MISSOULA — Missoula City Council Ward 6 incumbent Sandra Vasecka says she wants to finish the work she has started during her first term on council.
“I'm running for City Council for re-election for award six because this is my fourth year on Council, and I have some unfinished work to do so...I would like to finish that work,” Vasecka said.
When it comes to transparency, Vasecka says that she wants to maintain the level of transparency she has had for the last four years.
“I think as a city councilor, you answer your emails, answer your calls, and then to the citizens out there. If we don't answer them — email me. I might miss one just ping me again because I get hundreds and hundreds of emails, and actually thousands of them. But daily, I get plenty of them. And you can text me. You can call me if your current representative isn't...answering your calls. Reach out to me. I'm very open about that, and I always answer my constituent's questions even if I disagree with it. And I think that because there's 12 of us, it's easy to let things fall through the cracks because somebody else will take care of it. But for some reason, I've never really been that type of person. I always...that's the reason why I ran for Council because I didn't think that somebody else was doing it. I figured I would, and so apparently I became a go-getter. Like I said, I think that all of the counselors should do better at representative representing their constituents."
Taxes have risen in Missoula in the last two year and Vasecka says she wants to cut items out of the budget to lower the taxes for city residents.
“When we first had this budget hearing it was a 9.71% increase for the taxes. And then when we came out of it, it became a 9.78% increase because all of my amendments to decrease the budget failed — or I withdrew them because they were poor policy. And I realized I made a mistake and one of my colleague's amendments — a pesticide program was $20,000 — and that raised the property taxes 0.08% just with that additional $20,000. So anyone who says that cutting 20,000 here, cutting 100,000 there...they say that it doesn't actually have any impact on the budget? I very much disagree with that because if that $20,000 herbicide program increased at 0.08%. Think of all the other small programs that we can cut. And like the mayor said — the interim mayor said —that if we only raise that property tax is about 5% it would be like amputating a limb and not trimming the fat. I think we need to amputate a limb. It's going to be difficult at first. It's going to — honestly, it's going to be hard at first for the citizens — for the employees of the city of Missoula. However, that is something that I think is needed. And once we figure out what our actual needs are, then we can start to figure out what ones we can afford."
Vasecka says that she doesn’t blame the legislator for the tax system or the amount of taxpayer dollars.
“Unlike the majority of my colleagues —and the current mayor — I do not blame the legislature for our spending problem. I think that it is on us. We have a spending problem. In fact, Kalispell has the exact same state legislature that we have and they were able to lower their property taxes. So I don't know. It doesn't make much sense that it's always the legislature's fault. However, I believe that as individuals, as city councilors, we do have the authority to go up. And as citizens of Montana, we have the authority to go up to Helena, and with the pandemic, if that happened, you don't even have to go up to Helena anymore. You can Zoom in and — or you can call up your state legislators or you can have lunch with them. And you don't have to do that on a taxpayer's dime. And so I think it's really easy to work with people — especially in different government entities without costing the taxpayer for that. So I think that if you have a personal project or something that is really near and dear to your heart — like for example, I went up to Helena, multiple times to talk about charter schools or to talk about TIFF reform for narrowing the definition of blight. I went up to Helena multiple times and I did not cost the taxpayers any money for that. So I think that it's within the individual elected leader to do that if they so wish without, without putting the burden on the taxpayer."
Neighborhood councils are an important part of the local government. Vasecka says that although she did try to cut funding from the councils to lighten the budget, she says that it was a mistake and she wants to try and attend most of the neighborhood council meets when she can.
