Greetings Bozemanears!

BUDGET:

The Federal government passed the ONE trillion-dollar budget under Reagan, TWO trillion under Clinton and now THREE trillion under Obama.We are told we must prosecute wars in 3 regions and we must pay for universal health care and oil clean-ups.

The GALLATIN COUNTY budget was 27 million in 1997. The budget has gone up at regular increments to the proposed budget for FY 2011 of 110 million. Both the Commission and the Sheriff tell us they are holding the line, no new taxes.

The Bozeman City budget is difficult to track down, but it appears that the numbers are very similar to the COUNTY, coming from 20-plus million in the 1990s to 85.3 million for FY 2011.

All of these entities ask for much more than they need and if they get it –fine, it will be stashed in a "cash account".

If the political mood is anger, the government will back off from its absurd requests and only ask for a little more than they need. They then tell us how much we have saved.

Some people buy this malarkey.

The government...

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_d61dbbaa-53f3- This new jail sounds so nice, it'll probably be the nicest home some of the inmates have ever had. They probably won't want to leave. Anyone would enjoy free food and classes because they committed a crime against innocent citizens. The taxpayers can hardly wait to begin paying for this wonderful socialized jail system. What else could you call it. How about a little hard labor to benefit society. Couldn't inmates scrub graffiti off public buildings instead.

Once again...regarding the incident on Wednesday morning...you have put your lives on the line to protect us and to get unsafe individuals off of our interstates and out of our communities. You keep our area safe in many, many ways...Thank you! We appreciate what you do for us! I am so thankful that you do your job so that I don't have to!  Keep up the great work and know that you are appreciated.  Bozeman and the surrounding area should feel honored to have such excellent law enforcement serving us...District VII of the Montana Highway Patrol is especially an outstanding agency which conducts itself with honesty, integrity, resolve and dedication.  Again, thank you for your service to our community.  You have my utmost respect for all that you do.

Alrighty -  in the last few months we've seen the city act (mostly negatively) on business signage issues regarding the Rialto Theatre, barber poles, and now square foot coverage of windows and business fronts.  Granted, our fare city has a certain eye appeal, but the superfluous oversight of these matters seems a little out of hand.  Why aren't the sign approval masters going after the national fast food and clothing store chains on 7th and 19th Aves.- they don't seem to follow the same set of rules as downtown, small business owners. Our city manager took a fairly defensive position regarding this matter on the radio this morning...as a downtown small business owner, this rhetoric concerns me on a basic level.

Is it me, or is this an abuse of local power?  Is the City not the small business friendly locale they try to project?

What do you think?

Does Bozeman need a roundabout? In a word, NO. It's far too expensive (almost a million $$$) for any benefit it will foster. People should learn to calm traffic from behind the steering wheel. No need for such a costly gimmick in these lean economic times.

Heres something interesting, today on MSU campus there was a group of people handing out all sorts of nick nacks which might have included, but doesn't necessarily include, water bottles, gun locks, arm bands, stickers, pamphlets, you know the same sort of stuff that these awareness group hand out. 

Well anyway, these table was raising awareness about suicide.  I know a lot of you out there are probably wondering what we can do to avoid people off'ing themselves.  Well my stance on the matter is this, if you hate your life so much, that you don't want to live anymore, that is fine by me, bye.  I don't really want my tax money to be spent saving you anyway, its not my problem.  Is it really our responsibility to keep you alive?  If you really want to die by all means let me get out of the way and go for it.  Now some people that I know think that suicide is the selfish way out, however, like sometimes like animals it might be a mercy death and your actually the selfish one for...

Has anyone been following this story? The Chonicle has an article today, (and has had several stories in past several weeks):

Move to fix troublesome Clarkston Road takes next step

As I see it, it's a pretty crappy situation, from both sides. The county pays a disproportionate amount of maintenace on a road that services only a few, but the committee's proposal is that the homeowners pay an extra bill each year that they didn't sign on for when they originally bought their home. (Through the creation of a Rural Improvement District)

Ultimately, I do think that the committee's recommendation is the most reasonable course to take in order to get back on the right track, as it seems to be a fair balance of placing a larger chunk of the costs on those who live there, yet it brings the overall level of subsidization in line with what we all pay towards the basic road services we benefit from.

On a personal note, I live in the W. Durston district, which had a $20,000 levy on all homeowners to pay for the upgrade costs...

OK, so the Bozeman Police Department is purportedly all about traffic safety in our fare city with the push toward cameras at controlled intersections,  issuing more speeding tickets, bolstering parking enforcement and cracking down on DUI's.  I, for one, am skeptical of the true motive of the police and city.  If the City really means to heighten traffic safety, they'd review and strengthen their street snow removal plan.  Currently, it appears they have none.  The condition of residential streets is abhorrent and main thoroughfares are severely narrowed by the lack of an emergency snow removal/routing program (snowbird cars and trailers sit for weeks while afterthought plowing lays furrows around them). 

