City Council members must be registered voters and reside in the ward they represent for at least 60 days preceding the election.Each ward shall be represented on the City Council by two City Council members who are elected in odd numbered years for a term of four years. Terms are staggered to create overlap of members. Council members participate in fulfilling the authority of City Council including policy making duties of the City of Missoula and enacting such ordinances and resolutions necessary for the protection and benefit of the people s health, welfare and security.Every year the City Council shall review, amend as needed, and adopt the City budget submitted to it by the Mayor. The Council can levy the necessary taxes and establish any fees not already in place to fund the budget in accordance with the laws of the State of Montana. The City Council shall create, combine, or abolish City departments pursuant to the implementation of City Council policies or administration of City business.The annual salary for each council member is $18,480.
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Campaign Phone
406-880-6237
A City Council Member is a legislator with responsibilities that include the budgeting process, and the authority to enact such ordinances and resolutions as needed for the well being of the community. City Council members also review and approve rezoning requests and sub-division applications. I also believe that City Council members have a responsibility to facilitate communication between the city and their constituents. One of the key things I hear from constituents is how difficult it feels to work with the city, or folks don't know what the city is doing until it is on their doorstep.
In my opinion the qualities that make for an excellent City Council Member are the ability to communicate, collaborate, and to lead by example.
Top concerns for Ward 6 residents are housing, homelessness, and taxes. I hope to address all these issues by looking for new ideas that we can use to help us navigate these ongoing challenges, while also looking to create more public and private partnerships so that we can bring as many resources and leaders to the table as possible. I believe that we can only improve peoples quality of life through collaborating with one another. The reality is that we sink or swim together, and I would like to see us swim. We must find ways to become more innovative in order to address these issues if we hope to raise peoples living standards. No small feat to be sure.
I would say most have been negatively impacted by the increased living costs, and the gentrification of the city. Coupled with wages continuing to lag, and people are struggling. Working class people are loosing homes and their jobs.
I believe I could help folks by broadening the possibilities for in home businesses. Good budgeting through audits that provide metrics and analysis of our programs to keep local taxes as low as possible wouldn't hurt. I also believe that being an advocate for my neighbors to the state and federal officials is of the utmost importance. There are a lot of ways our governments could help Americans if they chose to direct more funding towards our municipalities, infrastructure being a prime example.
The best uses for tax revenue are city services such as police, fire, and infrastructure. Missoula's budgets are tight and there are not many line items outside of the essentials that can be cut. I don't know right now what changes I would make to our current budgets, but I do know that there are not grand sweeping changes that we can make to the cities budget. There is plenty of room for improvement but the drastic cuts some might call for would severely impact our commitment to public saftey.
Campaign Phone
406-529-3851
As a City Councilor for the past six years, I’ve come to see my role as a liaison between constituents and city staff. I advocate for priorities specific to my ward, such as reforming the sidewalk payment policy. This change I led reduces property owner costs from $9,000 to $3,500. I also spearheaded setting parameters around urban camping in city parks. An excellent council member must be responsive, collaborative, and persistent in pushing for meaningful change that reflects the needs of their community.
Ward 6 urgently needs sidewalk and infrastructure reform, along with property tax relief. I led a policy change that reduced the financial burden on homeowners when the city installs sidewalks, lowering the potential bill from $9,000 to $3,500, due within 30 days. Each budget cycle, I advocate for responsible reductions to help ease the pressure on both renters and homeowners, making it a priority to bring that conversation forward year after year.
Economic shifts and rising living costs have forced residents to reassess their budgets and make difficult choices. I do the same at the city level, consistently pushing for budget cuts that mirror the financial reality our community faces. These decisions may be unpopular, but they’re necessary to help reduce the tax burden on renters and homeowners. I was honored to serve on the Governor's Property Tax Task Force last year because of my ideas on tax reform
Public safety and infrastructure must be prioritized to keep our city running effectively. We shouldn’t have needed to propose the Fire Department Safety Levy. The fact that it was necessary shows a misalignment in our funding priorities. Departments such as Fire, Police, Streets, and Public Works should be fully funded before we allocate resources to other initiatives that make our city the great Missoula in which we all love to thrive in.
