Let’s Talk About the AG Race

10/25/2016

Let’s talk about the Montana Attorney General race today.

No one else wants to.

I also have some thoughts on our equal pay charades as well as the hot HD 96 race.

Who’s running for governor in 2020?

It sure as hell isn’t going to be Laslovich, not after how badly the polls show him doing.

Maybe he’ll turn it around and pull off a win in two weeks…I dunno.

He’d have to if he wants a shot at governor in 2020.

And what other Democrats will run?

It’s a good question, and since Democrats didn’t do anything to boost their bench this cycle, it’s hard to name even a handful of candidates.

I mean…Larry Jent?

I won’t be voting for him, and the reason is simple – he voted against medical marijuana.

Why Brian Schweitzer ever had to drag that guy out from wherever he’d been hiding is beyond me.

Democrats could have put a no-name candidate up, one that could develop a name by losing and then come back in four years and have a shot.

Instead we got has-been Larry Jent.

Was that some kind of favor-trading?

To me it just stinks.

Not as much as the complete rollover that Dems gave to Tim Fox this year, however.

MEA-MFT came out and supported Fox right from the get-go. In fact, it was 2 weeks before anyone could even file.

Eric Feaver’s of course to blame for that.

Please never forget that Feaver, the head of the teacher’s union, makes $125,000 a year when his starting teachers suffer under the lowest pay in the nation.

But that’s the kind of ‘leadership’ we like in Montana.

What’s sad is that Dems have set up Tim Fox to run for governor in 2020, and he could win.

Will he be able to get past Gianforte in the primary, however?

This of course all assumes that Bullock will win this year, that Gianforte will give it a second shot in four years, and that Tim Fox wants the top state position.

Fox could get past Gianforte in the primary if Montana Republicans turn against Gianforte.

That’s the only way – Gianforte’s money would be too hard to beat on its own.

We know that support for Gianforte was tepid to lukewarm anyways, and the 34,000 people that voted for Nelson in the primary shows that.

Still, Gianforte packed the GOP leadership spots to the gills with his cronies. He was able to do that by donating to their campaigns so they'd win.

I can tell you right now that I don’t see Montanans voting in a Democrat for governor in 2020.

For many, 16 years of Democrats will be plenty. I think 12 has been enough.

Our Equal Pay Charade

I’ve noticed a few things over the past day and we’ll get into them now.

First, what’s with this equal pay nonsense?

What happened to SB 158?

That was the bill that Diane Sands carried last session that aimed to allow employees to talk about how much money they make without fear of recrimination.

That was the equal pay bill.

It did nothing to actually give women more money, it just made it so they could talk about how little they make compared to men.

I guess that would be the catalyst for change that’s needed…the ability to discuss how much you’re getting screwed over.

I’ll admit, it’s a start.

I’d rather see something that actually has language about pay and giving more, but we didn’t get that.

We got talk.

Alas, we didn’t get that either as the bill didn’t make it out of committee.

Don't try to discuss that with a Missoula lawyer:

.@gpstberg If women couldn't vote in the early 1900s, what made them think they could get the 19th Amendment ratified?
— Jesse Kodadek (@jessekodadek) October 25, 2016

@jessekodadek Sands' equal pay bill didn't even give women equal pay, just the ability to talk about pay. Why didn't it pass?
— Greg Strandberg (@gpstberg) October 25, 2016

.@gpstberg Because a bunch of Republicans voted against it?
— Jesse Kodadek (@jessekodadek) October 25, 2016

.@gpstberg Quit pretending you're a Democrat or that you actually care about progressive principles.
— Jesse Kodadek (@jessekodadek) October 25, 2016

As you can see, we don't even talk about our problems, we just jerk our knees and get defensive.

Remember, these are the kinds of people that will be running to get elected in the future.

God help us.

Democrats blame the bill not getting out of committee on “partisan battles,” which is fine…but how do you make sure those partisan battles don’t derail another bill?

I don’t think Democrats have a plan for that.

That doesn’t stop them from trotting out the placards and a few press photographers for their events on this.

They did it yesterday and they did it in August.

Despite that, and despite Bullock’s equal pay task force, women have not received equal pay in the three years that Bullock has been ‘working’ on this.

A large part of that blame must go to two women – Pam Bucy and Sheila Hogan.

Sands, Bucy, Hogan…three women that just can’t get it done.

Let’s not forget for one second, however, that the Business, Labor and Economic Affairs committee of the Montana Senate was the one to reject Sands’ equal pay bill.

Bullock’s across-the-aisle friend, Ed Buttrey – who did so much to get Obamacare through in 2015 – is the chair of that committee.

Elsie Arntzen was the vice chair, and if her voting to table an equal pay bill is not something Melissa Romano can bash her over the head with, then Romano doesn’t have a lot of political sense.

I mean, Arntzen wants the young girls she taught to grow up in a world where they're second-class citizens to men?

Wow, what a woman!

Republicans Dee Brown, Pat Connell, Cary Smith, and Vance Gordon were also on the committee last session.

