Happy Monday – I’m kicking off the week with these topics:
- City of Great Falls
- Montana Campaign News
- Flint & Homestead Exemption
- Campaign Mailers Update
- Knudsen vs Cromwell Update
- Sheehy – Come Up for Air
- One More Thing
CITY OF GREAT FALLS:
In his second term as Mayor of Great Falls, I’ve found that Cory Reeves and I don’t agree about much. But, on April 30, I read his Facebook comment where he wrote, “I don’t believe government should be in the entertainment business.”
He goes on to write:
For years, the City operated our golf courses at a significant loss. Once we partnered with a private operator, those same courses turned around. They’re now in the black and most of the debt service has been paid down. That’s not a coincidence, it’s a different model working better.
At the same time, the City continues to run facilities like the multi sports complex and the Mansfield Center, and we consistently lose money on them. That’s taxpayer money going to things that are not core government responsibilities.
I believe our focus should be on what government is actually meant to do well: public safety, streets, water and sewer infrastructure, and the courts. Those are essential services. That’s where we owe the public our full attention and resources.
Entertainment and recreation absolutely matter in a community, but that doesn’t mean the government has to operate those facilities. The private sector is often better positioned to run them efficiently and sustainably.
As a commission, we have some big decisions ahead. I’m keeping an open mind on the best path forward, but I’m not willing to continue putting taxpayers on the hook for nonessential operations that consistently lose money.
I agree with his comments 100%. You can see his post and read the comments HERE.
2026 MONTANA CAMPAIGN NEWS:
Flint & Homestead Exemption…
An analysis of the Montana 1st News homepage indicates a clear editorial stance opposing Aaron Flint’s bid for Congress. The coverage frequently highlights criticisms and negative aspects of his campaign. Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but the publication seems to lean toward Al Olszewski.
The latest attack on Flint is about the Homestead Exemption tax in Montana:
However, candidates do have to reside in their homes for 7 months in 2025 if a candidate claimed a Homestead Exemption rebate in 2025 for the 2024 tax year, in which they were then automatically enrolled in the “Homestead Exemption.” How then does this pertain to Aaron Flint (candidate for Western Montana U.S. Congressional District No.1)?
It appears Flint rented a home in Kalispell on or before June 22, 2025, and if that’s the case then he could not have been in Billings for 7 months in 2025. Flint therefore should have disenrolled for the Homestead Exemption.
Flint is also wanting folks who live in the Western District to know he lives in Flathead County. He’s made it very clear that this is where he resides. However, to reiterate, Flint got the tax exemption on his home in Billings.
Sure, the decision by Congressman Ryan Zinke to retire and for Flint to have moved to the Flathead and run for his seat smells (but not as much as the Daines and Alme circus). Selling your soul to the MAGAs makes people do crazy shit. Maybe Flint did not have all of his ducks in a row.
I’m sure someone is getting right on this. Read the complete article from Montana 1st News HERE.
Campaign Mailers Update…
For new readers, I keep track of the campaign literature received during the campaign season. Some of the better mailers get shown on The Western Word.
So far this primary campaign season, I have received 28 campaign mailers.
That is through Saturday (May 2).
By the way, please make sure you save your mailers and recycle them!
KNUDSEN VS CROMWELL UPDATE:
I am liking Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell more each week. In a follow-up to my post on Friday, Cromwell has responded. (Background)
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle (BDC) reports:
Retaining counsel, Gallatin County Attorney Audrey Cromwell filed legal action on Friday seeking clarification from Montana’s highest court on her immigration and Customs Enforcement records dispute with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen.
“We would not be here if the Attorney General had simply picked up the phone or done his job and issued a formal legal opinion.” Cromwell said in a Friday release. “Instead, we are dealing with public statements and theatrical directives issued without the clear legal foundation Montanans deserve.”
Cromwell’s petition for declaratory relief asks the state Supreme Court to determine whether Confidential Criminal Justice Information can be disclosed to ICE for civil or administrative purposes without a court order. For Cromwell, Montana’s constitutional right to privacy is the crux of her dispute.
“The Attorney General’s political theatrics have blown a simple, case-specific email exchange between a legal assistant and a county administrative office into a statewide crisis,” reads Cromwell’s argument in the filing.
This was another political stunt by Knudsen, and Cromwell did not blink.
SHEEHY – COME UP FOR AIR:
I shared the commentary in the Daily Montanan from George Ochsenski titled,
Time for this Montana SEAL to come up for air
Here’s the lead paragraph:
It’s difficult to ignore the news these days, unless maybe you’re underwater. Which would seem to be the case for Montana’s Sen. Tim Sheehy since, in spite of farmers and ranchers not being able to afford the fertilizer they need for crops or the diesel to power their equipment, Sheehy believes the top issue for which he needs to introduce legislation is to build Trump’s fever-dream ballroom complete with underground bunker.
Really, you can’t make this stuff up.
After sharing on X, I found that several people do not understand what a “Commentary” is, like this comment: “OOOHHH more unbiased reporting from the Daily Montanan.”
One comment was just angry:
OK “Brown”……you seem to have answers for all the worlds problems….(in your mind).
So PLEASE explain *clearly, Your expertise…oh and
George Ochenski’s as well…in world affairs. Exactly how did you come by all of this information? Reading posts on BlueSky?
