Mayor Jordan Hess And we can begin general Council comments with Ms. Anderson.
Alderperson Anderson Thanks so much and I think it's very fitting that we, this week is Mae Nan Ellingson Week because it's also the week that it's John Engen’s birthday. And so, there are not a lot of people who can say that they had such a long-lasting and robust influence on our community, and I think all of us who are still in the public service realm are thankful for the work that they have done, and we hope to carry on. So, thanks so much.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. West.
Alderperson West So, I would just like to invite everyone to the Westside Park grand opening this Saturday from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. It's been a couple of years in the making and I'm really excited that it's open to the public. We're still waiting for one giant piece of equipment to get installed, but in the meantime, it's, it's worth celebrating. So, the grand opening event is on Saturday from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. We have some food trucks. We have the Hellgate band making cotton candy and we have [inaudible] DJing a hopefully costume dance party on that wonderful new rubber surfacing. So, I hope to see all of you there in costume, dancing.
Mayor Jordan Hess Mr. Contos.
Alderperson Contos I’ll pass. Thank you.
Mayor Jordan Hess Mr. Nugent.
Alderperson Mike Nugent Thank you Mr. Mayor. A couple quick things. It is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and I just wanted to highlight that Officer Rebecca Potter and Officer Tyler Schwartz were the MPD 22 domestic violence officers of the year in awards given out last week, as was Angie Bakken from the city attorney's office was the prosecutor of the year, so congratulations to all of them on their work in such an important field. And then secondly, I just point out that our tax bills are available online and people can go look for them. They'll be mailed in the coming week, I believe, is what the press release I saw said, but I did go look and did some math and my tax bill last year was $5,498.03 and my taxes this year are $5,764.20, which is a 4.84% increase year over year. And I bring that up just to highlight that the way we talk about taxes at City Council and, and County Commissioners, and in the media really isn't telling the whole story of our tax bill. We get focused on the general fund and how it shifts, but there's a lot more that goes into the tax bill. So, for the most accurate information, when you hear people talking about how much their taxes went up this year, mine went up 4.84%, which is a far cry from 11%, it’s a far cry from 10%. So, I just think that it's worth pointing out that we need to look at the full picture when we're having these conversations.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Becerra.
Alderperson Becerra Thank you. I just wanted to remind Council members and the community that we have the JEDI Community Network Summit coming up on October 27 and 28, 2022. On the 27th at 6 30 p.m., there's a public keynote speaker, it is James Whitfield, co-founder of Be Culture, that's open to the public at 6:30 at the University's UC Ballroom. So, I would encourage anyone who wants to learn more about these efforts in the community to attend that presentation. Thanks.
Mayor Jordan Hess Mr. Carlino.
Alderperson Carlino Yeah, I just wanted to, just say that I look forward to working with everybody on Wednesday to try and figure out some solutions to ensure that everybody at the ACs has a home to go to in a few weeks and work to come up with some sort of plan that works for every resident there to ensure that they all have housing in the future.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Jones.
Alderperson Jones Excuse me. Yes, I wanted to go a couple weeks back in time and talk about October 10, 2022, which was Indigenous People's Day. I'm not sure who all was able to go to the celebration of the renaming of Higgins Street Bridge to Bear Tracks Bridge, but it was a wonderful, wonderful celebration. It was a gorgeous day before our winter weather hit, it was beautiful and sunny. The speakers were amazing, there were electeds, there were dignitaries, and there were elders from the tribe that came down that said wonderful, wonderful things. And it was, although it was remembering a very harsh history, it was also very positive and looking forward in terms of healing and mending and I think the significance and symbolism of renaming the bridge to Bear Tracks Bridge is, is a really good thing going forward. I wanted to say thank you to Dave Strohmaier who was instrumental in all of this and especially Martin Charlo and the elders and the culture committee from the tribe were also very, very instrumental in all of the groundwork that was laid and the foundation for the decision, as to what name and the symbolism behind the name. So, I just wanted to call attention to that. I hope people have been able to take a look at the new plaques that have been put up down on Third Street and Higgins at the south and southwest end of the bridge. It tells a lot of amazing information and history and just a really positive thing. So, just wanted to share that. Thank you.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Farmer.
Alderperson Farmer Yeah, thank you. I just wanted to say to all of you that did work on the Westside Park. Thank you for all the work that you did. I have the pleasure of living on Sherwood Street, so it's in my neighborhood and as soon as the gate came down and probably a few days before the gate came down there were kids playing in the park and it's been packed ever since and it really just brings a lot of life back into the community, and it tells you how important parks are and especially in that neighborhood. So, thank you all for your hard work on that.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Jordan.
Alderperson Kristen Jordan I’ll pass tonight. Thanks.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Savage.
Alderperson Savage Yeah, just another quick call out to the Westside Park group and I know our own Heidi West had a lot to do with getting that thing moving and keeping it going and through a pandemic and it's beautiful. And I agree with Ms. Farmer, it is such an integral part of that Westside block and so it's really great to see it with kids on it again. In that same note, I mean, I just wanted to remind everyone that the Northside-Westside Neighborhood Leadership Council is meeting tomorrow night from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Bird Street Bistro. There will be free Big Thai food truck and we are going to talk about neighborhood issues. Also, there will be a second meeting to talk specifically about Northside infrastructure issues. We are nailing down a date, hopefully we will have a date by tomorrow that we can announce at this leadership Council meeting tomorrow night. That'll particularly be specific to the Northside but there are two opportunities for you to come and engage. Thanks.
Mayor Jordan Hess Ms. Vasecka.
Alderperson Vasecka Thanks. I just wanted to remind everyone that general season for hunting has started. So be safe and careful, all of you hunters and hikers and recreators out in the woods. Since we're not meeting next week for Halloween, I wanted to remind everyone to be, be safe that day as well. It's really dark outside now, so make sure you have, have ample lighting, either your porch light or a flashlight for your kiddo. I also did learn something and wanted to pass it on. Apparently having a blue trick-or-treat bucket means that the child may or may not have or may have autism and so even if they don't say Trick-or-Treat still give them candy, they might just be non-verbal. With that, everyone have a have a safe next couple of weeks.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you. And Ms. Sherrill.
Alderperson Sherrill Yeah thanks. I was worried you were gonna forget about me and don't ask any child what their costume is just say they look great. I learned my lesson when a child cried on my front porch when I asked what they were supposed to be, so, I have not done that since. I am not, I'm not getting any commissions from this, so I just wanna, I am reading this book it is The Affordable City by Shane Phillips. If you have not read this book, I suggest you do it, even if you're only make it through the introduction in the appendix, it will show you how complicated city policies are around affordable housing, but it also feels somewhat hopeful. I'm not done with it, but I would really hope that anyone watching that's interested in that topic specifically and any of my colleagues that want to borrow it once I'm done, you're welcome to. It has been, I've spent a lot of time in the, the last week, my husband says I keep driving every conversation back to this book and to affordable housing. So, he's getting a little bored with it, but it is really fascinating, and it makes you think about how you how, how we our pro development, pro-environment, and pro renter all at the same time, and just how incredibly complicated pulling those three things together is so. And I'm happy to be back in Missoula.
Mayor Jordan Hess Thank you Ms. Sherrill.