MISSOULA — Alan Ault who is running against incumbent Missoula City Council Ward 4 member Amber Sherill says he's looking to help address the homeless and taxing problems residents are facing.
“I'm running for Ward 4 for City Council, and there's a number of reasons why I'm running. If you've been paying attention to the news, I feel our city is really going downhill. Crime is increasing. We have the homeless. You have the big thing that I'm hearing door knocking...our taxes. I mean, we're paying a lot of taxes and City Hall. some of the other things I hear is City Hall is not listening to the people and I hear that on the doors. So those are some of the main reasons why I'm running."
Ault says that he would want to identify which of the homeless people need which resources.
“Well, the first thing with, with the whole homeless situation — it's not something you're going to solve overnight. What the City needs to do — and what I'm a proponent for is — okay, start identifying...we have different levels of homeless in town. And I put them in three categories. You have the people that are really needy, they're homeless, they're sleeping in their cars, single mothers, single fathers, they need help. And that's where we have so many nonprofits around town and the city should be working with them to get a partnership to make sure those people are getting help. Then you have the mentally ill. And it's the same thing with that. We need these outside agencies — the experts to come in and help and then you have what I call the professionals,” Ault said.
Ault says that he talks to the homeless population to try and get a better understanding of what the needs are of the community.
“One thing I'll tell you, I've never passed up a chance to talk to a homeless person. And I ask him, 'Where are you from? And why are you here?' And I hear time and time again — especially from the professionals is, 'Oh man, Missoula is a great place. I get all this free stuff. I can sleep in the park.' And we're getting to the point where our families can't use our city parks anymore...there's a county in New Jersey. If I can get in office, I want to look up what they're doing because they have — they're starting to be a front runner in combating the homeless situation. They're getting the drugs off the street, they're getting people help that need it and that's what we need to be doing. And I want to see what their model is..."
Ault says he wants to address the issues that he is seeing while he is asking members of his community.
"But outside of that, they're virtually at zero. There's so much being hidden from our population, how bad our homeless population is...I mean, we have camps in Bonner [Park] all, you know, around the city because it's like, well time to move on and, you know, it's — the people from what I hear on the door, they've had enough. And the Johnson Street [shelter] — the way Johnson Street was just run down the people's throats. I don't know if you have it, but I sure have talked to a lot of the people that are there that live in those neighborhoods that see...They're having to lock everything up. The things are being stolen. I won't say what some of these people do on their properties and people are fed up."
Ault says he has been talking with residents who have been evicted to understand more about the housing crisis.
“And that is a big problem. And what you hear — our city leaders say — it's a housing crisis. We're approaching that wrong when you have a four — I think it's a 431-unit structure going up...affordable housing — 800 or 900 square feet at $1600 a month. You know what? That's not for affordable housing. And there's a lot of things we can do. We need to help the developers. They get stymied with the permitting. The biggest problem we have is City Hall right now — and I point my finger at them — why [do] we have a housing shortage? I've been knocking on doors where a woman said I'm being evicted. I've got an 11-year-old son, I've got a couple of cats and they were telling me, well, I could go to this place but I have to get rid of my aquarium. I have to get rid of this. I can't keep my books. I've lived here for — she said 20, like 22 years, you know? And she's got no place to go. So what happens? She joins the ranks of the homeless and what do you get? You get another building that's going up...you don't see single-family houses, but one that's being built that nobody can afford. So, scratch your head. Let's start doing the math and let's turn things around, Ault said.
Ault says that there are options the city could do to help with the housing crisis.
“There's so [many] things we could do to help the housing problems and I don't think we're, we're going down the right road there with the TIFF financing. And now it was just announced...how they're going to do workforce housing, what workforce housing is. It's another term also known as subsidized housing. So now we're asking the taxpayers to pay more for other people's housing that we can't afford to give them. It's really...we're on such a collision course and when I'm hearing on the doors, people are sick of it. The two big things, homelessness, taxes."
Ault says when it comes to taxes, he would want to try and cut things out of the budget to lower taxes in the City of Missoula.
