MISSOULA — Missoula City Council Ward 2 has a four-year term seat that will be decided in the upcoming election.
Rebecca Dawson is one of the two candidates who are running for the position.
“I am running for City Council. I've actually done this before and my motivation has remained the same. My property taxes are out of control. And so I would like to hopefully find a way to find some relief," Dawson said.
Neighborhood councils are an important part of the city of Missoula’s government structure. Dawson says that if she is elected, she would find a way to meet with the neighborhood councils in Ward 2 since the meetings take place on Monday nights during City Council meetings.
“That's hard in one sense because a lot of our meetings are on Monday nights. So I think, getting in contact with, you know, the people who the presidents and the secretaries and the people who are taking the minutes and the concerns. But scheduling, you know, scheduling is going to be a big part of that and trying to figure out how to make City Council meetings — which are on Monday nights — and how can I get an opposite time meeting available so that I can bring the concerns forward,” Dawson said.
Dawson says that she questions if the City is allocating money appropriately to serve the roads department of the city.
“I've talked to a few of the people that work in the roads department and those guys work hard. I'm not going to take anything away from it. They're out there when the rest of us don't want to be out there. But potholes are real and roads falling apart are real. Lack of snow plowing is real. And again, I think a lot of this boils down to communication and where are we allocating the funds. Are we overstaffed in an area — and maybe an administrative area — where we could take that and put that into another truck or another crew...I think this is not necessarily just City Council, it's the Mayor's Office. It's city government as a whole we need to look at. Are we using what we have available the most efficient way so that we can get the plows out before the people are out so that neighborhoods are getting plowed."
Dawson says that she has seen firsthand in her community the lack of road care in her neighborhood.
“I know here in Pleasant View, we've had our community — our neighborhood meeting — and reading through the minutes people are like, why don't we look at, you know, hiring an independent plow company because we don't seem to get plowed and then we're a sheet of ice and that's really hard to look at. We're paying H A dues for our parks and for our sidewalks and for things like that. But then we're paying city and county taxes that are supposed to address these other issues. But we feel like we're not, we're not getting the services we're paying for. So, again, I think we just we really need to take a hard look at where we've allocated the funds and if we need to just kind of restructure how we've got things and make sure — and communication is a huge part — make sure the crews, and that, you know, however, the flow of communication is, make sure that there's not a pinch point where we're losing efficiencies,” Dawson said.
Dawson says that when it comes to the budget she would want to start preparing for the budget now because of the funding that will not be available from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
“It's kind of like your household budget. If an unexpected expense comes up, or if something comes up, you may have to tighten your belt a little bit to overcome that shortfall. The City is going to have the same thing the ARPA money was there. We know the ARPA money is going away. We should be preparing now. We should be looking at where are we spending money. Where can we save money? Are there things we're funding that are not necessary? Are there things we're funding that are really just feel-good projects? But [we] don't have, we don't have any results in mind. We don't have any measure of success there. Well, that's something we may need to look at dialing back."
Some Montanans believe that there should be some type of reform at the state level and Dawson says that she would want to work with the state legislature to bring relief to the people of Missoula.
"The legislature has some work to do there. But our City has some work to do. You know,...every county in the state deals with the same legislative rules. Flathead County taxes went down. Missoula County taxes went up. So there's a disconnect there somewhere. So, do we need to talk with the legislator about maybe changing the way some of the tax law is written? Absolutely. Do we need to address it at a state level? Absolutely. But I think Missoula in particular needs to address a spending problem,” Dawson said.
Dawson says that one of her motivations to run for City Council was taxes. She says she would want to look at every dollar that she could to not raise taxes, and also look at needs over wants.
“Education is part of that. So we have our taxes and then we have our levies and then we have our bonds. And I think that we need to responsibly and respectfully look at every single dollar that comes in in tax revenue because somebody somewhere worked hard for that money and we need to respect their hard work and spend it wisely. So weighing wants versus needs versus necessities. There are things we have to fund, our first responders, things like that. They need the money because they keep all of us safe. They are there when somebody gets in trouble on the river or their house catches on fire or you know, somebody breaks into a car. Whatever the situation is, we need those people. So that is a necessity. But something that's a want versus a need. We want all these different fun projects that make us feel good. But do we need them? We have a lot of parks in Missoula. Do we need to build another one? Do we need to take real estate away that could potentially be turned into housing because it makes us feel good or do we need housing? Do we need the land available? So I think looking at making sure we are spending money wisely and not frivolously is step one and then once we decide if this is wise or frivolous?”
Housing is another main problem that is facing many residents and Dawson says she would want to streamline the process for projects to be approved by the City.
“A lot of issues at play there. I think we need to look at the process for developers and builders. Are there areas that can be streamlined so that they can get projects underway more quickly, which in turn saves them money because we've all watched the price of goods go up in every sector? And so if there's a six, nine, 12-month delay on getting approval for the project, what they bid at one point is not the same as what reality is when they're finally able to break ground. So we need to look at streamlining those processes....We pay a lot in property taxes here, and Missoula has a huge heart, and we want to do all the programs and all the things that we can. But I think we really need to evaluate our spending so that we can provide tax relief to the citizens,” Dawson said.
When it comes to the homeless situation in Missoula, Dawson says she would want to start prosecuting the criminal behavior that some of the homeless populations are doing.
“We have the Ninth Circuit decision where, you know, it really ties our hands on exactly what we can and can't do. I do think that we need to enforce existing laws. And so we need to look at prosecuting criminal behavior, whether it is open drug use or public nudity, public intoxication, defecation — the things ...[that are] public health issues. We need to enforce the laws that are on the book and enable our police to do that. There is currently some things happening that that Ninth Circuit decision may end up before the Supreme Court. So I'm watching that with a lot of interest to see if that will give us some more tools. One thing Missoula has done really well is we do have several facilities available for the homeless population. But I don't know if the management is communicating with each other so that our first responders know, hey, there's X number of beds available at this shelter tonight."
Dawson says that she would want to work to increase community through the different city agencies that work with the homeless population.
“So then they can go to the people that are sleeping outside and say, 'Hey, there's shelter beds available. Let me connect you with these services. You can't stay here tonight because we have a bed [for you]' And so I'm hoping that that communication exists. If it doesn't exist, I'd really like us to figure out how to make it happen so that all the different agencies are communicating. So people aren't sleeping outside and, you know, things are cleaner and tidier and safer and sanitary for everybody."
When asked why Ward 2 onstituents should vote for Dawson, she says that she wants to bring accountability to the City and City Council.
“I'm not on City Council yet, so I don't know 100% of the ins and outs of it. But I am a proud member of our city and I am a resident, and I think we all want the same level of relief and accountability. And I want to provide that whatever relief I can provide fiscally and you know, full accountability to the people of Missoula so that, you know, they can tell me you did a good job or I didn't like that. And I want to hear both."
The Missoula election takes place on 7, 2023.