For a place that receives as much snow as Bozeman does you'd think they have an age-old crack plan to handle the situation.  Is it just me? Am I disillusioned?  What do you think?

I wish we were still allowed to bring our dogs to the Kirk Park fields during the winter. The city banned it this year. I suppose too many people didn't clean up after their dogs. A darn shame they ruined it for the rest of us. As a totemist, I fear that my dogs' unhappiness at this situation will affect me and my people (by 'my people', i refer to fellow dog-lovers in Bozeman - but not dog-lovers outside of city limits. You'll be fine. As for us in the city, it's possible that we're doomed, until I find another way to appease my dogs).

To those who cannot read this without it being in their preferred format, I have separated this into several paragraphs.  If it still does not meet the guidelines of any particular person, I apologize. No matter how it is formatted, it is still a long Discussion and I understand that. It may not be worth your time to read, so you may not be missing anything anyway.  It is not required reading so just skip this one if it is a problem.  Below is the "separated" format as requested:

 

Washington DC Government has rubbed off on our City it seems....They continue to let those in power NOT be held accountable for their actions and punish those honest hard workers trying to do their jobs. The problem is, when they do their job honestly that gets in the way of those dishonest "Higher Ups".   

 

1. It is business as usual. Looks like our $10,000 was spent just about as efficiently as a lot of our Federal Government money is being spent recently... We should have learned from our mistakes...

hi i was wondering where on the internt people are talking about the candidates, and where we can find more info about them. i dont really trust their own websites, and i don't buy the chronicle. als o i didnt see on here anywher that looked like discussion on it. any links or thoughts are appreciated thanks..

When I was heading out the door this afternoon, a neighbor was putting up a yard sign for her choice of candidates for mayor and she asked me if I was going to vote for her choice.  I told her I probably was but that I might consider any other candidate who didn't have yard signs to put up.  It really wasn't all that long ago that running for city government seemed more like a civic minded thing to do.  As opposed to now where it seems to be more politically motivated where a lot of money is spent to try to get elected.  Anyone else feel that way?  And while on this topic, because it has become so political why is there no consideration for making it partisan so that we at least have a sense of which way a candidate leans?     Not knowing that, who can identify the liberal candidates out there?  And the conservatives?     And/or the nut cases?             &...

Should medical aid in dying be a right protected by the Montana constitution? Isn't the "right to die" a euphemism for assisted suicide. These issues are being decided in the Montana Supreme Court at this time. Sounds as if a death culture that began with legalized abortion is moving forward. Both newborns and sick/old people will be expendable. It will save medical care/expenses. Rationing won't be necessary.

It's great to see the City Commission contracted a professional, third party, attorney/investigator with a background in employee investigations, to ensure that our Great City of Bozeman can hopefully, finally, get to the bottom of what TRULY has been going on behind the scenes in the City hiring process.  The investigation NEEDS to be thorough, including the privacy issue and the COMPLETE hiring process.  This will ensure a total cleanup can be done and will rid this great city of the amazingly long ignored, unacceptable behavior of those responsible for the nationwide and worldwide embarrassment of Bozeman citizens, and all Montanans. Let's hope they once and for all TAKE DOWN the Poor Lost Fire Chief post turtle, the red headed step child post turtle and the Top Post Manager Kooky K, responsible for putting them there, along with the policy brain child known so affectionately as "Pepper Spray Patty". Then, and only then, can this city have any chance of moving forward without fear of  this cancer...

My son-in-law (11 years in the US Army, E-6, Kuwait tour and Iraq tour of duty) and my daughter are here in Bozeman visiting for about 3 weeks while being transferred from Ft. Bragg to a base in Germany. We've been taking them to just about every thing there is to see of Montana. I thought it would be a terrific idea for him and I to do a little fishing. My fishing license is resident and cost me $8.00, my son-in-law had to pay $40.00 for 4 (four!) days. Is that any way to treat someone who puts their life in harms way and keeps this country safe for the rest of us? Hell, I'd be more than happy to not fish for one or two weeks so some other active duty military personnel could enjoy the relaxing time afforded by fishing our streams or lakes!! This just shows you that all the FWP is dutifully involved in is raking in the money! The FWP has just slapped our active military personell in the face and laughed while doing it!

Sorry, but I just HAD to vent on this display of our greedy Montana State government !

Thank...

