, despite making money off of paid advertising, E City Beat was NOT registered as a business in Montana. Don’t worry, we solved that.
What The Funk blog now owns both E City Beat and Electric City Beat. We’ve advised Tryon and Phil Faccenda that they are using OUR registered business name and must immediately desist.
Recently, Tryon responded with:
Good morning, friends.
I very much appreciate the many emails, phone calls, and messages of support and encouragement I’ve received the past couple of days.
But not to worry – there’s no way on God’s good earth that I will EVER be bullied and intimidated, or allow hate filled looney tunes like Jasmine Taylor & Company to stifle free speech in Great Falls.
It’s 4 weeks out from our municipal election and sadly the leftist dirty trick machine and the partisan hacks in some of the local media have reached a new low.
Instead of focusing on trying to shut down other peoples opinions or wasting time staging pathetic dramas in public forums I will continue to do my best to help make sure Great Falls is a better place to live for ALL of us.
I’m not trying to pick any fights, but I’m not running from any either. Stay tuned. 🙂
I don’t know if any of this will affect Tryon being reelected. He has a lot of MAGA support in the city and MAGA candidates have won almost every election in the last few years.
I won’t be voting for him because he has raised fees and taxes too much.
Check out the Facebook posts from WTF406 and Commissioner Tryon HERE and HERE.
DID YOU KNOW?
Supporters of the Great Falls Public Safety Levy and Bond are putting out these “Did You Know” posts about the upcoming public safety and bond votes.
As many readers know, I am voting against the public safety levy AND bond. The city is asking for too much money.
One of the latest pieces of propaganda posted by the supporters says,,
“The Public Safety Levy and Bond will cost $1.33/day for a home valued at $300,000. The safety of your loved ones costs less that most “dollar” menus.”
So that comes out to $41.23 a month (31 days) and $494.76 a year, every year. That comes to almost $2,500 over five years. Too much.
The almost $500 per year increase in taxes is too much for most people. With the other tax increases from the county safety levy and for the library (I voted for the library levy) and other tax increases, that might bankrupt some people – and you might not be able to buy that cheeseburger from the “dollar” menu.
POWERBALL LOTTERY:
The jackpot for the Powerball lottery is now $1.55 billion! That’s $1,500,000,000.
The next drawing is on Monday (tonight). Visit the Powerball website HERE.
ONE MORE THING:
“I fear not the dark itself, but what may lurk within it.” – Unknown
The Western Word 
Ms. Taylor seems to enjoy trolling Tryon, and he falls for it every time. Like shooting fish in a barrel.
Public safety levy: Would be easier to think about voting for it if the police chief would ever commit to exactly what crime measurement improvements we are going to see.
If it passes we’ll see more cell phone violation tickets – the bread and butter for the city coffers! 😂
If the chief was to commit to deploying a flying wedge of officers to crack down on the rampant red light running on 10th (and elsewhere), I could vote for this. But I want that stated or better yet written commitment.
The thought about removing the Election Department from the Clerk & Recorder Department duties started before Merchant beat Rina. Way before Merchant even filed for the office. I think the Tryon ethics complaint is bunk.
And
I agree things have gone haywire in the Election Department. I do wonder how things are going in the Clerk & Recorder office. Lots of issential records there.
Maybe the latest issues with that office will be enough to get two county commissioners to go for the change.
The ethics complaint seems a little weak to me, too.
Thanks, JmB
Mayor Kelley said,”Tryon used to disagree with the commission often until he joined it.” Rick is now sitting at the cool table.
Yep. Funny how times change. Thanks, JmB