The City Council voted to appoint Jordan Hess to fill the Mayoral vacancy. For specific voting, please see the roll call sheet published on the City Council meeting portal.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: I’ve got a few comments and then we’ll get started with the process. First of all, I just wanted to acknowledge that what we're doing tonight is appointing a mayor to take over after we had John Engen for 17 plus years who was a fantastic mayor who did a heck of a lot in this town. He had many accomplishments. he has a lot of initiatives still at play that are going forward that are going to need a lot of hard work and energy to go forward and I hope that's what happens. but tonight, we are taking our next steps to moving forward without John and I want to do this in his spirit of community service and love for this city so I have no doubt we're going to wind up with a great mayor who will be next and that's what we're going to do tonight. I have some Thank Yous. First of all, I want to thank the League of Women Voters who ran the interviewing process, which was last Wednesday, or was it before that? My time is off but the League of Women Voters ran the interviews and it went really smoothly and was a very productive day so I appreciate that. I want to thank our city clerk's office. There have been a huge amount of hours behind the scenes to set up this process and because of their incredible attention to detail and issue spotting, it has gone very smoothly so it may look normal from the outside, but I want to acknowledge all of the work that went on behind the scenes to make sure that this complicated process that is very very important to our community ran smoothly. So, thank you Marty, Claire, and Megan. Finally thank you to all who have applied. It was a complicated application and I know it took a lot of work. I read all of them and I want to say thank you. Thank you for showing up to do this for your community. In terms of the process tonight, we are first going to take nominations from city councilors from those who were interviewed, and they will put whoever is nominated their names will go on the floor, then we'll take public comment, and then we will have council comment, and then vote. We will vote until someone has seven votes; they have to have seven votes in order to be appointed mayor. If we have two successive identical that are in a row we can open it up to nominations from the community and then we will again take public comment and have council comment before voting. I think that covers it. Before going to public comment, I’ll provide a few more items, but for now I will open it up to nominations from council who want to put names on the floor. Ms. Vasecka?
Sandra Vasecka: I guess I’ll go first everybody. This has been the toughest decision that I have faced in my 10 year on council. There were so many great applicants and I wanted to thank everybody who did put their put their name in to lead to lead us, to lead Missoula, our beautiful city. I never thought that I would nominate the person that I’m not going to nominate, but I would like to nominate Jordan Hess today. I disagree with Jordan on many things. We have had a lot of discussions and disagreements, but we've had really meaningful and thoughtful discussions as well. We found common ground on some issues and I would like to explore that further. I need to think about what's best for Missoula in this really difficult transition and I really need to honor the will of the voters. Last year the voters did choose the late John Engen to lead them and to lead all of us and it shouldn't be up to us 12 to take away that will the voters. Jordan is the closest person I think of the candidates that will carry on Engen's vision and I think it will be the smoothest transition for city staff and for all of us councilors and for all of the constituents of the city. I really look forward to the democratic process next year and for shaking things up, but for now it's not that time to shake things up and I am happy to put Jordan forward. Done.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay nominations just to put the name on the floor. There’s a lot going on over here with the computers.
Jennifer Savage: I nominate Mike Nugent.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay thank you. Other nominations?
Daniel Carlino: I’ll nominate Fred Rice.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay. Other nominations? O was obtained, the patient was check online. Alright. Any other hands for nominations? So, at this point we have three names on the table, Jordan Hess, Mike Nugent, Fred Rice. Any other nominations? I want to make sure I capture everyone. Okay, we will go to public comment then on these three nominees. I want to just tell everyone that we do have rules of decorum. We ask that people keep it professional, that there be no personal attacks, that it is professional in tone, and no dismissive language, anything like that. I don’t anticipate that, but I just want to say this now so that I don’t have to call a point of order on anyone. Okay. So having said that, if there’s any public comment on these nominations, please come forward and state your name and keep it to three minutes if possible.
Bob Lucino My name is Bob Lucino. In the late 80s and early 90s I had the honor to fill out the remainder of Dan Kemes's term who represented ward 3. I lived in ward 3 for 25 years on Brooke Street, owned a home. So, I had the pleasure of working with Fred, and I would like to support Fred. I would like to speak for Fred. My experience with Fred Rice back then was that he really works hard. He’s really well informed. He really pays attention to detail. back in the day, on Friday afternoons we would come down to city hall and receive our packet, which was a combination of all the committee reports, staff reports, everything that was going on that week and prior. Sometimes they could be this thick. I believe Fred read every single word of those and if we were on the council today he would be very busy on the laptop. What I think Fred brings and what I think Missoula really needs, the ideal person would be somebody certainly to carry on the vision of John Engen and I have no doubt there with Fred. Secondly, someone who brings continuity and history to this position and Fred certainly brings that. Fred intimately knows the workings of city government and how it's set up, he knows how city staff works, he knows the relationship of city staff to council to the executive to the courts to the judicial, and he understands his community. I think also perhaps among some Missoulians I think by having Fred be our next mayor and a mayor who's a caretaker but a mayor also in terms of the remainder of John Engen’s term, but a mayor who's not going to sit still, who will be busy and who will be progressive. he's the best of all possible worlds and the last thing I want to say, which I just alluded to but didn't fill out is that I think by having Fred and choosing Fred Rice as our next mayor. the council will remove any possible feelings or opinions in the community that you know of sort of I don't know any other way to put it and I apologize if it seems curt, but I think, let me put it this way, I think it would maximize the objectivity of your decision by bringing Fred on as mayor rather than somebody from the council itself actively. There’s just no question in my mind and others I’ve spoken to that have lived here for a long time, that Fred would be a great choice. So, I encourage you to vote for Fred tonight. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you, anyone else public comment?
Kevin Hutz: Hello my name is Kevin Hutz 308 Parkside Lane. I know I already sent you seven pages in an e-mail, which I hope you had a chance to look at, but I have some comments tonight. I also speak in support of Fred Rice. I did some research before I came down here and I found that out of the 56 mayors Missoula has had, the average tenure was two years three months and 21 days. The shortest, John Patterson is seven days, and the longest, Mayor Engen, is 17 years and these long tenures are a relatively new phenomenon. Mayor Kemmis had 80 months. The next Mayor Kadas had 112 months and Mayor Engen at 199. Also going along with that has been a progressive movement of the plenary authority of the city government from the council to the mayor and that just is a natural function of having someone in office that long. It happened under FDR also. So, what Fred Rice has said he would do is he's going to give this council an opportunity to reclaim what the charter says you're supposed to do and by doing that here's one thing that'll happen, it's going to create a level playing field when the elections do roll around because none of you will have an advantage. None of you will go in there with the advantage of having been appointed tonight and this way there's an opportunity then with the resumption of council plenary authority for those who want to replace Fred when he is finished in 2025, which he says he will not serve past. This will be your opportunity to demonstrate your leadership, not because you were appointed tonight, but because you innovate and you exert that leadership over the next 16 months and perhaps beyond and then you will earn the vote of the people and this will be how we move forward. There’s a tendency when we suffer a loss to just reach for what's familiar that's just normal and its human nature, but you know if you're waiting for like a messiah to come here and lead us out of the wilderness, I remind you what Eugene Deb said, he said “I wouldn't lead you out of the wilderness even if I could because anyone who could lead you out can just as easily lead you right back in.” I could tell you that um while he's mayor, Fred Rice has assured me he is going to endorse using evidence-based metrics to look at what we're doing now, to make sure that its effective and efficient because if it isn't we're spending money and we're not getting to what Mayor Engen had as a vision for this city. We can't afford it anymore with less than a million dollars in reserves. He does support continuation of the Mobile Crisis Response Unit and he is pledged to seek implementation of alternatives to private police and police response for most city interactions with unhoused persons including in the camps. so, for those reasons, I’m imploring you it's probably now an uphill battle , but I’m imploring you to please consider how important it is that there's legitimization, massive community support there. The two candidates who are from this council are both eminently qualified and would make wonderful mirrors, but none of them and none of you have served under anybody, but John Engen. Mr. Rice has served under or with five mayors and he isn't just running on his past because if we just did that the pages would be really long of what he accomplished in a much less progressive atmosphere than we have now. what it shows you though is he's capable of getting things done and he will do them if he's selected and so I just urge you make a level playing field for the next election. Take back the authority you have to lead and innovate and those of you who want to be the next mayor, take this opportunity to demonstrate that leadership. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you for your comment. Anyone else come on up?