“Neighborhood councils are great. I made a mistake this past budget season. I was getting a little bit too zealous when I was looking to cut things and...I was going to cut a neighborhood specialist — pro-community specialist program — and then I realized that was a mistake. So, I withdrew my request to do that. And I think that is a really important program to have those neighborhood councils because as a local government — you know, Missoula is pretty big. And so to divide it up into smaller portions so that those needs, so that those concerns and questions and comments or anything like that can go to the neighborhood council, which then can be addressed to Council. However, I don't think that there is really...because the Council, we don't really have a set time to meet up with the neighborhood councils. Like, if we aren't able to make the neighborhood council meeting — which I do try to make all of them. But if [I'm not] able to make it, I can read the minutes — but that doesn't really give the full atmosphere of it. So, I guess there could be better communication between councilors and the neighborhood council representatives,” Vasecka said.
Vasecka added she would also want to meet with the neighborhood councils if she is reelected.
“And I am actually — this past two years, I've been doing a lot better about doing that. And so that's another reason why I want to get reelected is because it takes...a four-year term. It takes about two years to get your feet back underneath you. And then, it takes a while to build a rapport with your colleagues and to actually figure out how you can compromise with them. And so it's like it's building a relationship with everybody in the City and your colleagues and the town. And so I think that a lot more could be done with eight years instead of four. And so that's why I'm running for reelection. I think communication is a huge, huge issue and there actually was an...article that came out...about that. And I think that going back to the actual question — neighborhood councils — I think that it is really important for councilors to go to them because not everybody can come to those committee meetings on Wednesday during the workday. So, I think they're really important. I would really like to have an actual set time for councilors to meet with the heads of the neighborhood with the leadership of those neighborhood team meetings."
On the topic of infrastructure and roads, Vasecka says there are parts of her Ward that have been left behind by the City when it comes to the state of infrastructure.
“I feel like my Ward is at the bottom of the barrel....we have not a very good sidewalk...sidewalk connected connectivity. You know, right on River Road — that's a main school bus [line] and there's no sidewalk on it. Especially in the winter where the kids are supposed to walk. So I've been fighting for my Ward every time that a sidewalk program comes up. The sidewalks are in — I like to call it purgatory because while they are owned by the City, [but] their homeowner is financially responsible for them...So, if you are walking along and you trip on the sidewalk and then you complain to the City, that homeowner has to be responsible for paying for that, the fixing of the sidewalk. So there needs to be big sidewalk reform."
"There are a lot of — there are, I think six — Urban Renewal Districts. That is one thing that I do agree with Tax Increment Financing for. I don't think it should be abolished completely. I think it should be very, very, very depleted," Vasecka continued. "I agree with probably 5% of their projects. But, and that was just a guess on the number, I didn't actually do a spreadsheet — but I think that if we go hand in hand and have; do some sidewalk reform and give Brian Hensel, the street department, a little bit more funds to operate with. If we stop hiring so many lobbyists and consultants and stop having all these studies, then maybe we could put more money towards infrastructure and public safety and all the things that our actual needs to run a city,."
Vasecka also shared her thoughts on the housing crisis that many residents are facing as housing has become more expensive with limited options for affordable options.
“Well as a young family — my husband and I have a two-year-old — we're renting and the houses are insanely unaffordable. We thought that they were unaffordable when we first got married before the pandemic, and they have skyrocketed because Missoula has been discovered. But I still remain with a very hardcore belief that the more the government gets involved, the less affordable housing will be because subsidized housing — whether you call it workforce housing, affordable housing — that's all subsidized housing that is asking all the tax-paying citizens of Missoula to pay for somebody else to have a cheaper home. I don't think that's fair, and I think that in the end, it raises the house prices. So I think if we loosen up on regulations loosen up on requirements, loosen up on permit fees, business license fees — all of that stuff really adds up. Especially to the renter because when you're building a development or an apartment complex, the owner of that isn't going to eat those fees. So the higher your property taxes get, the higher your permits are. The more fees that there are, the more setback requirements or inclusionary zoning requirements...that's just going to increase the price for renting and household prices in the end. So I think that the less government involvement will in the end result in lower house prices."
Vasecka says that when it comes to the homeless situation in Missoula, she wants to start identifying those who actually need help in the community.
