Scary

The handwriting on the wall is very clear. If you cross SME, you're toast.

Maybe the city knows this and that's why they are still hell-bent on supporting this project in spite of all the setbacks and internal game-playing, which has done nothing but erode trust in city government.

After all, we don't even have an agreement, and remember, Tim Gregori said we don't need one. If SME did what they did to Yellowstone Valley who did have a contract, what do you suppose they can/will do to us?

Another Road Block For SME

According to Yellowstone Valley, they are removing themselves from the Highwood Generating Station project. In a letter to their members, they think the rising cost of the plant could increase the cost of power to the point that it will be cost prohibitive.

It's good to hear that somebody involved with this outfit has finally seen the light (no pun intended).

"SME CEO Tim Gregori said Yellowstone Valley requested that the cooperative be “insulated” from any further development costs related to building Highwood Station.The SME board of directors voted that, as of May 1, the cooperative will no longer responsible for further development costs. A separate legal entity was created, from an accounting standpoint, “to demonstrate the insulation,” Gregori said."

A couple of statements from Mr. Gregori cause concern:

1. "...a separate entity was created, from an accounting standpoint". (emphasis added)

I attended the ECP board meeting in April. Tim Gregori was the featured speaker and mentioned not one thing about a separate entity. When did this happen? Is the City of Great Falls a member of this entity? If so, when did the City agree to become a member?

2. "the four other rural cooperatives that make up the project and the utility arm of Great Falls remain firmly behind building the plant".

Real interesting, because Commissioner Jolley says, "Who says the city is firmly behind anything now. Nobody asked me."

I would like to hear from our city manager (not Coleen Balzarini) on this new development.

Neighborhood Councils - Week of 4/28/08

No meetings are scheduled this week.

Generation Y

This was e-mailed to me. I couldn't resist.

In its January 22, 2008 edition, the Quebec City newspaper, Le Soleil, had a topic about generations by age group. Generations are grouped as follows:

The Silent generation - people born before 1945

The Baby Boomers - people born between 1945 and 1961

Generation X - people born between 1962 and 1976

Generation Y - people born between 1977 and 1989

Why do we call the last one generation Y?

Third Reich Buildings Today

If you are interested in WWII history, I hope you find this video interesting. I did. The first image is of the building as it appears today and then how it looked during the war. The only thing missing are captions.

I'll Vote For This One

This is a good cause. These folks do much more than we think and get credit for less. They are volunteers, on call 24-7, use a lot of their own equipment and do not charge for their services.

And they do know how to manage a dollar.

Thanks For Participating

Thanks to those of you who participated in my two polls.

The majority of you found that Ms. Balzarini did not behave appropriately when questioned by Commissioner Jolley. Whether somebody likes somebody or not or doesn't like the questions being asked, professionalism and civility must prevail.

The school levy poll took on a life of its own. In fact, the votes had changed so much it was thought on Tuesday that maybe somebody was tweaking the numbers.

Yesterday, I received an e-mail that indicated a former member of the school board sent an en masse e-mail telling everyone to vote in favor of the levy. And evidently they did. I also received at least 25 visits from Georgetown University during the past two days, which seems just a tad coincidental, considering they were only on the site for a second or two (just enough time to vote)? I might also add that almost all of these visits came from different IP addresses.

Even though this poll was about as unofficial as it gets, it showed that the levy is a hot topic and for some, generated a "grass roots effort" to show support for it.

Soccer Parking Problems

Tonight, Neighborhood Council 4 will be discussing the parking issues at the Siebel Soccer Park.

The chair of the council, Sandra Guynn, spoke with the president of the Soccer Foundation and he doesn't think there are problems, so if you disagree, this would be a good meeting to attend.

Where: Heritage Baptist Church - 900 52nd Street North - right across from the soccer fields

When: 6:30pm

Accreditation Standards

I received a tip today about the source of the accreditation standards that Mr. Cahill refers to in his comments found here.

The standards are set by the State Board of Education whose members are, at least according to those biographies posted online, teachers.

Why wouldn't teachers be in favor of more administration positions given that those jobs are filled by teachers and of course, pay more than a teaching position?

It now makes perfect sense why the high schools have three associate principals and some positions that even a school board trustee doesn't totally understand.

Thanks, Tipster.

School Levy Information

Thank you to Jan Cahill, school board trustee, for answering questions concerning positions at the two traditional high schools. Here are his comments:

I apologize for this being posted rather late at night but I had work, family and school board obligations throughout the day into the evening. I do appreciate this opportunity.