Brandi Atanisoff: Hi Brandi Atanisoff again. I don't know if any of you remember why Mayor Engen was passionate about why he was passionate about it. This started over a decade ago when Stone Container closed and we were out of jobs. There were no jobs in Missoula and this man's fire came from finding jobs for the people that carry this city. This man's fire everything you're looking to support has to do with people carrying this city being able to keep carrying this city. And there have been a lot of people that have been trying to voice their opinion to you lately and there are issues with the communication structure of the city currently. I was on community forum and not one of you were on community forum and that is the bridge. Our last community forum had none of the representatives there. People are trying to get your attention right now and why are they trying to get your attention? You all know. We’re addressing homelessness because why? We’re afraid that someday that's going to be our kids on the street because we are pricing them out. There are things that need adequate solutions. there are things that need to be seen correctly and John Engen’s mission, John Engen’s big, huge thing he did came from the love of the people that carry the city and so I think both men have served our council well but I think that our city needs a pause. Fred Rice he said he's going to give that to us. Our city needs a moment to breathe in, regroup, and shoulder to shoulder this, not creates teams, and divides. So, I think that I believe that Fred Rice is the best candidate for us to pause, really understand what makes the city the most beautiful thing that it is an honor what gave John the gumption to create such a beautiful picture. What started this, the people that carry our city. So that's all I have thanks
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thanks.
Lucy Bigley: Hi my name is Lucy Bigley and I know most of you and I am fortunate enough that I could call many of you my friends. I was John Engen’s partner for the last six years and I am standing before you today asking for you to vote for Jordan Hess for mayor. First and foremost, Jordan is unequivocally the most qualified candidate in the pool. Not only has Jordan been on council for nine years he's also chaired numerous committees during his tenure including land use and planning and public works, but you know that from his resume. Jordan met with John on a weekly basis since the day he was first elected to council and the two of them discussed policy strategy and the nuts and bolts of how to get this work done. Jordan is intimately aware of John's vision for the city of Missoula and he will be able to carry that out with continuity and be able to hit the ground running. Being the mayor of the city of Missoula is an incredibly complicated job. I’m sure I don't need to tell any of you that fact and no other candidate comes close to having the understanding of the complexities of the of the position. Do any others have the capacity to in the future? Maybe, probably, I don't know the answer to that and I would respectfully suggest that none of you do either as none of the other candidates have enough comparable experience to know and Jordan does. In the past month I’ve heard it mentioned many times that no one likes to speak after John he was a tough act to follow, but I’ve also noticed that Jordan has the same quality. In city council meetings time and time again Jordan has been able to take complex issues and eloquently get to the crux of the matter at hand with an elegant, compassionate, and respectful solution. He’s often the last to speak as he sums it up so succinctly and people sit up and pay attention when he speaks and if anyone's thinking that they haven't seen me at city council meetings it's because I’m one of the ones on MCAT feeding my children dinner and taking care of the dogs in the background. John had an endless amount of respect for Jordan. He thought Jordan was usually the smartest person in the room, but he had the humility that he never felt the need to prove it. John talked about Jordan's ability to take complex issues and distill them down into manageable and actionable bits. He thought Jordan was wise, compassionate, reasonable, and fair. Jordan is also not afraid to make difficult decisions no matter how unpopular that decision may be. Had Jordan expressed to John his desire to be mayor John would have supported it 100% and this I know. Circumstances were such that this conversation never happened, but I can assure you that John would have supported Jordan in this endeavor. Would he have had trepidation for his friend as it takes incredibly thick skin to do this job? Absolutely. People can be assholes. John would never say that but I’m saying it, but that would have been the case with anyone, he would have been concerned for anyone. None of us wanted to be in this situation. it's brutally sad and it's understandably hard on the city, the city council, and all the employees of the city and the mayor's office and a decision has to be made before I’m sure many of you feel emotionally ready to make that decision, but we unfortunately have been dealt the cards we have and I ask you that you make the decision that is best for the city and all those involved. Jordan Hess is the right choice.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you for your comment. Anyone else? Come on up state your name please.
Travis Mateer: My name is Travis Mateer. Of the three candidates I think the two names that are most familiar are going to have the biggest challenge. In part that's because of the last few years and how tax increment financing has been utilized to continue hyper-developing our community, our town, no wait our city. Fred Rice is an interesting choice, one I hadn't even considered seriously until this evening, but I also think the 80s are the last time the Missoula Redevelopment Agency had a compelling argument for tax increment financing and also the 1980’s are pretty cool with the Stranger Things as a cool show and there’s a lot of cool like 80’s colors coming back and so maybe it's hip again. I don't know maybe old is new I don't know, but I think you should definitely seriously consider Fred Rice as someone who could maybe go back and say hey do we need tax increment financing to give a hundred thousand dollars for facade improvement on Higgins? Do we need it to create a communication plan that created some really cool graphics, but beyond that, I’m still not convinced that tax increment financing is a tool you guys need to use in the ways that you're using it currently. So I think Fred Rice is a compelling, compelling choice. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Any other public comment?
Bob Moore: Good evening, thank you for this opportunity. My name is Bob Moore. I hate to say that I really don't know too much about two of the people. I do know about Mr. Hess. In my opinion Mr. Hess is far, far, far too liberal to be running this city. Our taxes are going up. One lady is talking about what a good job we're doing. Our taxes are going up like crazy. Crime is going up. You want to see how the homeless problem has been solved after two years of the past mayor? Drive down Broadway Street or several other streets, just drive down them go in here right now and go look on the sidewalk and see what you see on Higgins, on other streets. Going down a little bit further and you just see just horrible horrible living conditions. Mr. Hess has been a strong proponent of these kinds of decisions. Five million dollars for a stupid bridge across reserve. 10 million, these are round numbers, 10 million dollars to help the owners of the shopping center. Three or four million dollars to the big bank here. Three or four million dollars to a hotel. And yet all these people are pitiful lying on the street. Mr. Hess has been a proponent of that way of where we have gotten today. Mr. Ramos, you all know him, wrote an article to the paper. Good reason the city of Missoula just passed a historic tax increase of nearly 12% in the middle of an inflationary spiral that was last reported at 8.6 %. Of course Trump gets blamed for that but Trump's not to blame. Some republicans are looking at ways to give relief to the citizens of Montana. After serving on the city council for four years, I can say that Missoula does not have a revenue problem we have a spending problem. Pretty soon I’m going to be joining the homeless I think. The budget since 2007 has grown 64% faster than its own economy. 64% more. How much is enough? The city of Missoula received over 14 million in the last round of federal Covid assistance alone. Yet we're always broke and we always got to raise the taxes. I don't really know what's going on with the police that we've hired some non-policemen to do their job, but whatever it is it’s not good. Elected officials need and whoever it is elected to mayor, elected officials need to understand that the most compassionate thing they can do to help those struggling in their communities is to say no. If the Marriott Corporation needs to get money for their hotel moved in here on a franchise basis.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: We're at four minutes Mr. Moore.
Bob Moore: Okay. Say no to bonds at an ice rink at the fragrance. Say no to big corporations that come to the city with their hands out and say no to increase in fines that have the largest impact against the lowest income earners. Okay here here's what he is saying not me; I hope the local mayors, county commissioners, and city councils follow the lead of the governor and the state legislature by treating taxpayer money with the care it deserves. Y'all, especially the liberal side of the council thinks the only main objective is to spend money. We need to stop spending so much money. And Mr. Hess is guilty of spending that I know about. The other two I would go for Fred. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you. Anyone else in the audience public comment?
Derek Goldman: Thank you my name is Derek Goldman and I live in ward 4. I’ve known Jordan Hess for most of the two decades I’ve lived in Missoula. He’s an upstanding guy as you know, very humble, personable, and a straight shooter. He shares the community values of many of us and he's dedicated his time on council all these years to implement these values and put them into action. He’s been a leader in many of the biggest achievements the city has ever made over the years and his length of experience working in council and with staff is his greatest asset in the moment. This is a difficult time for many Missoulians. Over the past few weeks it's been hard for me to imagine a Missoula without John Engen in it and I imagine that all of you and many Missoulians in our community feel that same way. at the same time the community has been experiencing real stress over the past few years as Missoula rapidly grows and changes intensified by the pandemic and I think John's passing may only amplify the anxiety, the stress, and the sense of loss that many Missoulians feel right now and with that context I think that the most important job that this council has today is to pick someone with a steady hand who can instill confidence in the community and among city staff that the transition from John's leadership of the city and its departments happens in the most smooth, seamless, and competent way possible. Not only do I think Jordan Hess is the best of these candidates to do that, but I think he's in fact the only candidate who can thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you. Anyone else public comment? I’ve got some people online so I’ll go to them. Matt if you can unmute yourself and state your full name for the record.