“So with the unhoused population, there are a lot of things that we can do to expose the more vulnerable Missoulians that are down on their luck — perhaps leaving an abusive relationship or have no family or community resources available. So they have to rely on the social safety nets for that. And I think that a lot of transients that are different than the actual Missoula homeless population are taking those, those. So, I think when we start criminalizing the criminal behavior....I always hate saying this on TV, but there's been public masturbation issues. There's been open drug use on the sidewalks, there's been defecation in the parks on the sidewalks, in the streets. There's been people that obviously have drug problems or alcohol problems and they need help. But I want to focus more on the local Missoulians, and actually get the help for them. So if we start criminalizing the criminal behavior, then the transients will move on. And then the programs that we currently have can actually start to help our vulnerable population regarding our neighbors and keeping our neighbors at ease. There were two colleagues of mine, we came up with a solution — a resolution to ensure that the Johnson Street shelter would be either raised or sold off to a different entity within three years. There was a friendly amendment that I don't know how much I feel about it. I wish that it wasn't in there, but you know, to get things done, you have to compromise. So there was a friendly amendment presented by Gwen Jones to have a goal within three years to have it raised or sold off to a different entity."
Vasecka says that the management of the Johnson Street shelter is another reason why she is running again.
“And so with government bureaucracy, things take a while. So, it probably will go on the next three years. But the Johnson shelter...they said it would be a temporary shelter four years ago and this is the fourth year, and within three years, it will be seven years total. If you had a child at the beginning of this, your child would now be seven years old, wouldn't be able to play at the MRL Park, wouldn't be able to play in their yard. And so I feel like this resolution that we had actually put a lot of the neighbors at ease — and it did put a lot of neighbors at ease. And so that's another reason why I'm running for reelection...I want to follow through on that in the actual job that I have now. And I'll actually have the authority to do so."
When it comes to the budget, Vasecka says that she would want to see how the city was functioning without funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
“I've also been very vocal about this in the past couple of years. And I thought that ARPA money — that's American Rescue Plan Act money — I thought that it was being used in very inappropriate ways because the definition of impacted by the pandemic was different for different government entities and for different programs that we could have. Like for example, this last budget season I was trying to use...I was trying to move a lot of money around to go get the street department to get a plow and one additional full-time employee. But with ARPA funds, there's a really particular stipulation on there that you can use it for buying equipment, but you can't use it for operating expenses. So it was just really interesting, how is that pandemic related? Because more people are coming to Missoula and then the streets are getting more used. So I guess you could justify using ARPA funds for that. But I don't think we should have been relying on ARPA funds to begin with. I didn't think that we should have used the emergency...shelters with ARPA funds because that was an emergency winter shelter before the pandemic even happened. I think there was a really loose definition on how we could use that money. And technically, yes, it was legal and so — I mean, go for it. But it made the city really dependent on it, and I didn't think that we should have been in that in the first place. And so I think that goes hand in hand with me wanting to, I guess, amputate a limb. I guess we just need to cut off those programs because we didn't need them before the pandemic. They're a nice want now. But do we, if they're really that necessary, how do we survive without them before?”
When asked why voters should vote for her, Vasecka said that she wants to keep helping the people of Missoula.
“I think that police fire infrastructure are the most important. We need to figure out that those are all funded to the fullest amount. And then we can figure out what else makes the city thrive. Yes, the parks are amazing. I think they're great. However, whenever we acquire new land, we forget about what the cost to maintain it is. And then if we keep having these increases of property taxes — last year, it was 12%, this year, it was 9.78%. Just keeps going up and up. And everyone that was grown in Missoula, home, grown in Missoula, they lived here their whole life. Grandma and Grandpa, they're getting taxed out of their homes. And I want to make sure that that does not happen. I don't want to do that with government interference. I don't want to do that with subsidies. I want to do that with actually trimming down the budget like an actual business owner would do."
The Missoula election takes place on November 7, 2023.
