The Missoula City Council approved a plan Monday night to suspend its rules and delay filling the vacancy left by outgoing Ward 1 Councilmember Jennifer Savage until after the November general election. 

The plan deviates from the normal process — which sees the council appoint a replacement within 30 days of learning of a vacant seat — in order to allow the winner of the November election to serve out the remainder of Savage’s term before fully assuming the reins in January. 

Council President Amber Sherrill said Monday that this change “is the right thing to do democratically” and represents “the spirit” of the law and of council rules. Otherwise, she said, a simple majority of the council — six people, as opposed to a whole ward —  would decide who sits on council for the next three months and votes on big items like the city’s code reform effort. 

The council is still technically making an appointment, rather than accelerating someone’s inauguration. But it has decided that it will appoint the winning candidate in the race for Ward 1, either Betsy Craske or Lucas Moody. The council would pause the appointment process in case of a recount — not out of the realm of possibility, given the recent occurrence of a tie in a city council race.

The council approved the plan on an 8-1 vote, but not without some discord. 

Savage resigned her seat because she moved to Ward 3, where she’s now running against Councilmember Daniel Carlino, a democratic socialist who isn’t afraid to tangle with the council majority. According to Savage, it’s not that she moved in order to primary Carlino, but I can say anecdotally that some Carlino supporters — and at least one Missoulian letter-to-the-editor writer — certainly feel that way, especially given Savage’s many endorsements from other members of the council, including the mayor. In other words, the decision of how to replace Savage is suffused in the tightly wound politics of the moment.

There’s also the awkward timing. Savage has been running for Ward 3 for months, but only officially vacated her seat in Ward 1 earlier this month. 

That’s when the council started the clock on the vacancy process. But some members of the public and the council, both at Monday’s meeting and a committee meeting on the same subject last week, have said the council should have been more proactive in planning to replace Savage instead of putting forth a plan that bends the rules less than two months before the election — a plan that still leaves a seat in Ward 1 vacant during that period. 

“The reason we have councilors is so we can be represented to the fullest extent,” resident Karen Giuliani told the council Monday. “That’s why there’s rules, state law, that address what happens when there is a vacancy.”

Carlino, who ultimately voted for the plan, said he was concerned about the process as well. He cited a council rule that says “whenever the City Council has sufficient notice of a future vacancy in an elected city office, the city council shall attempt to fill the future vacancy in advance of the actual vacancy” in order to ensure that the seat isn’t ever actually vacant. 

“I as much as anyone want to get someone duly elected into the seat, but we shouldn’t be so hasty as to go against Montana statute.”

But Sherill and other council members said that the council had to make the decision when it received confirmation of Savage’s resignation, not based on a hunch beforehand. 

“The council cannot assume future action,” Councilmember Mike Nugent said. 

It’s also hard to say who the council might appoint if it were to follow the normal process. By law, so long as they live in the same ward, basically anyone can be appointed to fill a council vacancy. But according to city rules, the city would solicit applications, interview candidates and put nominations to a council vote. Sherill said it would be unfair to appoint a current candidate for the seat before the election, but similarly unsuitable to appoint someone who wasn’t already engaged in city politics for just three months before they’re replaced by the winner of the election — especially with big items like code reform coming down the line.

Councilmember Bob Campbell offered an amendment to the plan that would change its language to halt the appointment of the winner of the November election until their victory is certified, citing state statute that says a “candidate for an elective office may not assume the powers and duties of that office until the candidate has received a certificate of election as provided by law.” 

“That tells me right there we’re jumping the gun,” Campbell said. “I as much as anyone want to get someone duly elected into the seat, but we shouldn’t be so hasty as to go against Montana statute.”

But Campbell’s amendment would have meant delaying the appointment by another two weeks. And, as Sherill and Nugent said in response to the amendment, the council isn’t proposing to install a candidate for elected office before results are official — they’re rather appointing the person who happens to win the November election to fill out a term that ends in January. 

Campbell’s amendment failed 3-6. 

But before the council voted on the motions, a tension that had been simmering throughout the proceedings boiled over. During public comment, one resident critical of the plan, Mary Giuliani, said she felt the council was more concerned about the logistical challenge of Savage moving districts than about the citizens of Ward 1 who will be without representation. 