None of those people care about women, and two of them are women.

It’s sad, and it’s sad that Democrats do not attack those losers.

But really, our Democrats in Montana are losers as well.

Or did the ‘equal pay’ bill not fail?

Missoula Democrats Abandon HD 96

House District 96 is a hot race, and one of the most expensive in the state.

Democrat Andrew Person has raised about $18,000 to win and Republican Adam Hertz has raised about $22,000.

Yes, this is a Montana House of Representatives race.

I profiled the detailed spending on this race earlier in the month and it was clear that Person is taking money from Charter.

That’s a no-no.

Perhaps that’s one reason that two former writers of the now-defunct 4&20 Blackbirds blog are supporting Hertz.

It could also be that Hertz was on the Missoula City Council…though since he was the only conservative voice in a room full of raging, tax-and-spend liberal do-gooders, I’m a bit surprised.

You see, that’s typically the kind of candidate that we saw 4&20 support over the years.

But then you have to realize that Hertz redeemed himself in the site’s eyes by voting against the sidewalk ordinance back in March 2014.

“The ordinance issue was handled very badly,” one of the site’s anonymous writers said, “and if it wasn’t for the vote of a young conservative, it would have been even worse.”

A month earlier the site had reminded us that Missoula could be worse off today “if Adam Hertz (a conservative) hadn’t moved to reconsider the amendments to avoid a lawsuit, and Missoula wouldn’t be facing a lawsuit if progressive Caitlin Copple didn’t support these amendments in the first place.”

One of the site’s other anonymous writers praised Hertz for voting against Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, in May 2013.

That same writer was impressed by Hertz’s emailing them of Mayor Engen’s apology letter regarding attempts to silence a Missoula police officer in 2012.

So we have two people that I assumed would usually go for local Democrats now going for a local Republican.

When I asked one of them about this I was accused of trolling by one of their friends.

Vote Hertz, Missoula! #mtpol
MT @AdamHertzMT: New campaign ad. Vote Hertz for State Legislature! https://t.co/WnzUK5NZJa #mtpol #mtleg
— jhwygirl (@jhwygirl) October 25, 2016

@gpstberg don't go trolling @jhwygirl on her Hertz support. He will do a great job. Party line is a weak way to roll anyway
— Doug Odegaard (@dodegaard) October 25, 2016

@dodegaard @jhwygirl 'Keep it clean'...like accuse people of trolling when they're asking a question. Gotcha, Doug...thanks!
— Greg Strandberg (@gpstberg) October 25, 2016

Nice bunch, huh?

Anyways, this kind of ‘jumping from the ship’ doesn’t bode too well for Andrew Person.

I’ve met Andrew Person a couple times. He’s a nice guy, goes to law school (might even be done by now), and is a veteran too.

Despite that, of the 7 bills that Person sponsored last session many either died in committee or didn’t even make it that far, missing the bill transmittal date.

I think he might have put forth more bills, though Ballotpedia doesn’t list as many as the state.

This will be a close race. I thought Person had a good shot at winning it again.

After seeing two outspoken Missoula ‘Democrats’ abandon him, however, I now feel Hertz will win.

4 Comments

BB link

10/26/2016 11:25:40 am

Hi Greg, a couple of observations about low wage teacher jobs (and most all others in MSO) and I wonder if you could help me get off the fence about the medical marijuana issue. First about low wages: Interesting to read in the Missoulian on October 2, 2016 p. D1 (Business) James Grunke’s article: “Lack of good jobs is a myth.” Mr. Grunke as you may know is the President and CEO of Missoula Economic Partnership (MEP). MEP, I believe is fully funded by the city of mso. Didn’t the city council just slash their budget a few weeks ago for nonperformance? I think I heard that on KPAX; $100,000 annually to $50,000? If you read that article it just sounds like Grunke’s propaganda in response to the slash to justify the existence of himself and MEP, i.e., spending our tax money. The timing is uncanny. Now go to: Missoulian October 9, 2016, p. D1, “In hip college towns, affordability lags.” Doesn’t this article debunk what Grunke wrote about? And related to that: Missoulian October 16, 2016, p. D1, “Capped wages creates ‘crisis’ keeping workers: Nonprofit that helps those with disabilities pays less than fast-food jobs.” This article talks about Steven Attleberger who has worked at Opportunity Resources for five years and now makes $10.50 an hour! Imagine his job. Teacher (for special needs no less), mentor, friend, etc. And just try to imagine all his responsibilities related to this. My god, my heart goes out to him, what a great caring human Being! But you couldn’t blame him if he is looking for a job at Burger King now. Speaking of “now,” now go to: http://missoula.siretechnologies.com/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=2001&doctype=AGENDA, here you will find the claims budget for the city (10.25.16detailed.pdf). In this document, at the bottom of p. 20 you will see the city paid Opportunity Resources a total of $2,679.12 for janitorial services. That’s just for one month, I have seen it on the claims budget many times but I’m not sure if around 2K is typical or if in fact the payment is monthly. Please don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great they can employ these special needs people. My point is, wouldn’t it be interesting if you could itemize the bill? How much is the supervisor getting paid $10.50? The employees? How many hours did they work? Well I hope you don’t think I’m off base here. I’m just very concerned about how the city spends my tax money. I’m sure all the logistics involved are probably mind boggling and I’m not saying the city shouldn’t use their service, just saying… couldn’t they pay people like Steven a little more? OK, sorry; rant over. I’m running out of time now, so if you would have me back I would like to get your opinion on getting me off the fence with the ganja issue. Humbly I remain.