I’m serious. So unless you can tell us in ordinary English what the difference between a man and a woman is…then you have NO business attempting to tell us how to run the world.
I’m not on Bluesky.
I have mentioned that Sheehy is a bootlicker of Trump, only second to Daines. I don’t see him being a U.S. Senator for very long. The MAGA run will end, and he will grow tired of the snail’s pace in the U.S. Senate.
ONE MORE THING:
May the Fourth be with you!
## HAVE A GREAT WEEK ##
The Western Word 
Brenda Roskos runs Montana 1st News.
She’s just another California Republican new to Montana
Brenda L Roskos, 65 – Kalispell, MT – Has Court or Arrest Records
They’re so funny as they continue to insist that the only Californians in Montana are liberals.
Thanks. As I wrote a while back, a lot of websites and social media sites pop up every election season, but The Western Word has been here since 2005. -JmB
The golf courses were run at a profit with union employees for years. A parks/golf supervisor was let go after they found out he had a couple parks workers and a golf employee turning in time as city employees when they were working on his private home. He wasn’t the first manager to be caught doing this. The man from Canada that put in a lot of overtime hours building the greens and tees when he actually was hanging out at the Playground and bragged he didn’t have a green card and paid no taxes.
When you drive by the huge Parks and Rec building full of support staff you can wonder how big it’s grown over the years. You might notice a shed against the fence, its purpose was to be placed at #1 tee to catch golfers just walking on without paying. Never was used. All the pipe and supplies needed to irrigate 5 holes that weren’t finished and was paid for by the golf enterprise fund disappeared somewhere. The cafe at the pro-shop that never made a profit to share with the City but somehow continued to stay open.
The City lost money on the golf courses because the people in charge were either incompetent, corrupt or both. Remember the Parks Director that got caught stealing money from the courses? That was just the one you heard about, there was a number of others you haven’t. How about the mess they made thinking they could build a back nine at Anaconda and eighteen new holes at Speck? That’s the financial hole that took all these years to pay back. The last Superintendent the City hired to run the courses had two felony convictions concerning drugs on his record and shortly after he left he was charged with attempted murder.
I remember when they filled the pond at Speck the line that fed the pump house stuck a foot out of the water, what was supposed to provide a 20 day supply of water sucked air in two. I suspect it’s still that way.
Interesting information. I stopped playing golf years ago. Too expensive. Thanks, JmB
The private company now running the golf courses also doesn’t have to pay public employee union wages or provide City “cadillac” level benefits so that’s another reason they can operate semi-profitably. They could probably even do a lot better and maybe pay the employees better if the City didn’t insist on continuing to micromanage those businesses as far as prices etc.
But then there is the example of parking. The City saw an opportunity to eliminate more union jobs and turned that over a private contractor because according to right wing dogma private can always do things better than government. But lo and behold that enterprise is still losing money and customers (us) are unhappy with the service. (Same thing happened in Chicago, by the way.) So it isn’t as simple as just getting out of the business and putting that headache behind you … the headache being what motivates a lot of the thinking from what I have seen between the lines from both the mayor and commissioner Tryon.
Parks: Cities great and small across the USA manage to run a parks department and protect the legacy of that open land that’s been passed down to us, but we’re supposed to believe that somehow this particular City commission is incapable of doing that and needs to sell them off or “repurpose” them? Or that just another headache they don’t want to deal with, too?
Then there’s the really big money burners police and fire. If the City isn’t hiring the right people to run or work in those other departments and keep their budgets in shape how are we supposed to believe the manager and commission made all the right hiring decisions for public safety? Or public works? Hire some consultant to come in and crawl up the a** of those departments too and see what’s going on and find out if there’s some efficiencies to be realized or union payroll and City bennies to eliminate. That’s IF you are truly serious about the claim you will look under every rock for savings before asking taxpayers for more money for public safety like you claimed. (Being prevented by law from simply taking it without public discussion like the giant utility rate hikes.)
On a semi-related note about the leadership of this city, there was just a week long Give Great Falls event to raise money for various local charities and non-profits. I saw no promotion of this event from our mayor, city commissioners with an active social media presence, or the City website like one might expect from city leaders. Other cities in Montana also ran these fundraisers but only for a day or two. Here’s the results:
Bozeman: $3,164,027
Missoula: $1,316,634
Billings: $799,072
Helena: Not ’til this weekend but over $305k in 2025.
Great Falls: $80,448
Worth noting that the mayor has recently been demonizing non-profits for not paying some taxes. Commissioner Tryon has been engaged in long-term demonization of non-profits because they supposedly attract undesirables, and he’s now somehow involved with the head-scratching, misleading, and context-free series of expose’ “articles” about the finances of local non-profits at the ECity Stormer.
Draw your own conclusions.
Great points. I just think we might be better off if the city starts circling the wagons. With the national debt being close to $39 trillion, the federal money will dry up one of these days and states and cities will feel it.
I’m at age where the basics are enough to make me happy. -JmB
Each golf course had two full time grounds crew employees and they paid a portion of their “Cadillac “insurance. The Mayor and the other managers had it as a free benefit. Part time grounds crew did not have health insurance. They also were paid less than the part time parks employees when they did perform skilled labor. Even though the golf course paid their wages the full time employees worked with forestry or the parks much of the winter. The more you know.