Good job commission; to begin with we have a city charter and tonight you applied the wisdom of it to a difficult situation. Watching this event tonight made me happy to be a citizen in Bozeman. Now that we got the right decision we have to get the right person for the investigation.

Monday night the commission is expected to announce an investigation into the city hiring policy. Workers need to show up and request the commission to expand the investigation to include employee profiling. Ask them to let city workers testify about their experiences with the Human Resources Department. Also think about how the HR department has influenced your boss.

3 blind mice, 3 blind mice, See how they run, They try to hide but they cannot see, What they did to you and me, They took our passwords and our identity. 3 blind mice, 3 blind mice, Lets call in the cavalry, Set a trap with stinky cheese, Show them the door and set us free, Before they steal our liberty, Three blind mice.

Regarding the face book issue. I had the pleasure of meeting with two individual this week, one currently works for the city and the other recently retired. Each one was from a different union groups and job class. I meet with these folks separately so that I could get two different sides, at least that what I thought. Turns out that both individuals had the same opinion based on their experience regarding the Human Resources Director, the hiring procedures of the city and the manner that the city does business internally.

To move on is to pretend the password scandal never took place. Chronicle this is just the beginning, and you might want to think about the shadow that moving on will cast upon your printing press. Move on, I don't think so! What precedent will this set for the future. Suppose as a hiring policy the city asks for your house keys so a police officer, fireman, and a city administrator can examine your home computer and check out your bank statements and make sure you have your firewood stacked properly and that your cat does not climb trees. They did more here then knock on your front door and ask a few questions, they did get into your house. If anyone moves on it should be Kukulski, Berg and Winn. Sorry to sound so harsh but if they had real character they would resign.

Once upon a time there was a little city that was colorful and pretty, it was called Bozangeles Montucky but most people called it Bozeman. People were happy. Then a scary man with red hair moved into town from a down under place called Brownnoser, it was located in Kissup County. Then a lady named pepper spray pattie came to work in here too. She did not like sweets, she liked haggis, not from sheep but from people. Pepper spray pattie and the red haired man ate haggis at Ted's with city credit cards, they took turns buying each other more and more people haggis. After they ate they put on stiletto heals and danced on the worker bees. The worker bees tried to sting the red haired man and pepper spray pattie but each time they tried they got dead. The worker bees moaned and groaned and complained but no one would listen because the dance music was so loud no one could hear their moaning. Then a miracle happened and everybody got hope again. But nobody paid attention and colorful Bozeman began to turn gray. I...

While the tempest is spinning faster and faster lets step outside the storm and look back. How is it we get the former fire chief to be Asst. City Manager? What was the vetting process here? I asked around and a good source (fireman) told me there were over 90 candidates for this job. Mr. Winn can be very charming and speaks like he has memorized motivational tapes, but there seems to be something disingenious about him and moreso the hiring process. The commissioners need to start digging deeper into the business of the city hiring methods. Someone help me, am I loosing my mind or is this stuff really happening? Another good source (fireman) said he got the job because they city manager and Winn share the same hymn book on Sunday morning. Unusual don't you think firemen and cops are usually tight lipped about this stuff, but this time they seem relieved. Is there a tempest brewing in the firehouse? Here Todo, sit Todo sit, roll over, good Todo, here's a chewy, good Todo good dog.

Thought it would be entertaining to sit back pour an amber beer into a chilled glass, munch on a few nuts and watch the City administrators peddle in reverse on their multi seat bicycle. Slowly but surely I expect they will reach a steep decline. The weight of their failure will surly render the brakes useless. If they are so busy taking care of business while eating $32.00 lunches they certainly forgot to take care of a few things.....LIKE PRIVACY. HR Director with 16 years on the job thought she was protecting the community? Such mockery cannot go unpunished. The sad thing is they believe they did the right thing but they still don't get it. Winn, Kukulski, Berg and Sullivan's comments to the BDC defending themselves and their party line was sickening. These fear mongers need to be run out of town.

Tonight's City Commission meeting (June 22nd) was quite interesting. I'm not here to comment on Brian Leland's appeal, although that was quite interesting and I'm sure did not turn out like he hoped it would. No, what I truly found interesting was the guy who got up to object to the city's policy of not advertising temporary and seasonal positions open with the city. So the general public apparently has no way to know about these positions when they come up. I didn't catch the man's name, but he told of a relative of a city worker that was hired for a seasonal or temporary position with the city. I don't know how he managed to come by the information, but it bothers me greatly if this sort of thing is truly going on. In this economic climate, I think taxpayers have a right to know when the city is hiring for seasonal/temporary workers, and SHOULD be advertising those positions. What say you, citizens of Bozeman? (Some of whom I know are currently unemployed).