Matt Larson: Yeah this is Matt Larson ward 3. Personally I just don't think that we should have anyone in the mayor's seat that has fiduciary responsibilities to other organizations such as a few of the candidates do or at least one of the candidates do. So I would suggest that we vote for anyone who does not have fiduciary responsibilities to other organizations such as MOR and realty organizations. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: All right and next we have Diane Stensland Bickers if you can unmute yourself Diane and provide public comment.
Diane Stensland Bickers: Yeah I’d like to endorse what everybody else has said about Jordan being the best guy for mayor for our city at this time. I’ve watched him for years now as long as we've been able to watch him on zoom anyway. in all the meetings he's been able to attend which is every meeting that the man can attend he does attend and as many people said he's eloquent as a speaker, he knows what he's talking about, he doesn't miss a chance to inform us when we need to be informed, he always knows what he's talking about. He’s the best guy to lead us at this time. He’s best for the city he's best for the city staff. Everything anybody who's endorsed him has said about it is true. I think he's the best man for the job at this time. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you. Seeing no other public comment. One more, come on up Jim.
Jim Sayer: Thank you. Jim Sayer proud resident of ward 3. I sent an e-mail to council earlier um on behalf of Jordan, but I did want to say to Mike Nugent that I actually read all the applications and went to all the interviews for the position and I really appreciated everything that you put into your application for the city's future. but I’ve known Jordan for about 15 years and we met through a small group of people that really like to talk a lot about transportation and land use over at Food For Thought and it was a fun Friday morning group we just got together and at the time when I met Jordan I was really impressed, but it was mostly through conversation and when he decided to run for council I was like wow really, and especially ward 2. Somebody earlier said they thought he was too liberal or that he wasn't necessarily the right person to lead this city, but if you can do what Jordan has done in terms of representing ward 2, which I think is the most politically diverse ward in the city, it stretches from the west side which is more urban and is dealing with a lot of the center city issues, all the way to Grant Creek out by the suburban areas at the airport. I think he's done a superb job. He’s been elected and re-elected now twice from ward 2. So I think he offers good leadership skills. Everything has been said about him that he knows the issues and I can vouch for that too because he comes prepared to every meeting I’ve ever been to. So my strong endorsement for Jordan Hess, I think he's going to provide continuity and I think at this time in the city's history that's just what we need thanks.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Anyone else public comment? Come on up.
Allie Harrison: Hi my name is Allie Harrison from ward 3. I want to say thank you Mr. Carlino for your representation. I have been a lifelong city of Missoula resident and I’m proud to be part of this amazing city. I’ve known Mr. Hess and Mr. Nugent for a very long time and I say God Speed to you both. I would say whomever is chosen as mayor next, remember to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly and please remember the least of these in our society. You represent the most vulnerable and that is your number one task. Thank you very much.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you. Any other public comment. Okay let me just double check online. Okay we have Mr. Hertz if you can unmute yourself and provide public comment. Adam are you able to unmute yourself and provide public comment? Anyone else in the room while Mr. Hertz figures out his mic? Alright Mr. Hertz are you able to unmute yourself and provide public comment? I will put you on hold and we'll take someone in the room for public comment come on up.
Tyler Gernance: My name is Tyler Gernance and I’m here today in support of Mike Nugent. I know both Mike and Jordan and I’ve worked with both of them in my position at the county as the clerk and treasurer. I have respect for both of them and I certainly respect that Jordan's experience on city council certainly gives him an insight into the city workings. I would respectfully suggest however that legislative experience which is the equivalent of city council is not the only kind of experience that is necessary for this job in fact oftentimes I don't think legislative experience translates. Sometimes it does, but not always. Mike has a wealth of executive experience and I think particularly as the city undergoes zoning and code reform comprehensive code reform having somebody with a strong executive background and somebody who has a deep knowledge in housing is going to be necessary not just for developing and implementing the code, but also ensuring its success as we move forward into the future. So I’ve known Mike for many years. I think honestly the way that I met him was kind of weird, I was at a at an event with Senator Tester and I was talking with Senator Tester and as most of you would know, Senator Tester has a way of making you feel like you're the only person in the room, which felt great until Mike walked in behind me and I have never seen somebody bolt so fast from a conversation with me to go and talk to Mike Nugent, which made me feel a little self-conscious but it made me realize that Mike has a certain quality about him that I think is exemplified in his leadership and that's the kind of quality that we need right now as Missoula embarks on a very difficult process. So I hope that you'll consider, not just consider, but vote for Mike during this process. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Alright, thank you. Anyone else in the room? Mr. Hertz if you want to speak if you want to raise your hand we'll try again. Not seeing it. Alright we will try it again and Marty, are you able to help Mr. Hertz unmute himself?
Marty Rehbein: I can only disable the mic and the other thing I can do is offer the phone number to use as an alternative, but maybe he's got his tech figured out he has his hand raised again. I will put the phone number back up on the screen here momentarily.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Alright give it give it another try Mr. Hertz if you're able to unmute yourself or else call in. There’s the phone number if you want to call in. Anyone else in the room in the meantime who wants to provide public comment? I think I’m going to go forward with council comment and Marty if we do have Mr. Hertz call in let me know and we'll go back to him for that. Alright, okay turning to council comment. If anyone from council wants to provide comment tonight. Mr. Carlino?
Daniel Carlino: I guess I’ll just start by saying what a strange process this is to pick the mayor and frankly an undemocratic process compared to how we usually run elections in this country and state and I’d be a strong advocate moving forward to ensure that the we change the way that we do these appointment processes in the future and I think in 2022 and beyond, we can do a special election or try and speed up this process to allow the voters to decide, but having 12 people decide who's going to be the next mayor of a city of over 80,000 people is just frankly not the most democratic way to do it. And I encourage our state government to look into changing this in the future, but I did nominate Fred Rice for many reasons but I think it would be great to have a placeholder in the meantime until we can let the voters of Missoula decide on who our next mayor will be. I also know that Fred is a champion for bike and car and walkable transportation safety around town and I think that's something that we need a strong mayor on to help push MDT and to help get us to safer streets in the future. I also know that Fred Rice is unafraid to do the kind of change that this moment is calling for. Right now with our climate crisis and housing crisis there is no time to waste and we're going to need to reach for a bold change and kind of goes along with the t-shirt I wore today to this meeting. Rather than dressing up I thought I would go with possibly an activist shirt it says Rapid Far-Reaching Unprecedented Change is Needed in All Aspects of Society to Prevent Climate Catastrophe and I think the same is true with our housing crisis in Missoula. without far-reaching unprecedented bold change in leadership we're going to watch these housing prices soar and the prices of rent soar in our town and without that type of leadership that's going to reach far and be bold and be progressive on our climate crisis, we're gonna be seeing more days like this in the future. we're gonna be living in a Missoula in a Montana that has a harsh winter and a harsh smoke season and we're living in a time of the sixth mass extinction where if we continue like this as a society 75 to 90% of all life on earth will go extinct and we need to take rapid action to stop the climate crisis and the housing crisis and out of the six applicants that we're left with and with this very undemocratic process that we're left with I’m gonna cast my vote for Fred Rice.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay. I think Mr. Hertz has called in on the phone so I’ve got a phone number here ending in 1865 and if you're able to unmute yourself we'll take your comment.
Adam Hertz: Thank you for putting up with my tech problems that would not let me unmute on Teams. This is Adam Hertz and I wanted to call in and express my support for Mike Nugent. I’ve known Mike for about a decade and actually met them through my time serving on city council. Mike always had a lot of positive feedback for me and probably a lot more negative feedback than positive feedback and that's what I appreciated about him. I had a lot to learn from Mike and I found early on that he knew a lot about city government and there was a lot to learn from Mike. That was 10 years ago. I know that he's been following closely. despite being on council for a limited amount of time I really think Mike's well prepared to run the city of Missoula and move it forward in a positive direction. Right now Missoula is facing a housing crisis and it's something that really is such an important crossroads for us. In 2017 in the state legislature I carried an Affordable Housing Study Bill and it actually died on the on the house floor with both parties killing it saying that it was unnecessary. At that time I had conversations with Mike and Mike knew that we were facing a growing crisis that would eventually spill over to what it is today. I think he's the right person at the right time for a big big problem that needs to be addressed. Right now Missoula has such a massive housing shortage. Our development services department is broken. There’s just not enough capacity to process permits and subdivisions and rezonings and in 2015 when I was on city council we unanimously adopted a new growth policy. it's a great growth policy that focuses inward it would result in more housing affordability, more housing equity, more density, and better environmental outcomes and since then council has not rezoned the city to match that growth policy. It’s a big undertaking and it's the kind of undertaking that would be very successful under Mike's leadership. It’s an undertaking that should have happened years ago and it's unfortunate that it hasn't, but now is the time. it's a bipartisan effort and I know that Mike has the ability to be a bipartisan leader because I’ve seen it because Mike's a democrat and I’m a republican and I know that he can bring us together to solve this crisis and I think now is the time. It’s not the time for a placeholder. We don't have another year to wait. We’ve waited too long. This needed to be done years ago and I really truly would implore you to support Mike. I think he's the right person for this job at this time. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay I think we're done with public comment and we'll go back to council comments now. Ms. Sherill?