Let me begin by pointing out that the State of Montana requires each of our two high schools have a total of four licensed school administrators (1 building principal & 3 associate principals) at each campus. (Montana Accreditation Standards 10-55-705) This standard is set by the State Board of Education whose members are appointed by the Governor.

Years ago the high schools had one building principal, one vice principal and two dean of students. The high schools no longer have deans. Each high school has a special education coordinator to assure appropriate special education services are being provided to the roughly 11% of high school students who qualify for special education. There are 14 special education teachers at CMR and 13 special education teachers at GFHS. In addition, there are 12 special education para-professionals at CMR and 12 at GFHS.

Each high school has had a finance person for many years. Those individuals are responsible for student funds such as yearbook, athletic fees/events, library fines, various clubs, etc. These are clerical positions.

Surprisingly, enrollment at both high schools has remained stable during the past ten years. Enrollment declines have been mostly found in the elementary grades and most recently at the middle school level. I can't explain why there has not been a corresponding decline at the high school level. One explanation might be that elementary age children that attend parochial schools may decide to attend either CMR or GFHS when they reach those grades.

If I have counted correctly, there are seven secretaries at CMR and six at GFHS. These individuals work in all areas of the high school including main office, attendance, scheduling, records, and counseling. I have been told these positions have been in place for quite a few years.

Keep in mind that our high school enrollment has remained stable. Example: CMR enrollment 2003-2004 - 1736 students; 2005-2006 - 1681 students; 2006-2007 - 1725 students and GFHS 2003-2004 - 1873 students; 2005-2006 - 1937 students; 2006-2007 - 1921 students.

The small learning community learning coordinator positions are at both high schools and are funded through a grant - no district funds are used to pay for these two positions. I will provide information on upward bound, golden triangle, and vision as I need to do more research on these areas.

Additional information: during the past ten years the district has eliminated the following central office administrative positions - Human Resource Supervisor, Purchasing Supervisor, Transportation Supervisor, Library Supervisor, and the Public Relations Director. With the closure of PGMS three years ago, two administrative positions were eliminated as well as various support staff positions. The closure resulted in the reduction of over $2 million dollars in expenses.

I will provide information on the three positions (upward bound, vision and golden triangle) tomorrow. It is important to understand that no final decision has been made about any reductions in the event the levy should not pass. School administration has compiled a list of proposed reductions across the board in all areas. These potential reductions were reviewed by a committee of individuals representing the community, school administration, teachers, and board members during the budgetary process.

Our district has the lowest cost per pupil of any of the seven large districts in the state. I believe this demonstrates our commitment to excellence in education while keeping the cost of education to the lowest acceptable level.

I (and fellow trustee Stu Nicholson) will be at Schulte's 38th Street Store between 9:30 and noon on THURSDAY, APRIL 25, to answer any questions anyone has about the levy. Please stop by and enjoy a cup of coffee (Stu and I will buy) and visit about the levy or anything about your schools.

THANKS! I hope this has been helpful. More to come.
April 23, 2008 1:41 AM

Special "Town Hall" Meeting

Aaron Weissman, the chair of Neighborhood Council 7 indicated they are having a special meeting on Wednesday, April 23 at Noon at the Community Rec. Center at 801 2nd Avenue North.

The discussion is going to be about violence and drug activity at 5th Avenue North and 5th Street. Aaron did mention this serious problem at last week's city commission meeting.

Even though you may not live in this neighborhood, this problem belongs to all of us. If you can, please try to attend this meeting.

Neighborhood Councils - Week of April 21, 2008

Have you ever gone to a Neighborhood Council meeting? If not, you should. It's a good way to learn about what is going on in your neighborhood as well as throughout the city. Everyone is invited to attend the meetings, whether you live in that neighborhood or not.

Starting today, I will post the meetings for the week along with a link to that council's web page. I will also include agenda highlights. (You can also find the schedules in the Great Falls Monday Tribune under Neighborhoods in the Montana section).

Council 5

When: Monday, April 21 at 7:00pm

Where: Great Falls Clinic Specialty Center, 3000 15th Avenue South

Agenda: Public Works Director on water and street updates in the area; Search and Rescue levy request

Council 4

When: Thursday, April 24 at 6:30pm

Where: Heritage Baptist Church, 900 52nd Street South

Agenda: Search and Rescue Levy request; Parking problems at the Siebel Soccer Park

I Haven't Changed My Mind

So, did today's article in the Tribune about the $2.71 million school levy change your mind? It didn't mine.

I'm still waiting to hear what is being done at the administration/support level.