"I would do just what Sandra Vasecka did. She tried to cut things out of the budget like the JEDI program...$147,000 plus. You've already put 300,000 into that program. So you're almost at a half a million dollars. The City owns so much property that they've taken off the tax rolls. The motel downtown, let's say let's buy it. Then we'll raise it and now it's for sale for less than what we bought it for, or what we put in it. That's not good City management. I would try to take off...would be a proponent to take off all the City — the City property that's owned that is not generating tax revenue. Now, the other one. The big part of it that people don't understand...so you have so much of your taxpayer dollars not going to the schools, the fire and the police safety, and everybody knows how the crime's going up."
Missoula's next budget is going to be tighter as funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is no longer available. Ault says that he would want to tighten the budget to be more sustainable.
“What do when you lose a job? You tighten the belt, and that's what Missoula needs to do. We need to tighten the belt. We need to make cuts when you have over 900 people on the City payroll. There's a problem because, your investment, the money on your return is bad. You've got — I don't want to say a lot of bad apples in there — but you sure have a lot of people that don't have what is good for Missoula and its citizens at heart. So tighten the belt.. You quit relying on part of...[the] funds. It's like, ok, now we have to tighten the belt because that money is going away. Plan on what to do, how to spend the money you have. I mean, when you have four — but now a $99,000 city reach-out coordinator and you have four people in that department. What, what do you need that for?"
On the topic of transparency in local government, Ault says that he would want to be accountable to the constituents of his ward.
“That's one of the things that I hear, at the door when I'm door knocking, people say — the Johnson Street Shelter is a real good example. Citywide that went out, hey, we're going to approve it. It was already approved. That's the feeling people have. It's why go downtown and testify or talk to my City Council members when it's already a done deal. That's the type of thing that really...City Council and the Mayor's Office need to start combating, and be honest and forthright with the people of Missoula."
Ault shared his thoughts on tax reform and how it could impact Missoula.
"The first thing I would do when I get the City Council, I would quit blaming the state and I'd start looking at our budget and how we're spending money because you've heard it before. The City of Missoula does not have a tax problem. It has a spending problem. We have so many programs. Like I said, what did Sandra [Vasecka] do? I was a proponent for...I went to all the hearings and testified. Let's cut all these pet projects out and give relief to the taxpayers. Now at the legislative end of it, yes, there is some reform that we have to do and that's why people vote in the legislatures. I'll be glad — and I've already gone to Helena and testified on TIFF — and I'll always go down there to testify on what's going on with the taxes. But my point is, quit blaming the State, use the money that you have coming in right now to the city, and use it wisely."
Ault says that infrastructure and roads come down to where money is going in the budget. He would want to find a way to make sure that safety and roads are a priority.
“We, if we start spending our money, right, we can get the roads repaired — the infrastructure. Police department again —it comes [to] — we have the money coming in. We're just not using it wisely so that, it all comes right down to how we're spending our money. That's why the roads are falling apart. Don't blame it on the tourists. I don't buy that argument. I'd love to have them because they help local businesses. But how are you going to help local business if you say, well, you go to Missoula, and [there is] a tourist tax...[a tourist tax] is the beginning of a sales tax, and I've never seen a sales tax that went away or went down. So this 3% tax five years later, it's 9%, and it's not only on hotels, but it's on your bar tab your meal tab, and guess what? So when I go and take my wife out to dinner, I'm paying a tourist tax to help our roads that my property tax is supposed to be going to and fixing...do the math.
When it comes to neighborhood councils, Ault says he wants to make them a part of the conversation when it comes to making decisions for the City of Missoula.
“Number one, go to every meeting that they have. There's a lot of...information. The information coming out of downtown to the neighborhood councils could be a heck of a lot better. The only way that I'm seeing — like I'm seeing there's one coming up. Oh, there's a signboard. Make note of it because I want to go to it to hear what the people have to say. So I think with the neighborhood councils they should be part of the problem-solving. And, and that's, to me that's what a city council member does. He works with the neighborhood councils because they're the people that he or that I will represent and I want to hear their concerns so I can deal with them."
When asked why voters should vote for Ault, he said that it’s time for a change in the City Council.
"I'm tired of the wasteful spending. I'm tired of bad roads. I'm tired of the homeless. I'm tired of not being able to go and use a park or a trail. I'm tired and it's time for a change,” Ault said.
The election in Missoula takes place on November 7, 2023.