Amber Sherrill: Yeah thanks and I appreciate Daniel your comments around this being a really weird process and honestly feeling not like a very democratic process. I know we have to do this. I’m very sad that we have to do this and as you said I don't really like the process itself, but here we are. So I first want to thank everyone who applied for this position. I know a lot of what work went into the application. It was quite long if you read them and also the interviews this is a huge thing that we are tasked with doing today. I think history is likely going to reveal that this is one of the most important decisions that we make as a body and I know that none of us on this council take it lightly. I believe this is a time to appoint a candidate that we all believe is right for our community right now. Beyond that, I believe in the democratic process and that next November all the voters, not just the 12 of us, will decide who our next mayor will be. When I started thinking about who from the applicant pool could step in the most seamlessly this quickly with the most experience to hit the ground running and keep our programs going, which is what I believe our city needs it was Jordan. While Sandy and I disagree pretty regularly, I do agree with her comments about Jordan. His interview proved without a doubt to me that he understands and will implement the city strategic policies without missing a beat. While I articulated most of my reasons when I nominated him for an interview I think they're worth repeating here. Jordan has a deep and a full understanding of our policies, our departments, our funding, and our staff. He’s been on council for nine years which is longer than any of us sitting here today. He was part of the development of many of the policies that we currently operate under. He has chaired our Land Use and Planning Committee and if anyone has watched that they are very technically challenging committees and they have a lot of controversy. He has done this efficiently and effectively. He understands our statutory requirements and our restrictions. We have a lot of restrictions as I think we say all the time so it's very important that someone understand all of that. We all listen when he speaks. This is significant to me because none of the 12 of us sitting here are short on opinions and our willingness to share those openly. We’re a group of strong-willed people and we all listen to him. There is absolutely no guarantee that who we will appoint for will win the election next November and that should not be a consideration. if the person we appoint does decide to run for Mayor next year or not it does not matter because that is not what we are tasked with at this time. We are tasked with putting in the most qualified and the best apple applicant we are able until the voters decide. I believe we have a moral obligation here, an obligation to a city, and an obligation to the democratic process. Our only task is to appoint the most qualified mayor until the voters decide next November. To me that person is clearly Jordan.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you. Other council comments? Ms. Becerra?
Mirtha Becerra: Thank you. First and foremost I just want to thank everyone who applied and everyone who went through the interview process. It is not easy; it's probably one of those interviews that you will never forget. I was appointed to this council and I have been in that position before. I also want to say that under normal circumstances this would be a very difficult task and these are not normal circumstances. We lost our mayor. We lost a friend, a colleague, and an exemplary public servant. So we're in this situation, which is extremely challenging. This is a challenge that I believe needs to be met with dedication, commitment, compassion, experience, and dedication and I believe um Jordan Hess is that person to bring those attributes to the office of the mayor in a seamless way and carry us forward until Missoulians can decide who the mayor should be for the following cycle. So I completely agree and I’m not going to be repetitive. I think my fellow council person Amber Sherrill said it very well. What we're faced with today is not to play political strategists, our job is to provide Missoulians with a mayor that will be able to carry the duties of that office until Missoulians can vote their elected mayor. Thanks
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you. Any other comments from council. Alright let me check online. Just a second I don't want to miss any raised hands. Ms. West.
Heidi West: I've just been delaying as long as possible because these aren't fun comments to make and I haven't prepared anything because I’ve been really struggling with I guess how to articulate my thoughts and probably more my feelings about having to make this decision. I also agree with everyone who said that this is an awful process and I guess I agree with everything that has been said about Jordan. And
one thing that was said to me earlier today is that we need Jordan to ensure that we have the best policy possible, which is actually what I’ve been struggling with is that I feel like we can't lose Jordan from council because council is the policy making body of our city and that we are undertaking a huge process of code reform. I keep getting stuck on the 14 months of having a potential placeholder as a mayor and that the possibility that we might lose Jordan's expertise after those 14 months and I actually don't think we can risk that. And I also think that, as much as we all would like the continuation of an existing administration, that's not what we have in front of us today. That has changed irreparably so I am going to support Mike Nugent for mayor. I have been so impressed in the last brief months that we have worked together since he's a new council member in his ability to really navigate maybe controversial and difficult decisions and really effectively communicate with people he disagrees with to very effectively communicate what the accurate current decision space is under the rules that we currently operate under. I also know that he has had the opportunity to effectively collaborate across the state and to really advocate on behalf of Missoula in forums outside of this. I also know that he is capable of managing large groups of people, which is what a mayor has to be able to do along with policy work. It’s been a special kind of torture to think this over and lose sleep over it and that's where I’ve landed so.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you for your comments. Anyone else on council? Ms. Savage
Jennifer Savage: Like Ms. West, I’ve been delaying as long as possible as well and I fully agree with Ms. Sherrill and Mr. Carlino, this is an awkward and what feels like undemocratic process and I wish we weren't in this position. I think I can probably speak for everyone on council when I say that we value Mike Nugent and we value Jordan Hess and this is particularly difficult for a lot of us. I’m supporting Mike Nugent tonight because I think he's knowledgeable about the biggest thing that the city is facing right now and that is housing. He has been on the Housing Authority Board. He is also on the board of the United Way. He loves Missoula and he's shown us that over the years and he shows us that every day, whether it's at his own kids sporting events or the multiple multiple places where he shows up and volunteers and serves his time and he's done that for many many years in this community. I also think he's thoughtful. the thing that sort of has come up for me several times with Mike having served with him in the last eight months and having run with him last summer, is how thoughtful he is and how thoughtful he has been and how inclusive he has been to members of this council and to members of this community. So I’ll be voting for Mike tonight and I don't ever want to do this again this has been no fun.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Alright, any other comments. Ms. Vasecka?
Sandra Vasecka: Since I said my comments at the wrong time earlier tonight I just wanted to say that over the past month I’ve had many sleepless nights and I’m sure my husband will be very happy when this process is over because I have not been on the phone this much my entire life. it's been a really interesting process and a really interesting past couple of weeks really getting to know a lot of the folks that interviewed and especially between Mike and Jordan I’ve really gotten to know Mike really well over the past couple of weeks and gotten to know Jordan a lot better since I’ve been on council with Jordan a lot longer than I have with Mike but it's been wonderful having those discussions and especially since it's not an ideal choice for me seeing that we are on opposite sides of the political aisle. It’s been extremely difficult but at the end of the day I do think that I will be able to sleep at night deciding to carry on Engen’s way at least for the next year until the next democratic election. then we can leave it up to the voters and if Mike or Jordan do get moved on to mayor, I do hope that some folks in the community that align with my thinking would step up to replace them on council, but regardless if we if we have out of the three nominees I think that Missoula will be in good hands. So that's my piece.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Right any other council comment? Alright we are concluded with council comment. I wanted to say thank you for all the public comment and thank you for respecting the decorum. I appreciate that greatly. I think our next step is to go to a vote. So Marty, I’m going to have you explain, oh wait just a second did we need a break? Okay all right we're good. We’ll recess for 10 minutes. Okay I’m going to call us back into order. Alright so we have had nominations, public comment, and counsel comment so Marty if you want to explain how the voting will work with the graph that you have created. I’ll turn it over to you.
Marty Rehbein: Okay. Wonky processes call for a wonky spreadsheet folks. Alright I’m going to share my screen. So I’ve developed a spreadsheet in order to tally the nominees so we will go calling in alphabetical order each council member's name and they will vote for one of the three nominees Hess, Nugent, or Rice. in these little blocks I can put an initial and you can see that over here on the right, Hess, , Nugent, Rice that shows that I’ve noted a vote for each and I have a total vote tally here where it's counting. this area here where it says no right now will indicate whether somebody has greater than or equal to seven votes which means that we've selected a candidate. on the second row there is a same as previous and some of you may be aware that city council has a rule that if we call the role and the roll call vote is the same for two successive votes then council can consider folks who are qualified to be mayor, but may or may not have applied for the position. So this column over here once we start voting will indicate if we've hit that situation. When I call the role I will ask you to call the name. I’d love it if you could say the last name of the person that you're voting for and I will tally along here and if we don't have someone who reaches seven votes then we will start another round of voting until we do get someone to have seven votes. So are there any questions about that?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: I see no questions out here on the floor so. I think we're ready to start Marty.
