Give him a taste of his own medicine.
For years, Missoula did not have primary elections for city council races. Mayor Engen decided to change all that a couple years ago when he called for primary races.
Oh, and he’s not concerned about the cost, which was $51,000 two years ago. Yeah, you might hear the elections office complain about the legislature’s decision to have three judicial elections this fall, and that added cost the state is ‘burdening them with,’ but you’ll never hear them complain about extra costs from Herr Engen.
Why is that?
“The vote came on the heels of an email from Mayor John Engen, who urged the committee to vote for holding a primary. He wrote that there is a potential for a candidate to win a plurality of votes in situations where more than two candidates are vying for one seat.
“… [P]rimary elections are a mechanism that refines voter intention by eliminating the potential outcome of a candidate taking a seat without a majority,” Engen wrote.”’
Jesse Ramos argued at the time that Tester had never taken a majority in his races, but things like facts aren’t important to Democrats, just ‘winning.’
These primaries come exactly 60 days after filing ends, meaning candidates have just two months to knock on doors, send out mailers, and just about anything else that gets their name out there.
This is not a mistake.
Engen knows that virtual unknowns cannot get any kind of viable name-recognition in the 60 days between when filing ends and the primary vote starts (it actually starts sooner, if you factor in mail-in ballot send-out-dates).
That’s why I say this year, give Engen a taste of his own medicine.
It’ll only cost $953 to do that as well, which I consider a steal. Here’s how it’ll go:
- Currently we have just two running for mayor, Engen and Elder;
- Once a third candidate enters, a problem arises;
- Will Engen follow the same rules he himself put into place, rules which say if more than two candidates are in a race, the city must have a primary;
- We know Engen will do this for the city council races he wants to keep within his grasp with his favored candidates (1: Savage, 2: Hess, 3: Gilels, 4: Nugent, 5: ?, 6: ?);
- But will he do the same for his own race, where his own neck is on the line;
- It’d be damn hypocritical of him if he did not.
Honestly, if Engen holds a primary for the city council races with more than two candidates but he doesn’t do so himself...I’m sorry, but that just might cost him the election.
Engen knows that, and he won’t hold a primary...just like he didn’t hold one for his race four years ago.
"With all due respect, I can't help but marvel at your lack of consistency on this issue," Ramos wrote. "Why did you not feel this way in 2017 when you yourself were faced with a three-way challenge and two other city council races faced two or more challengers?
"I am just trying to get a clear sense of the rules because many would argue that you seem to support or not support a primary based on political climates."
Engen was in meetings all afternoon and couldn't be reached by phone or email for comment.”
John Egen is a bad man, a terrible Missoulian, and a horrible American. His ego won’t have him leave office - it tells him you simply cannot live without him. (Ego = Edging God Out).
What he doesn’t realize is that so, so many people already know our fat, drunk and stupid mayor has already bent the rules and the tax codes and the city to his every whim, and frankly, they’re sick of it.
Sick enough to vote him out?
I’d much rather find out in August or September than in November. And wouldn’t it be great if after that primary we found out that Engen lost, and won’t be making it to the general?
Imagine the last few months of his, being a lame-duck. This is the greatest gift we common workers can give the city of Missoula.
Of course, voting in the primary will be around 20% turnout. And no, you won’t hear Coke or Delta or Lebron complaining about that - why would they? Missoula ain’t profitable for ‘em.
The mayor’s office has been quite profitable for John Engen, with his salary and benefits package now exceeding $100,000 a year, plus he gets a free car to drive around in (and if he’s too fat to fit in it...say a virtual-signaling hybrid, for instance...they’ll just get a bigger one).
He’s so far above you. Your problems are not his own. He doesn’t even understand your problems; he doesn’t even know who you are.
Let’s primary this fool.