That, among other comments, provoked a biting response from Nugent. 

“This council is trying to do the right thing, and a whole lot of people who don’t actually understand how things work are jumping all over it.”

“This council is trying to do the right thing, and a whole lot of people who don’t actually understand how things work are jumping all over it, and that’s fine, it’s a public process but that’s the reality,” Nugent said. “And I would wrap up by saying that serving in public office is not for the faint of heart. Lots of us do it for different reasons, but the idea that someone is not empathetic because they might be moving across town is ridiculous.” 

A few minutes later, Councilmember Kristen Jordan, another member of the body’s left wing, spoke for the first time during Monday’s discussion to accuse the majority of the council of “protecting” Savage. 

“We knew she was going to leave,” Jordan began to say, before Councilmember Stacie Anderson raised a point of order against her. Jordan accused the council of trying to silence criticism they didn’t want to hear, and said Savage had spoken negatively of her in the public record. Anderson said she was impugning her colleagues in violation of council rules. The chamber (digitally in this case, as Jordan was Zooming in) devolved into yelling and crosstalk before Mayor Andrea Davis called a recess. Jordan left the Zoom but returned by the time the council reconvened.

The ledger #️⃣

208

Rental households that have been impacted by housing assistance administered through the federal HOME and Community Development Block Grant programs, according to a presentation from city staff Monday.

The programs, both contained in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, accounted for more than $800,000 in support for affordable housing and rentals in the city over the last year. That’s $800,000 in renovations, homebuyer assistance, educational programming, and other services that help develop, maintain and preserve subsidized housing in Missoula. 

But slash-and-burn cuts to social services in Washington, D.C., may put at least some of the funding in jeopardy. Both HOME and CDGB are funded through next June at current levels, Lisa Bower, a grants administrator with the city, told the council. 

“The more negative side is the debate of what our funding will look like after June is up in the air,” she said. “Both the House and Senate versions of the fiscal year 2026 budget have kept the CDBG program, but the House has proposed getting rid of HOME completely, in line with the president’s proposed budget.”

Congress and the White House are again facing the possibility of a government shutdown if they don’t come together on a spending plan by Sept. 30. In all likelihood, lawmakers will put forth a stopgap spending measure to keep government services operational. But talks over what might be included in that measure are going about as well as you’d expect. In the meantime, those tasked with administering the country’s fraying social safety net aren’t sure what to expect. 

“There’s likely to be either a government shutdown or a continuing resolution,” Bower said. “We’re unlikely to know much more about the future for at least a few months.”

The week ahead 🗓️

• On Sept. 26 at 1 p.m., Friends of the Third Branch is hosting a panel discussion at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law on “the legislature, the judiciary and the rule of law.” Programming will cover bills relevant to the judiciary that passed in the 2025 Montana legislature, the way that a renegade faction of moderate Republicans helped set the agenda in Helena this year, trends in judicial selection, and the life of a judge in 2025. If you follow state politics, you’ll recognize some heavy hitters on the list of speakers: Montana Supreme Court Chief Justice Cory Swanson, legislative leaders Steve Fitzpatrick and Katie Sullivan (R and D, respectively) and more. The event is free and open to the public, but lawyers take note — it also counts for continuing legal education credits. 

Find a list of all upcoming city meetings here and county meetings here.

The feed 🗞️

Missoula park set to be named after local attorney found to have sought sex for legal fees (Missoulian) 

University of Montana selling president’s residence, a historic mansion in Missoula, after 50 years (Mansion Global)

City Council OKs preliminary demolition permit for Old Post Hospital (Montana Free Press)

MRA looking into feasibility of ice ribbon, winter recreation in Caras Park (KPAX)

Blackfeet Tribal Council bans kratom sales, use on reservation (Montana Free Press)

U.S. House votes to scrap Montana land use plan, testing congressional power (MTPR)

U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke’s staff to hold mobile office hours across western Montana (Missoulian)

The dismantling of the Forest Service (High Country News)

Trump cancels trail, bike-lane grants deemed ‘hostile’ to cars (CityLab)