Marty Rehbein: Okay let's get going then. Anderson.
Stacie Anderson: I really hate that I changed my last name. I’m voting for Hess.
Mirtha Becerra: Hess.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Would someone mind letting the person in the lobby into the meeting? Thank you.
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Jordan Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Alright, would any of you like to change your vote? We have six votes for Hess, five votes for Nugent, and one vote for Rice. We do not have any of the candidates receiving seven votes so we'll proceed to another round of voting. Hang on here. This time we start the roll call with Becerra.
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Jordan Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Rice
Marty Rehbein: Okay would any of you like to change your vote? We have five votes for Hess, five votes for Nugent, two votes for Rice. We still don't have seven we don't have two successive roll call votes. We’ll go another ramp. This time we start with Carlino.
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Marty Rehbein: Would any of you like to change your vote. Alright, we have six votes for Hess, five votes for Nugent, one vote for Rice. Nobody has at least seven and we don’t have two successive rollcall votes for the votes cast for the same. Let’s go for another round. This time we start with Contos.
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
Marty Rehbein: Okay would any of you like to change your vote? We have six votes for Hess, five votes for Nugent, one vote for Rice and it appears that we have two successive roll call votes where the votes were exactly the same. If council wishes to enter any additional names into nomination you may do it now.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Anyone else want to add a name? Mr. Carlino.
Daniel Carlino: Yeah, I’d like to nominate Bob Giordano.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay, Bob Giordano is on the list. Anyone else? Ms. Anderson?
Stacie Anderson: Point of clarification, do they have to accept the nomination that they are willing to be put into the position?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: I do not believe that they have to accept it if they aren't here they can't say anything and they can be voted on. That’s the way it rolls. Anyone else want to put any other names on the floor for nominations? Okay so we need to open public comment back up to take more public comment. Does anyone want to provide additional public comment? If so come up to the microphone and state your name. I see none. Let me go to online and see if we have anyone raising their hand there. Alright, we do not have any public comment so Marty, we’ll go back to voting if you’ve got that name entered appropriately if need be.
Marty Rehbein: I think I do. So I will put in a G for Giordano.
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Giordano
John P. Contos: Hess
Marty Rehbein: Okay would any of you like to change your vote? Looks like somebody didn’t tally. Hang on. Oh there it went. Would any of you like to change your votes? We have six votes for Hess, five votes for Nugent, one vote for Giordano. Another round.
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Nugent
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Marty Rehbein: Would any of you like to change your vote? We have five votes for Hess, six votes for Nugent, one vote for Rice.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Alright, just a second Marty. Did you have a point of order or?
Sandra Vasecka: Yeah, I want to change my vote. We do have a vote change, did you hear that Marty?
Marty Rehbein: Yes.
Sandra Vasecka: I’m sorry I calculated wrong. I’m going to keep that where I’m at.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay, another round. All right Marty we're gonna just take a second here. We've got some questions.
Daniel Carlino: I was just wondering if we could do a council debate or talk about this.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: No these are not that's not per our rules. I’m sorry we'll take a recess periodically and people can chat then, but no, we need to follow our process and Ms. Vasecka did you have a question?
Sandra Vasecka: Yes, so we need to get two rounds of the exact same votes for of seven votes per? Okay I need that clarified.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: So two identical votes that are the same in other words everyone votes the same on the same people in a row and then we open it up to nominations from the community, but we only do that one time and we did that already so we're back to just voting straight voting at this point all right. Ms. Sherrill.
Amber Sherrill: I'm not sure if this was her question. We only need one round of any one of the candidates getting to seven to make an appointment.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Correct. Yes. Okay alright back to you Marty. Go ahead I think Marty's getting queued up so go ahead if you have a question if I can answer it. I think we both have the same question. in the situation that we've already had two identical rounds of votes that no one got to seven, it was opened up for additional nominations which Daniel obviously made that remains open for the remainder of our debate or is it just right after for that one round?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: That was it one time through. Okay that's my understanding and Mr. Jim Nugent can correct me, but that was my understanding from having prepped for this scenario.
Sandra Vasecka: Just so I can be really clear on this, if we have two votes that are exactly the same then we have one round that you can put someone else's name into the hat I guess and then they will stay as a potential candidate just like Bob has stayed as a potential candidate is that correct?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Correct they are still on the table.
Sandra Vasecka: But then no one else can be nominated until we have the next exact same vote twice.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: It only happens once and we did it. Hang on a second Mr. Nugent the city attorney can clarify this but from my questioning of Mr. Nugent earlier this week that's and last week actually, it can happen once and we've done that. Alright, Marty are you ready for another round of voting?
I would actually really like either for him to join us or e-mail because that is not my understanding. I thought it was opened up anytime there was two successive votes not just once per the entire voting like evening, god willing almost over, but. Let's go for a couple more rounds of voting and then we'll take a recess if we have not had seven votes for anyone and we can clarify that with Mr. Nugent in the interim. That is my understanding, but if I need to be corrected so be it. So Marty let's continue voting.
Sandra Vasecka: Point of order I’m uncomfortable moving forward until we hear from the attorney.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Mr. Nugent are you on the line and can you speak to this? Do you understand the question?
Jim Nugent Yes I’m here and your city council rules do not really get that specific and address it. Under your rules if you have an interpretation question you're supposed to adjourn to the administration finance committee, which I guess is now the Budget and Finance Committee and talk amongst yourself and resolve how you want to interpret that. But really you don't get into that kind of detail in your rules at this point in time. your rules can always be revised in the future, but probably the most appropriate thing to do now is to take a re brief recess and talk about it in your Budget and Finance Committee as to how the council wants to interpret that current rule.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay thank you. Questions Mr. Nugent?
Mike Nugent: If we go two consecutive and the votes are the same can somebody make a motion to suspend the rules and with two-thirds of the council can we suspend the rules?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: I believe we can.
Mike Nugent: Okay I’m just looking because I feel like people are looking for a solution so.
Jim Nugent: Yes we've talked about that previously and that is one of the options.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay Ms. Anderson.
Stacie Anderson: Point of clarification, within suspending the rules are we able to say what we're suspending the rules to do and allow or is it just then a free-for-all because we've suspended the
Rules?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: No we have to make a motion to suspend the rules with a specific intent is my understanding. We don't just get rid of all of our rules.
Jim Nugent: Correct
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Alright I’m just trying to think of the best way forward here. I would entertain a motion. We have to move this forward in the most constructive way possible. I am hesitant to recess and convene Budget and Finance to have the very same conversation and have us go in circles. I think it would be constructive to entertain emotion from someone who would be wanting to suspend the rules with a specific proposal as to whether or not we can every single time there are two identical votes in a row nominate for the floor again, or if it is one and done. Are you understanding what I’m saying? Does that appear to be the fastest way forward? Ms. Sherrill you have a comment?
Amber Sherrill: I think I would like to make a motion that we clarify suspend whatever we want to call it and that we have the ability to every time we have a tie vote we have the ability to add a new candidate.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: All right that motion is in order. We will take public comment on that motion.
Those of us in the virtual meeting are not hearing Mr. Hunt.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you. I’m sorry repeat yourself.
Mr. Hunt: It would be it would seem easier to just dissolve into Budget and Finance, interpret the rule, then come back. You don’t have to even get out of your seats and then resolve back into the council and continue on that basis, but you can’t just bend a rule when you don’t know what it means, what it is. If you say I’m willing to suspend the rules in order that it just you're explaining something you haven't stated what you missed. You can't do that.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you for your comment. Any public comment?
Grant: Grant here. I just first want to say thanks to everybody for taking this matter very seriously we've got a lot of important issues in the community and very much appreciate moving this forward quickly knowing that there's a heavy statutory deadline. I guess reading the room and the folks at the table it seemed that the prevailing understanding going into this vote may have been that people believed if two votes were cast the same way consecutively it was possible to add names from the floor, so it might behoove the group to suspend the rules so that they allow for that to move forward as what appears to be the prevailing expectation of people who seem surprised by the current situation.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you any other public comment on this item? Mr. Larson. You can unmute yourself Mr. Larson.
Matt Larson: Yes, Matt Larson ward three, thank you for allowing me to speak. I think we should move forward and allow the public to nominate more people each round as I think that's kind of the consensus everybody has here and it's the most constructive use of time here.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay any other public comment? Seeing on any other council comment on this item? Ms. Vasecka your hand is up, is that from previously? Okay, any other council comment? Mr. Carlino.
Daniel Carlino: I just wanted to clarify the motion. You said if there's a tie vote, because we technically haven't had any tie votes so I just was wondering what the exact motion is right now.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Let me, well, do you want to restate your motion?