According to the article, the Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Schools indicated that maybe one full-time staff position would be cut. Whoopee. But they are prepared to cut the summer learning camps, which last year taught 780 kids reading and math. I guess the reasoning behind this is because this program is not part of the regular school term. That's right. Cut programs that teach kids some of the basics. We sure wouldn't want literates running around now, would we?

The Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools didn't mention anything about cutting staff. According to the principals, there isn't anymore fat to trim, except for teachers.

Let's take a look at the administration/support of the two traditional high schools:

CMR - 1600 students

Principal
Associate Principals (3)
Special Education Coordinator (1)
Smaller Learning Community Coordinator (1)
Administrative Assistant (1)
Administration (1)
Secretaries (8)

Great Falls High - 1726 students

Administration/Support:

Principal
Associate Principals (3)
Special Education Coordinator (1)
Attendance (2)
Finance (1)
Records (1)
Scheduling (1)
Support Personnel (6)
Golden Triangle (1) *
Upward Bound (1) *
Vision (1) *

Maybe a member of the school board will explain:

1. * If these positions are unique to GFH or does this staff also work with CMR students? What exactly are these positions?

2. Why all of the administration/support positions at GFH and CMR are required and are not even being considered for cut if the levy should fail.

You've Got To Be Kidding

I see in today's Tribune that business editor, Jo Dee Black, told us about a grocery store opening in downtown Seattle. She managed to link this store's opening with the closing of Great Falls' downtown Albertsons.

I don't know about you, but boy am I glad to hear this. Makes me feel much better about the closing of a grocery that serviced local folks hard-pressed to shop anywhere else.

For those of you who can hardly wait, the 18,000 square foot Kress IGA is scheduled to open in June, just a couple of blocks off Pike Place Market.

Maybe the Great Falls Albertson downtown shoppers will car pool on over for the grand opening.

Two Polls

OK folks. I have two polls up; one pertains to the school levy and the other to the dustup from Tuesday night.

If you don't know by now what happened, click here too view a portion of the commission meeting.

And don't be afraid to vote. I have no idea who you are!!!

Four Hands Guitar

It wouldn't be Friday if we didn't have some entertainment, something other than the city matinees and night shows (-:

The Spin

After Tuesday night's dustup between Commissioner Jolley and Coleen Balzarini, Mayor Stebbins is quoted in today's Tribune as saying, "I think she (Jolley) needs to find the facts before she attacks".

Wake up Mayor. Jolley was trying to get to the facts.

There are some at city hall, the mayor obviously included, who think that asking questions to get information is "attacking". I guess I can sort of understand this mentality considering its been nearly forever since we have had a city commissioner who is actually interested in learning the facts and who does not let childish facial expressions and evasiveness stop her.

If staff would just do their jobs, answer questions and give the requested information without excuses, this would not have happened.

And why did Coleen get so upset? Something is not right when a person gets totally flustered and walks out inappropriately before the meeting is over, after they have been asked questions pertaining to their actions. If you are doing the right thing there are no problems. You should be content to answer questions until the cows come home.

As Mary Jolley was quoted as saying, "I ask questions. It's not surprising I ask questions, I don't think".

And I can safely say that Mary won't stop asking questions. It's what she was elected to do.

Relationship Between Commissioners And Staff

A commenter asked the following question: "Just out of curiosity, how do you define what things need Commission approval at a public meeting versus things that should just be handled by the City Manager?"

I gave the link to the city charter, but this document may help as well.

School Budget & Mill Levy Info.

School board member, Steve Erwin, has posted budgetary information at his weblog.

Thanks very much Mr. Erwin for that information. He can be contacted at 761-3300 or 899-3300.

Also:

I posted here about two associate principal positions that were open and wondered if they were replacing current positions or were they in addition to. Jan Cahill, school board member, contacted GeeGuy and said that these two positions are replacements for two current principals retiring.

Thank you Mr. Cahill for the clarification. To reach Jan, e-mail GeeGuy and he will give you his number.

Seems Too Cozy

At the City Commission meeting Tuesday night, after Stuart Lewin talked about the problems with the indemnification clause (15) included in the water rights consulting agreement, Coleen Balzarini said that the clause was included on the recommendation of the risk manager.

Risk manager? I don't know what the job description is of this position, but I thought maybe it was part of the legal department. It's not. According to the City of Great Falls Telephone Directory, our city's risk specialist works in the Fiscal Services department, which as we all know has as its director, Coleen Balzarini, who just so happens to be the person who presented this consulting agreement to the City Commission on Tuesday night. (I have a copy of the City Telephone Directory, but the link online is broken).

Did city attorney, Dave Gliko, see the agreement and not challenge the indemnification clause or was the commission meeting the first time he heard of it?

If he knew nothing of this, why not?