MISSOULA — Current Missoula City Council Ward 2 representative Mirtha Becerra says she's running for a second term to continue to do the work she's been doing since 2018.
“I would like to continue to be on City Council. I was appointed in 2018 and ran for City Council, and I feel that given that we have gone through — a pandemic, several governmental changes due to the passing of our former mayor. There's a lot of work that I would like to continue to do. I'm committed to continue to work on those important issues and that's why I want to seek re-election,” Becerra said.
When it comes to housing, Becerra says she wants to tap into some resources that the city hasn’t tapped into yet.
“I think affordability is a function of both supply of housing and housing types and opportunities for people to buy and rent. But also being able to afford it based on your income. So I think working on those two sides of the equation is really important. As city elected officials, we don't have the ability to influence the income aspect of it, but we can certainly influence how the building environment is shaped and make it so that we can have more private-public collaborations on how to...add more housing to the inventory. And we have been doing that. And I think that with our housing policies that we have in place — acquisition of land by the city so that we can then be partners for future development is one of them. Continue to find grants and opportunities to help finance... And I think that's going to have a big impact on tapping into some other resources that we hadn't been able to in the past. So, I think that we have some resources that we can tap into that we haven't. But I think it's going to be really important to continue to collaborate with the private sector on making more housing available in different types of housing. I think we definitely have seen that what's called the "missing middle" is. [It's] an area of focus for adding more housing right now."
Becerra says that if she was reelected she would want to improve the communication and engagement between Ctiy Council and the neighborhood councils.
“I think that we have updated if you will, the way we communicate with our neighborhoods through the neighborhood office several times. There's, there's been several iterations of that of that program — of that part of our government. But I think we need to look at what other communities are doing that might prove more effective. I think the structure of the neighborhood councils is a good one, but I think there might be some other ways to get more people engaged — more people feeling like they belong. And that sense of ownership of their neighborhood is really important. So, I think that looking at different models perhaps — I do think that as city councilors, we need to be more involved and not rely on that once a year or maybe twice a year, big neighborhood council to attend. But have more in-between communication with the leadership teams and create for different platforms for which we can communicate with our council. I see room for improvement for that. But I think that it's a model that has worked for a while. But maybe now we need to look at different venues and different ways to get our neighborhoods to, feel that they belong and that they have something to contribute."
Ward 2 is seeing some of the most growth within the City of Missoula. Becerra says that although the City does a good job with the roads, it’s hard to maintain roads when the budget doesn’t increase.
"I think we do a really good job so far. Given the budget allocations every year, our Streets Department — they're doing significantly more as we continue to grow. We have more miles of streets to maintain. But the budget doesn't necessarily increase to meet those new demands. So, I think it's going to be a function of how we grow and how much of that infrastructure is...put on the responsibility of creating that infrastructure is put on the developers. And also with, you know, for example, in my work with the Mullan area — that is relying on federal grants that we got a few years back — the [Mullan Build] grant that's helping pay for a lot of the infrastructure that's helping development be better connected to the rest of the community. So, I think it's going to be — hopefully, inflation will not be an issue also because that's been a key issue for how much service we can deliver to the community. The price of asphalt and all the other components on maintenance for streets and roads in Missoula has gone significantly. So, I am trying to remain optimistic that inflation is going to get under control, that we can rely on some other funding sources and continue to provide the service that Missoulians expect."
The budget that will have to be passed in 2024 will be more difficult than the one that was passed last summer. Becerra says that she would be looking at different federal grants that could help make up some of the money that will not be in the budget due to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money has now run out.
“It's going to be a challenge. I think we have really committed and competent staff looking at any potential federal grants that we can get. So we are out there trying to get some federal grants that can help us fill in those gaps because those are going to be significant for us. And we're going to have to look at our budget more closely. We're going to have to hope that our valuations —our numbers from the Department of Revenue — are more encouraging than the ones that we got this year to hopefully have a better, but to hopefully not have to rely so heavily on property taxes. So I think it's going to be looking at different aspects of our budget differently. And it's going to be a really difficult budget season. It was difficult this year, but I think it's gonna be significantly more once those dollars are not there. And, I'm feeling hopeful that there might be some federal funding that we can tap into,” Becerra said.
Becerra says that when it comes to taxes, she thinks that the current tax system is reaching a point of unsustainably.
"I think our reliance on property taxes in order to run government is reaching a point of unsustainability. We keep hearing that at the state level, more needs to be done to shift the burden from our property owners — from residential property owners to other taxing jurisdictions. I think the tax system that used to work 30, 40 years ago, no longer works. And we need to continue to put pressure on our state legislature to work on the taxing structure so that we can get some relief for our residential property taxpayers. We need to look at our budget more closely and see...what parts of our budget we could look at for reducing some of those expenses."
Becerra says that the services that the City is passing are mostly for services that Missoula needs. She also says that in order to maintain the level of services that Missoula provides, the City Council needs to be better with their dollars.
“But ultimately, I think what's important is that we need to continue to provide the services that people expect the city to provide. Roads and our infrastructure, our police and our fire need to be covered. And I can tell you from working now in several budget seasons what we are funding are not luxury items. [They] are things that we absolutely need to provide for our community. And when people talk about cutting some of these programs that we run, we are talking about people's salaries that depend on this. And we would be putting more burden on the community if those people were not able to continue to work. We also contribute to some organizations in the community that do an excellent job at providing the services they do. And if they didn't, that would fall in the City to help provide the services at a significantly higher cost. So, it's looking at the cost-benefit analysis of where we invest our community dollars. And I think we need to continue to look at where we can be more effective with our dollars. But ultimately, I think our system needs to change from the state on how...the taxing structure needs to be reconfigured."
When asked why voters should vote for her, Becerra said that she wants to continue to work on the problems that her constituents are facing.
“I have been committed to working for the city of Missoula for a long time first as a land use and transportation planner for the city. And I am committed to continuing the work that I started when I first got on City Council. We have challenging issues that I think will require commitment and experience and expertise — and I think I bring that to the table. And I look forward to collaborating with my constituents on finding solutions to some of the problems that we're facing,” Becerra said.
The election takes place on Election night takes place on November 7, 2023.