Amber Sherrill: My motion was that if we again have two consecutive voting rounds that are exactly the same as we did when you nominated Bob that we allow for additional nominations and at that same time we can suspend our rules and decide to suspend the rules by two-thirds vote. I’m not really suggesting that we suspend the rules right now. I think we need to clarify the rules because I think it was our belief going into it that that ability to add a nominee did not stop on the first round so I want a clarification not necessarily a suspension.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: So your motion is to suspend the rules to clarify that we can indeed continue
To do this with two identical votes in a row?
Amber Sherrill: If that's what we need to do yes.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay any other comments from council? Ms. West.
Heidi West: I disagree with the interpretation that I guess that only one time that that opportunity only happens one time in this process. The language says new nominations may not be made unless there have been two successive rollcall votes wherein the vote votes cast were identical each time. It doesn't specify that that only happens once and it is in the plural new nominations, so that is the language that we're looking at.
Amber Sherrill: Alright Ms. Sherrill.
Amber Sherrill: Upon reading that I think you're correct and when it says each time I think that's another important piece of that language so I’m going to retract my motion because I do not believe it's needed.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Alright, Mr. Hess.
Jordan Hess: Thanks. Rule eight is regarding interpretation of our rules and you have authority as presiding officer to interpret the rules and if there's a disagreement over those interpretations that's when we go to the Budget and Finance Committee. I just wanted to highlight that for you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Alright, so having discussed this with staff earlier in the last week my understanding was we could only have one, but upon hearing the rules we articulated tonight, I think it is fine to have every time we have two identical votes in a row open it up to nominations. So as presiding officer I will state that. Alright, so back to you Marty. We have had two identical votes is that correct in the last two go rounds? Alright, then we need to continue voting.
Marty Rehbein: Yes hang on just a moment let me share the chart in front of me to refer to so here we go. So we've only hit that the one time and here's the last round of voting, this line 18. Alright, we're on line 19 and we'll start this round with Jordan.
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Okay and I think we had votes that went the same. No we don’t. Would anybody like to change their vote? Okay we have six votes for Hess, five votes for Nugent, one vote for Rice.
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Giordano
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Alright, would anybody like to change their vote? We have six votes for Hess, five votes for Nugent, one vote for Giordano. We don’t have anybody who has hit seven and that rollcall vote was not the same as the previous vote.
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Okay, would anybody like to change their vote? Six votes for Hess, five votes for Nugent, one vote for Rice. Nobody’s got seven. The vote was not the same as the last vote. Ready for another round?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Yes.
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Okay, so we have had two role call votes in a row that are the same, so we will open it up again to nominations to the floor, but we will take a 15 minute recess in the meantime.
Okay Gwen, I think I’m ready. Okay, I think we’re ready to go.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay so we are back in order. We left off with two identical votes so we can again take nominations opened up to the community. Any City Councilor want to nominate anyone else? Mr. Carlino?
Daniel Carlino: I’d like to nominate Tegan Avery.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Tegan Avery. All right, any other nominations from Council. All right, seeing no other hands raised we will go to public comment on the nominations that are on the table. Mr. Hunt.
Kevin Hunt: Thank you I live at 308 Parkside Lane. I’d like to respectfully submit that what’s been going on here just corroborates what I said earlier. You are very capable people, but you can’t run a simple meeting. You don’t know the rules, you think a motion to suspend a rule when you’re actually trying to make a new rule. This is what happens when you passively allow all of your authorities that you have under the charter to just float out of your hands and be held by one person and that one person was in charge for 17 years and if you take just one of you and end up appointing that person because you want a swift continuation of things as they already are. I submit that that is what that's the damn torpedoes full speed ahead approach that's very reckless and so I think you should consider taking Avery thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Marty, if you can switch the screen out from the 15-minute recess screen
Marty Rehbein: Oh sorry!
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Thank you. Any other public comment before we go back to voting? We will go to those who are virtual. All right, we’ve got a raised hand, John O’Connor. Go ahead Mr. Connor. If you can unmute yourself. Mr. O’Connor are you able to unmute yourself and talk? All right, I’m not hearing Mr. O’Connor. Mr. O’Connor are you able to unmute yourself? All right, we’re gonna just have to go forward with the um the vote. Ms. Sherrill?
Amber Sherrill: I’m just wondering if we could, since we’ve had that problem twice, could we put the call-in number or have the call-in number read so public can comment?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Marty are you able to read the call-in number.
Marty Rehbein: I am. Hang on just a moment; I am waiting for it to come up. Call in number, Mr. O’Connor, hopefully you have a pen and paper, I am going to stall for just a second for you to run and grab one. Our phone number is 406-384-6960. Our phone conference ID is 387736445#. I will share screen here for just a second so folks can have a visual. It’s right here.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Great, thank you Marty.
Marty Rehbein: I am trying to make things bigger and then all over the screen.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay, we don’t have anyone on the line do we that’s calling in trying to provide public comment?
Marty Rehbein: Not at this time, no.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay, let’s go forward with voting. If Mr. O’Connor is able to call in, we’ll take his public comment down the road.
Marty Rehbein: Oh here we have a phone call.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Oh, all right. Excellent. Are you able to let them in Marty?
Marty Rehbein: Yes. I’ve lost track of which number it is that came in, but I am going to unmute phone number with the last digits 151.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: If the last digits of your phone number are 151, if you can unmute yourself to provide public comment. Are you able to…
Phone Number Ending in 151: I did not want to provide public comment, sorry.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay (chuckles). All right, well we’re trying here. Thank you (laughing). Sorry to put you on the spot. Okay. We do have a raised hand now. Okay now we’ve got public comment for phone number ending in 9263 and if you’re able to unmute yourself and provide public comment. Marty, I think they just disappeared. Yes, we can hear you. Provide your name please and then public comment.
Durnell: I’m also here with Melissa Glueckerd. We are both constituents from Ward 3. We’ve been watching some of the Council meeting tonight just with interest for the mayoral candidate and I would not advise that, I we both know Tegan Avery as an individual she's wonderful lovely, but we wouldn't advise that she be selected in this recall of Voters because it's been very frustrating watching the vote between Jordan Hudson and Mike Nugent and the deciding vote has been on Daniel Carlino. And I want to make it public that I emailed Daniel this morning as a constituent letting him know that me and many of my peers in ward 3 were worried that he would be supporting third party candidates and we asked him to vote and support Jordan Hess. So it is just frustrating to know that this kind of conversation has gone on. I don't think this is the City Council that Missoula wants representing them or the people that they want or the behavior that they want in deciding a Mayor because it's really important to us so really that's all I wanted to say. I hope that you'll reconsider and that when we go back to a vote it'll be a seven to five vote for Jordan Hess from here and I appreciate your time.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: All right thank you for your comment. All right I don't see any other raised hands for public comment so we will continue voting Marty.
Marty Rehbein: Okay so our current nominations are Hess, Nugent, Rice, Giordano, and Avery. Start this round with Vasecka.
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Avery
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Marty Rehbein: Okay. I’m not sure why we’re adding up to 13 here, but I have 12 votes. Would any of you like to change your vote? It is 6 votes for Hess, 5 votes for Nugent, and 1 vote for Avery.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Marty, if you can scroll the screen up a little bit, there’s a bar so it’s very hard to see the votes as they come in because the bar tends to cover it, just saying. We are not seeing your screen though.
Marty Rehbein: That’s okay, I am not sharing it. I was fixing a couple things. Hang on. All right, another round, this one starts with West.
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Marty Rehbein: Okay would anyone like to change your vote? That’s 6 votes for Hess, 5 votes for Nugent, and 1 vote for Rice. Back to Anderson.
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Avery
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Would anybody like to change your vote? That is 6 votes for Hess, 1 vote for Nugent, and 1 vote for Avery. Next round.
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Marty Rehbein: Would any of you like to change your vote? There’s 6 votes for Hess, 5 votes for Nugent, and 1 vote for Rice.
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Marty Rehbein: All right, would any of you like to change your vote? It is 6 votes for Hess, 1 vote for Nugent, 1 vote for Rice. We have had 2 successive role call votes where the votes cast are exactly the same.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: We can open this up to nominations. Any nominations from Council? I see none. We will go forward with voting.
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
Marty Rehbein: Okay, we’ve had another successive role call vote where the votes are the same.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Anyone want to nominate anyone else? I see none. We’ll keep voting.
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: More debate please, but Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Marty Rehbein: Would any of you like to change your vote? There are 6 votes for Hess, 5 votes for Nugent, 1 vote for Rice. We’ve had another role call vote where the votes are the same.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Anyone want to add another nomination. Seeing none, we’ll keep voting.
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: We’re not seeing your screen Marty by the way.
Marty Rehbein: Oh sorry. Hang on.