Greg Strandberg

10/26/2016 11:39:22 am

Tons of good points, BB.

I’ll just pose a few rhetorical questions.

If Opportunity Resources is making so much money from the services they charge, and if employees aren’t getting a huge share of that, then where is all the money going?

I see Opportunity Resources advertising that they need employees each week in the Independent. Can’t they increase wages to attract those workers?

In regards to medical marijuana, it seems voters approved it a decade ago, we have hardliners in the GOP party trying to override that vote, and we can change that.

I can’t think of too many criminal issues involving medical marijuana. I was saddened to see no one showed up at the Missoula rally yesterday.

I figure if people want medicine that’s not the Afghanistan-shipped-in opium-based Big Pharma drugs, we should give it to them.

Remember, about 800 Montana jobs were lost with the closure of our medical marijuana industry.

Who’s that help?

BB link

10/26/2016 04:47:13 pm

Hi Greg, thank you for your kind reply. I take it in the context of your response “a few rhetorical questions,” meaning you don’t expect an answer, rather than in the sense of prose. Does that make sense? Anyway, I apologize in advance if you are offended by me taking this opportunity to use your questions to clarify and expand on what I wrote:

From Greg: If Opportunity Resources is making so much money from the services they charge, and if employees aren’t getting a huge share of that, then where is all the money going?
1) “…where is the money going?” That’s my point. I don’t really think it’s a large amount of money especially compared to the waste ($) at the city that I have experienced first-hand ($625,000 + only that I know of in the last 12 months or so. I’m sure it’s more and has been going on for much longer than that.). Also, I’m not saying that the employee running the special needs crew, or the crew themselves should get “a huge share,” just a fairer share, as in the context of perhaps a living wage? Yes, obviously, Opportunity Resources (ORI) cannot increase wages to attract, let alone retain “those workers.” If you read the article I believe you will find it’s because of a funding problem at the state level – to your point in rhetorical question two, or i.e., no political will.

From Greg: I see Opportunity Resources advertising that they need employees each week in the Independent. Can’t they increase wages to attract those workers?

2) I have been seeking gainful employment in mso now for going on six years. I must admit I’m very picky about what job I will apply for, but with good reason. ORI frequently has had and probably still does have job openings posted on the MT State Job Service website. A few months ago, out of desperation, I read one of the job descriptions, cannot remember what the position was but I revisited the ORI website today. Job description for “Crew Supervisor – Janitorial:” And I quote under “Description,” “Ensure and instruct employees on safety…Provide safe transportation of employees and safe operation of corporate vehicles and equipment…under “Qualifications:” “Training individuals with disabilities preferred…under “Special Conditions:” “Physical effort is required to perform the following; lift or physically assist individuals in daily activities; restrain individuals (following our procedures)… Exposure to unpleasant sights, sounds or odors and physical aggression may be encountered…Exposure to communicable diseases and other conditions.” I’m still desperately seeking a job in Missoula but the last part of this job description turned me off. I possess an unusually high degree of empathy for humans but WTF, sounds like you need a special degree in something to be qualified, or be a desperate idiot. And for this they offer $10 – 12/hr. If you or anybody you know is up for this, better hurry, the position closes on 10/31/16. But read between the lines first, can you imagine the responsibility bestowed upon your sorry ass for a bus load of special needs employees, getting them there and back not to mention what could happen during supervision in a public facility? ORI’s liability insurance must be through the roof! Or perhaps they will just sue the crew supervisor (you) who’s making ten bucks an hour? If there’s a bright side to it, nothing would go wrong and it’s a full-time position.

Well once again I’m on overtime. Just in time to separate the above topic with your last three questions. I hope you don’t mind me posting again to address your last questions about the medical marijuana issue. Thanks for having me back and not chewing my ass. I remain. END

Greg Strandberg

10/26/2016 05:52:13 pm

No, I've enjoyed your comments. It seems someone needs to look into Opportunity Resources...but who?

The city is profiting, ORI is...who would want to upset that apple cart?

And is anything really 'wrong?' Just because we don't like the pay and the job conditions doesn't mean they can't do what they're doing.

Many companies, and I think ORI is one, don't really care about employees so much as their bottom line. Higher-ups don't care about low-level workers, just about their own salaries and benefits packages and how long they have to go before retirement.

Makes you wonder how much they care about the people they're 'caring' for.