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Shannon O’Brien is running for Montana Senate District 46 and is well suited for the job. She is smart, outgoing, curious and a good listener. Shannon seeks information and makes an effort to learn from experts and constituents. She asks people for their knowledge, ideas and opinions. She is articulate and authentic. Easy to talk with, she remembers the names of many of the people she has met while campaigning. Shannon is a good leader and is actively involved in many community events and programs. She follows through and does what she says s...
I strongly support Shannon O’Brien, who is running as a Democrat for the Montana State Senate, District 46, which stretches from Condon to Bonner, includes half of downtown Missoula and part of the University district. Shannon’s resume is highly impressive. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Montana and served as Dean of Missoula College. While there she prioritized the statewide apprenticeship program, increasing the number of rural healthcare workers by hundreds. Shannon served as policy advisor to Gov...
With the state/county plans for beginning to reopen Montana and Missoula’s economy now public, we know over the next few weeks we will start to see businesses reopening and commerce returning. It’s hard while we are still in the midst of our response to COVID-19 to see accurately whether the choices that have been made at the city, county, state and federal level have been the correct ones. But I think there are a couple things so far that we can say for sure. First, to the extent that we have kept folks in at risk populations and those who...
Offer additional support to local small businesses SEELEY LAKE - As we face the prospect of re-opening our economy due to the coronavirus, I have been very worried about the small businesses that have been deemed non-essential and their economic condition due to the unprecedented actions that have been taken. I am particularly worried about our local businesses that struggle even during good times. I know that the actions put in place by our governor have caused substantial economic hardship for many service providers, restaurants and other...
I feel a community Facebook page is the wrong place to CALL OUT local citizens who have put forth an effort to volunteer to sit on a local board. I was called out in a post on a local site post so here is my comment. I am running for the sewer board to work hard for the people in our community even though a couple loud apples will bash me. Yes, I am PRO sewer. I am a full time, year-round resident and business owner of Seeley Lake and believe strongly in supporting our local economy (a study says $1 spent in a community gets spent an average...
Well, the left liberal Democrats, fake news and the deep state swamp are doing it again. They are standing up for Communist China (who in my opinion sent the China Coronavirus to America on purpose) which has killed many Americans. Instead of giving all of the relief money to hurting, hungry American citizens, the Dems are giving money to the arts, the Kennedy Center and criminal illegal aliens, while our children go hungry and businesses fail. Is that Patriotism or love for America? No, it is not. And to add insult to injury the liberal Dems,...
I am proud to support Kimberly Dudik as Montana’s Attorney General. I am impressed by her leadership and her unwavering commitment to justice. Dudik’s background as a nurse, a lawyer and a legislator have made her keenly aware of the challenges facing many Montanans. As a legislator, she was a strong advocate for crime victims. She was successful in passing laws to help put an end to human trafficking, and to protect victims of child abuse. When I worked for the Office of Public Instruction, I saw Representative Dudik’s tenacity first...
I, like many of my peers, am worried as to what the post coronavirus world looks like. The only benefit I see to this is that we have the opportunity to vote for people who not only can lead us in a post coronavirus world but want to make Montana better. There is not a single candidate more qualified to lead Montana into this new future than Kim Dudik. Kim has been fighting and paving a way forward for Montana as a representative in the state legislature working on key issues like Medicaid expansion, MMIW, child abuse, woman's rights issues...
SEELEY LAKE - Though I am trying to appreciate Troy Spence and Don Larson’s efforts to tell the fine folks of Seeley Lake who they should vote for in the upcoming sewer district director election, I am a bit troubled by their need to tell people, who are more than capable of making their own decisions, who to vote for. Part of the reason I am running myself is the fog of opposition and their blizzard of opposing letters and information have created much confusion. I would like to be able to cut through that and inform myself and others of t...
SEELEY LAKE - It’s great to be able to call beautiful Seeley Lake my home. But I also see a community severely impacted by COVID-19 and I am afraid that it may be years before we are able to recover economically. Yet the Sewer Board continues to move forward with a very expensive plan to implement the sewer system. This proposal impacts only a small percentage of the Valley’s human population that are contributing nitrates to our ground water and does nothing to address the tons of nitrates contributed by environmental factors such as ani...
SEELEY LAKE - I would like to remind Sewer Board candidate Kyle Zumwalt, the Sewer Board and Missoula County, their actions overturning the 2016 public vote declining the project caused the lawsuit. The solution is obvious - restore the voters’ right to participate and let them vote on the $40,000,000 project....
Now our community, as well as the rest of the nation, is deeply affected by severe economic conditions brought on by a pandemic. Prior to this, many of us couldn’t afford the proposed sewer system that is being, for lack of a better term, “shoved down our throats.” This system has been touted as a way to cleanup Seeley Lake. Will it have a positive effect on the nitrate level of the lake? Quite possibly, but so small as to be all but immeasurable. Seeley Lake’s nitrate problems are, for the most part, a result of stripped watershed upstrea...
With Tim Fox term-limited, we will elect a new Attorney General this year. I support Fox’s Chief Deputy Attorney General, Jon Bennion. Serving as Fox’s chief of staff for most of his first term was the greatest privilege of my career. I worked closely with Jon. He has the knowledge, experience, work ethic, and judgment for the job. Navigating the Attorney General’s world and Montana’s complex Department of Justice is no small task. The law enforcement community has high regard for Jon. He works well with everyone, is an excellent listene...