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Marty Rehbein: Would any of you like to change your vote? 6 votes for Hess, 5 votes for Nugent, 1 vote for Rice. We’ve had another successive role call vote where the votes are the same.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Do we have any nominations from the floor?
Daniel Carlino: I don’t have a nomination, but I would like to vote to suspend the rules.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: You can make a motion.
Daniel Carlino: I would like to move that we allow, I don’t know if this is a suspension of the rule or not, that we allow for further debate about the candidates.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: So that motion is to suspend the rules to allow for further Council comments. I believe that is in order. Do we have public comment on that motion?
Kevin Hunt: I live at 308 Parkside Lane. I just wanted to make note of a couple things. The City attorney gave a legal opinion on interpretation of a rule that affected a candidate who happened to be his son. I think that is improper. I'm very concerned that some citizen when you're all done here is going to try to judicially challenge what you're doing, they probably won't be successful I don't think this is what you want and I believe that two of you had pledged to a candidate and were sticking to that pledge to a former mayor and that mayor's trying to reach you now I understand urging you to switch your votes to someone else and that's all I have to say.
Travis Mateer: My name is Travis Mateer and I'd like to make a public comment. I really wish this could have been avoided. I think there was an opportunity when our mayor had a terminal diagnosis for there to be a more streamlined process if that person would have been more I think open about the fact that staying in office till the very bitter end is why we are here and I don't want to see any frustration directed at maybe one member of City Council who is using the process that we have at hand to have a conversation tonight about who is going to be the placeholder for our city in this critical time. There could have been more preparation for this transition, but this is the process we have. It looks like a pretty messy process and I think we'll ensure that this will not be a process used again moving forward because this is really not instilling a lot of confidence in citizens I think moving forward. And all the Investments that are going to be coming you guys want to make sure that there's consistency. I think we were really hoping there was going to be more consistency tonight for all those Investments coming. I hope they don’t get nervous about investing in this great city. Thank you.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay, any other public comment on motion to suspend the rules to have more Council comment. I’m seeing nothing online. Oh, I am seeing someone’s hand raised. Their phone number ending in 8395. If you would like to give public comment, go ahead. If you are able to unmute yourself and provide public comment. I am not hearing anything so we are not able to take your public comment. Okay, any Council comment on the motion that is in front of us? Seeing none, if we want to suspend the rules we have to have a 2/3 vote and lets have that vote Marty and then we can open it up to Council comment. All right, if you can take the vote Marty. All right, just a second, we are going to try and take this public comment. Are you able to unmute yourself to provide public comment?
Jacob Elder: Hello, so this is Jacob Elder.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Go ahead, we can hear you, just provide your public comment please on the motion to speak to provide more Council comments.
Marty Rehbein: We can hear you. If you’ve got the meeting playing in the background though it’d be very helpful to mute that while you are talking to us because we do have an echo coming through Mr. Elder.
Jacob Elder: Can you hear me?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Yes we can hear you. Go ahead.
Jacob Elder: Mr. Hunt pointed out a good point there. Look we're sitting here talking about…hello?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: All right Mr. Elder just keep talking and provide your public comment we're trying to listen.
Jacob Elder: Right so so we're gonna sit here and accept potential nepotism in our small communities. When you when you look at all the candidates up there I think Jordan Hess is a better candidate.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Mr. Elder, I am sorry to cut you off. We are only taking public comment on the motion to suspend the rules to provide more Council comments.
Jacob Elder: Mr. Hunt came out there.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: That’s what you can provide public comment on.
Jacob Elder: So, you let Mr. Hunt talk about what he wanted to talk about. This is important. I don’t believe that we should just go ahead and take the mic here. This is just not okay.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: All right. Thank you for your comment.
Jacob Elder: Lastly, lastly, what we talked about the JEDI plan. How does JEDI represent any of the people out here? Just think about it. You have your diversity candidate…
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: All right, Mr. Elder, we are taking public comment on the item in front of us. All right Marty, we are going to go forward with the vote on the motion to suspend the rule to provide more Council comment.
Marty Rehbein: Okay. I have pretty much lost track of where we are with the role call and the regular set of things. I think we were somewhere around Mr. Contos. On the motion to suspend the rules to allow more debate.
John P. Contos: Yes
Jordan Hess: Yes
Gwen Jones: Yes
Kristen Jordan: Yes
Mike Nugent: Yes
Jennifer Savage: Yes
Amber Sherrill: Yes
Sandra Vasecka: Yes
Heidi West: Yes
Stacie Anderson: Yes
Mirtha Becerra: Yes
Daniel Carlino: Yes
Marty Rehbein: Okay, motion to suspend the rules to allow more debate passes.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: All right, anyone that wants to provide more debate, please raise your hand.
Daniel Carlino: I just want to say it's a false choice to say that I'm the only Swing Vote here. There’s six people that could come over and vote for Hess or the six people that could come over and vote for Nugent or there's 11 people that could come over and vote for Rice or Giordano or Avery so there's many options that could happen or we could nominate somebody new that we could all agree on. it's not up to me it's up to all 12 of us or seven of us to agree and again this just shows how undemocratic this process is and how this is not a good process to appoint people and I hope that we can get this changed at a state level as soon as possible.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Anyone else wanting to provide comment?
Stacie Anderson: Thanks so much. I agree I think we all agree that this is a less than ideal process. none of us want to be in this situation for a variety of reasons all of which have been stated, but unfortunately this is the rules and that we have been dealt and the process that is set forth in front of us and as we have all, and myself included, many times stated our frustration with the decision-making box that we were given this is another example to chalk up to that list, but it is the process and we do need to move forward with selecting the next mayor to move forward with the business of the city and there does seem to be a consensus amongst two candidates and so I'm not quite sure what end game or result is hoped for as we continue to do multiple rounds of this style of voting.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Any other comments from Council?
Sandra Vasecka: This process is way less than ideal but this is the process that's in front of us so I do agree with Daniel it's not up to just Daniel, it’s up to all of us and I as you saw in the budget meeting, I'm prepared to be here until the wee hours of the morning. So, until we can all come to a decision.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Any other comments. All right then we'll keep going with the vote.
Marty Rehbein: Okay everyone, just a reminder. Current Nominees are Hess, Nugent, Rice, Giordano, and Avery. We start this round of voting with Jordan.
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Okay that is, I’m sorry; would any of you like to change your vote? That is 6 votes for Hess, 5 votes for Nugent, 1 vote for Rice. We have had another successive role call vote where the votes are exactly the same and new nominations would be in order.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Are there any new nominations from Council? Seeing none we will continue voting.
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Okay we have had 2 successive role call votes where the votes are exactly the same. New nominations are in order.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Any new nominations from Council? Seeing none, we will have another role call vote.
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Would any of you like to change your vote? That’s 6 votes for Hess, 5 votes for Nugent, and 1 vote for Rice. We have had another successive role call vote where the votes are the same and new nominations are in order.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Any new nominations from Council. Seeing none, we will take a 15 minute recess and come back and continue voting.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Okay, we are back in session and Mr. Nugent, you wanted to comment?
