Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
I know the best spot in my ward for …
For hiking, the Bluebird Trail.
If loving this is wrong, I don’t want to be right
Our community.
This year, I really want to achieve …
Strengthening some collaborations that we have with different entities in Missoula to find solutions to the very challenging issues that we have, mainly affordable housing, and our unhoused community, and the growth and development that’s taking place in Missoula and the ramifications of that. I see all of it kind of interconnected. So, tackling one piece at a time, but with everything in mind.
What I order for the table
Breadsticks.
Never have I ever …
Skydived.
How can we alleviate tax pressure on homeowners and renters?
I think continuing to push our legislative representatives in Helena to find alternative solutions, whether that’s a tourist tax, or looking at modernizing our tax structure, I think that’s essential. Locally, what we can do is continue to look at our budget, and look at efficiencies, essentially—look more deeply at our budget and see what we can reduce or programs and things that we can fold into one another.
Change my mind about …
Serving my community.
I wind down by …
Watching bad Netflix shows.
What’s a specific approach or policy that a community elsewhere in the country has employed to reduce homelessness that you think might also work in Missoula?
There’s no single place that we can look to for a strategy. We need to look at everything and see what would fit Missoula. We’re tied to our legal constraints … We have environmental constraints, we have state legislature constraints, mostly around how they fund or not fund very basic issues that lead to homelessness, such as mental health and drug abuse issues. We need to look at different models that have worked in other communities, and see if that would translate to Missoula.
I geek out on …
Land use and zoning documents.
My best dad joke
What happened when a little grape got stomped on?
Nothing, it just let out a little wine.
Three infrastructure priorities?
Federal funding for transportation projects; infrastructure in the Mullan area; watching the old library site downtown and the Riverfront Triangle, maybe options for mixed-use or affordable housing.
My cry-in-the-car song
“Slipping Through My Fingers” by ABBA.
That fire levy though …
The growth that we’re seeing in Missoula is most certainly putting pressure on the services that we’re able to provide. It’s important to me that, as new residents of Ward 2 move into their new homes, that they know they’re going to have the services that our fire department provides. I think it’s a need that’s not going to go away. We’re gonna have to address it, either through our budget or through a levy.
Unusual skills
I can take my hands off the handlebars when I’m biking.
Together, we could …
Do anything.