Last week the Legislative Council met virtually to discuss COVID-19 and the fiscal situation for Montana. Administrative committee chairs from finance, audit and revenue were also invited for information purposes. Todd Everts, chief legal counsel for the legislature, briefed members on the powers of the governor and the legislative body when there is an emergency. Throughout the years, the legislature has delegated broad authority to the governor in dealing with emergencies such as fire, flooding, drought and energy issues. There’s never b...
The upcoming primary election is one of the most important for the State of Montana. There is a critical race for Montana Attorney General and I want to enthusiastically endorse Kimberly Dudik. Kimberly Dudik is a mother of four, a former prosecutor and Deputy Gallatin County Attorney, Assistant MT Attorney General and a Registered Nurse who specialized in neonatal intensive care. Kimberly Dudik is a four term legislator who has successfully worked across the aisle for everyday Montanans. As an advocate and leader for the protection of public...
Coronavirus is not going to disappear anytime soon. There is no vaccine or cure. The primary goal of the current public health and safety measures have been to slow the spread of the virus so our healthcare system would not collapse. In Montana, we have succeeded. Since the beginning of this crisis, a massive federal aid package was passed to ease the burden on as many Americans and businesses as possible – but it is a solution to the economic crisis we now face. In addition to our public health and economic crises we face, there is a third c...
The pandemic surrounding Covid-19 has left the country in a predicament that it wasn't prepared for. Non-essential businesses were forced to close, forcing millions of Americans to scramble and file for unemployment. Congress passed an economic stimulus package that at first glance, seemed like a big help. This package is the lacking basic consumer relief that many people need. With a stimulus package that can barely hold some over for 2 weeks and millions unemployed, it will force a number of people to seek out loans where they could be...
SEELEY LAKE - I am writing to recommend Tom Morris and Jason Gilpin for election to the Seeley Lake Sewer District board. Here is why. With only one recent exception, current board members have blindly pursued an exorbitantly expensive sewage treatment solution which will not clean up or protect our watershed. Tom and Jason will respect our constitutional rights to know and participate in this important process. With the direct aid of Missoula County officials, the Board did an end run around our 2016 vote to NOT pursue this proposal and has...
We now have many Montanans wanting to work to support their families but in my opinion are prohibited from doing so by intrusive government regulations. Private homeowners and landlords in Montana that need to have maintenance work done and now qualify for low interest loans are also hampered by the same laws. I understand that many professional service providers will not work doing minor maintenance on older homes or mobile homes, even though they can charge many times more than a handyman. If they do concede to work, I believe many do so by...
SEELEY LAKE - Ballots are in the mail this week. Please fill them out and sign them correctly. This is the time to vote two great candidates onto the board. Don’t let two candidates who are business owners make you subsidize the sewer for their benefit. Instead, vote for Tom Morris and Jason Gilpin. Just remember 40 years is a long time to pay for a system only good for 15 – 20 years. I was also wondering, during a crisis like we are in now, who would pay your operating and maintenance? Who would pick up the costs for any foreign objects tha...
The current Public Service Commission is dysfunctional and hasn’t been serving the public’s interest. Why should you care? Because it affects your pocketbook, your environment and the social well being of Montanans. Do wildfires and smoke concern you? We have a family forest in the Lower Blackfoot at risk because of our reliance on fossil fuels. We need a vision for a heat and power system that reduces fossil carbon emissions. Monica Tranel is running for the District 4 Commissioner. She has EXPERIENCE, over 20 years worth. She is ready the fir...
Voters in Senate District 46 should check the box for Shannon O’Brien on June 2. I’ve known Shannon for over a decade and she is a passionate leader who has dedicated her career to providing a quality education for Montana’s kids. As an education policy advisor to Governor Steve Bullock, Shannon worked collaboratively on issues ranging from early childhood learning to workforce training and economic development. She helped identify and define problems and find solutions that work. Montana spends almost a third of the state budget on education,...
Monica Tranel is running for the Public Service Commission District 4 including Missoula, Lake, Ravalli, Sanders, Granite, Mineral and Lincoln counties. I am grateful to have such an intelligent, hardworking, educated and knowledgeable candidate for this position. An attorney with a wealth of experience presenting cases in front of the PSC, Monica truly understands this complicated area of the law. She also understands the role Public Service Commissioners are supposed to play in Montana – regulating monopolies to protect consumers’ poc...
Vote for Shannon O’Brien for Senate District 46 and you will not be disappointed. Shannon has extensive experience as an educator and an advocate for our children. She served as education policy advisor for Governor Bullock and dean of Missoula College. She was a high school teacher and coach. She understands how to work hard and get things done in Helena. She shares our values: a clean environment, high-quality health care, affordable homes, and believes in treating each other with basic human dignity. Shannon and I have worked on a handful o...
Montanans are doing our part in this very difficult time to help each other out and curb the spread of the COVID 19 virus. We come together and look out for each other, as we always have in times of crisis and in this case that means practicing social distancing to slow the spread of this disease. It is times like this that we as Montanans are even more appreciative of our public mountains and foothills, forests and prairies, and rivers and streams. Montanans recreate in the outdoors at as high of a rate as any state and last year’s C...