(Marked as 45:14 on transcript)
Mike Nugent: Yeah, no. First of all, sorry for the recess. There are people in the world that you respect and there are people who maybe look out for their self-interests and they do things for the right reasons and the wrong reasons and you know I love Missoula and I love this community and what's happening tonight and the messages and what's going on both supportive and not supportive you know I mean it's kind of like the best and the worst Missoula all in one. the unfortunate thing is you know I I respect Jordan so much and you know he and I have been talking for a while and we've been talking about this process for a long time and I think the funny thing is that Jordan's the damn reason I ran. He talked me into this before he decided to do it himself and so here we are. you know I've lived here my whole life and I love this community and I know Jordan does too so it's like it's not about you know who's better or anything like that. I've really loved parts of this process. all the people from the community have reached out and talked about all Missoula can be, you know not just who we are but who we can be and I think that some people tonight have made a mockery of Council. They’ve made a mockery of what Missoula can be. They’ve made a mockery of you know this process under guises of being led by other people and it's not just one, there's probably three or four and I think that's unfortunate because I think you all deserve better. Don’t think that anybody intended in the state law to have you know two guys standing in an alley at 10:30, I guess it's 11, sorry that recess was a lot longer than I thought, you know trying to figure out what to do. and I'm sorry I'm getting emotional about this but politics, I think Jordan likes to say this, politics is a blood sport and it's terrible it's a blood sport when the people you're going against you respect and so to see us just go round and round and to have everybody dug in you know that's not what Missoula wants, it's not what this community wants. and you know I have such respect for the people who have been positive who have reached out to Jordan and myself and have been supportive about you know “hey Jordan I like Mike, but I'm supporting you and here's why” or vice versa and I think that that's what we should celebrate you know. I think that yeah this isn't a perfect process, but it's you know it's the process that we have and you know this was the opportunity for people who wanted to be mayor to participate and to join and you know in my life I didn't think that I would be asking the community believe in me nine months into my first term like John Engen wasn't supposed to get cancer. this wasn't supposed to happen this way and I think that you know a lot of people have struggled with this and it's got emotional and I think that there are some of us who have handled it and I think we can be proud of the conversations we've had and that there are others who I think you know it's just unfortunate and that's not just on Council that's some of the games that have been played on the other side and how this all has kind of played out and I you know I value every one of my Council colleagues who was you know willing to have the conversation those who voted for me and those who didn't. I mean I've been telling them all night that we're going to be friends on the other side and we are. but you know we're gonna go around in circles and everybody who's voted for me has told me they'll stick with me and everybody who's voted for Jordan has told Jordan they'll stick with him. we're both getting all kinds of calls from our supporters in the community saying don't back down but here we are and I think that you know we need to have a mayor we need to have a leader and part of that is being willing to say, you know now's maybe not the time and um you know there's no guarantees, there's no promises. I don't know what happens next, but I don't want this to go on. I love Missoula too much. You know obviously I'm a child of public servants and I'm proud of that. My grandfather served on this Council so you know, third generation we're raising our kids here and you know this town this is a special place and it's not just special in the way that we all say our towns are special, but it really is. you know we have a good thing going on and I think that if there's anything this process has told me that I've discussed with Councilman Hess in the dark alley, there’s a lot of people that don't feel heard and they're worried that you know something's being pulled over on them or there's issues that we on Council don't understand. and the other thing that I think is pretty clear is Council we live in a bubble like I think sometimes we think we don't, but we do and I think that we can be better at representing our community as a whole and understanding those other voices and not just dismissing people because they don't agree with us and you know that's something that I think Jordan does well, I’d like to think that's something I do well, but I think that's something that as a Council we can work on and we can be better at. I know this community is a tough place like our taxes have gone up you know it's an expensive place to live. Our kids cannot afford to live here. home prices are skyrocketing like we have real serious problems and as much as I believe in my heart that I can help solve that, the reality is that you know one of us has to step in and be mayor starting tomorrow and you know I think that's going to be a tough thing to do if we just let this keep going. So, I don't know what all this looks like on the other side, but I want the people who stuck with me to know that I'll never forget that. I don't know what comes next and you know those of you who were true to yourselves in this process and have the best interest of Missoula at heart, you're the ones that I want to work with. Those of you who weren't I think that you should really think about what it is that your goals really are or really were tonight. You know on our next round I'm going to vote for Jordan to be mayor even though I want to be mayor because sometimes that's what leaders do and you know I don't know if this is the closest I'll ever be to this, probably because I think that crying at Council at 11 at night is probably not a good campaign video, but you know I don't care because one thing that I think that people who have supported me have said but that is true is I try to be genuine like you get who you get with me and I am someone that likes to work with everybody and I am someone who will sit and listen to everybody. One of the maybe most frustrating things about this process is the people who've tried to paint the fact that I've been willing to work with Republicans and Democrats to get things done is a bad thing. Are you kidding me? Like that’s
crazy and if anybody thinks that that's part of the problem in politics that somehow like because we disagreed on one issue seven years ago like you're a terrible person. Like we need to be better than that. we need to be able to sit at a table and say Sandy I don't agree with you, but we're going to be better for it and I know we're going to be better for it because I've really enjoyed getting to know you in this process and so there's good from it and I've been told that you know Jordan and I are embarrassing everybody right now because we're letting this go and you know shame on them because we're not we're a group of 12 people who passionately want what's best for Missoula and we all may have different opinions but at the end of the day we're trying to be public about this process and we're trying to do what we think is right with the rules that we have. and sure maybe a special election would be better but that's not the rules that we have so I would tell you that if there's anybody outside this room who's criticizing what's gone on inside this room you don't know what it's like to walk in our shoes this was not easy. And you know I think I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that because it's not. we've had so many people reach out we've had so many people tell us what they think and everybody puts it as like this is the end of the world if you know you know if you don't do what do what I think and um I think it's pretty easy for people to sit on the outside and name call and you know imply that somehow this is embarrassing but I don't see it that way I see um mostly 12 people who really just struggled to reach an agreement in one night on how to proceed and if we think that's bad in politics then we're doing it wrong because the whole idea is that we talk about things and we work them out and we come to a solution instead of walking into a room and having the votes predetermined and I just hope moving forward that you know on this Council we can continue to build that relationship across the lines of ideologies and you know tenure and all that because I think that everybody on this Council body has different things to bring and obviously we're going to change a little bit because if we have mayor Hess we're going to have to fill a seat and I hope that's a better process than this one. something tells me it will be partly because nobody on Council can apply for the seat but I just I want you all to know to my you know Council colleagues that I really do I appreciate that you considered me and I appreciate those of you that who are willing to stand with me because the reality is if I wasn't right now doing this we would have another three hours of locked votes because everybody wants to lock in and what does that prove us? It shows us that one of us is getting 6 so one of us getting 5 or maybe we get to 6 and 6 and here we go but sometimes you have to recognize that for the better of the community we do need to move forward. So, to those that voted for me I really appreciate it. to those that you know were good in this process I really do appreciate it and to the community who reached out and you know even those who are going to be really mad at me for stepping aside I want you to know that I value your opinions and I look forward to standing next to you know will be mayor Hess when he gets sworn in probably tomorrow I assume I don't know when that happens. and working side by side to you know fight for Missoula because we've got big things coming forward and I think we've got an opportunity to continue to be a leader in the state and you know I'm willing to recognize that sometimes that somebody has to say okay uh you know we've got to move on for the better of everybody and you know I'm willing to do that so. you know thank you all sorry for showing you that I'm not just a stoic guy who sits here and you know opines but I get emotional sometimes and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be part of this and you know I'll just repeat it that I'll be proud to work with mayor Hess and if anybody on the outside wants to criticize how this has all gone you know that's your problem and you're not rowing for Missoula you're rowing against Missoula and you got to wonder what your intentions really are and if you want to be part of this process you could have. So, with that acting mayor Jones who I really have appreciated all that you've done for us over the last month. I think you were the perfect person at the perfect time. I'm ready to vote.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Marty, let’s have a role call vote.
Marty Rehbein: All righty.
Daniel Carlino: Can I please comment as well?
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: Sorry, we’re going to have a role call vote and after that you can comment.
Marty Rehbein: All right, we have a nomination. Hess, Nugent, Rice, Giordano, Avery. The lights just went off in my room here, hang on.
Amber Sherrill: Hess
Sandra Vasecka: Hess
Heidi West: Nugent
Stacie Anderson: Hess
Mirtha Becerra: Hess
Daniel Carlino: Rice
John P. Contos: Hess
Jordan Hess: Hess
Gwen Jones: Nugent
Kristen Jordan: Nugent
Mike Nugent: Jordan Hess
Jennifer Savage: Nugent
Marty Rehbein: Okay, would any of you like to change your vote? We have 7 votes for Hess, 4 votes for Nugent, 1 vote for Rice.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: All right, we’ll have Council comments in a bit. Thank you everyone for your patience tonight. This has been a long process and I can’t begin to tell you how many hours of work have gone into all of this as everyone has tried to work through the vacuum of John Engen passing in August. It has been hard and I know that many on Council have frankly not been able to grieve mayor Engen because we had to focus on the next steps. I will be eternally grateful that we had some amazing candidates and I think we have seen exactly what we have today. So, we have some good people in this community who care about this community who are willing to roll up their shirt sleeves to make things work when it’s necessary and I’ve been on the Council for a lot of years. People take lots of pot shots. It doesn’t get anything done, but we’ve got a new mayor and I look forward to making that a nice smooth process and getting things moving forward so thank you Jordan for being willing to serve. Thank you everyone for all of your effort tonight and thank you Mike for your incredible effort too. I think we’re in a good place and that’s where we need to be. Marty, could you please schedule a Committee of the Whole meeting for Wednesday so that we can go through the process of starting the appointment of a City Councilor for Ward 2 to fill Mr. Hess’ spot. Do you want to address that? Are you able to articulate what that will look like in terms of a schedule on Wednesday?
Marty Rehbein: I am pulling up the community schedule as we speak. So, we can do it before committee start, after, or you could take it up in the middle of the day.
Acting Mayor Gwen Jones: I think during lunch would be great. I think we have an hour for lunch so if we can, I don’t have that schedule right in front of me, but.
Marty Rehbein: How about, let’s do Committee of the Whole at 11:45 to 12:15.