Montana Bullets and Blades

Mail in ballots for Dillon’s General Election began arriving last weekend and the race to see who will be Dillon’s next Mayor has really heated up with some real surprizes.

Primary Race -

Five people threw thier hats into the ring for Dillon Mayor - the current Mayor, Marty Malesich, the current City Council President, Tom Straugh, Formor City Councilman, Mike Klakken, Lynn Giles and Paul Pilgram. To no great surprise, Malesich won the primary election with 312 votes and Tom Straugh secured the other spot on the General Ticket with 254 votes. Mike Klakken took third with 238 votes, Lynn Giles recieved 210 votes and Paul Pilgram received 157 votes. What should be pointed out about the results, though, is that Tom Straugh, Mike Klakken, Lynn Giles and Paul Pilgram all ran campaigns to “change the way business is done in Dillon” - in short, claiming that Malesich does not conduct city business well. Looking at it that way, it appears that a vast majority of Dillon Citizens want a change in city administration. Further, it should also be pointed out that Klakken and Straugh were only seperated by 16 votes. It looked grim for Mayor Malesich after the primary votes were announced.

Klakken Re-enters the race as a Write-in Candidate -

The landscape for mayor changed radically shortly before the General Ballots were sent out. Mike Klakken re-entered the Mayor’s race as a write-in candidate. In a three-way race (Malesich, Straugh, and Klakken), the sitting mayor’s loyal minority will have more effect than in a two way race between Straugh and Malesich. More importantly, many still feel that Straugh is simply a “lighter” version of Malesich and his “change of heart” over the last six months is nothing more than an act to seperate him and Malesich in the eyes of the voters. The key to the race will come down to who pulls the votes that originally went to Lynn Giles and Paul Pilgram.

Predictions and Analysis -

In my opinion, Straugh lost the race the minute Klakken filed as a write-in candidate. The people who voted for Lynn Giles in particular and Paul Pilgram to a lesser extent are far more likely to vote for Klakken than for Straugh. Further, both Lynn Giles and Paul Pilgram have written letters endorcing Mike Klakken for Mayor.

The question, at this point, is whether Klakken will get enough votes to overcome the Malesich loyal minority. The votes are certainly out there. If Klakken receives his original 238 votes, and 2/3rds of the votes originally given to Giles and Pilgram (another 242) he will overcome the 350 - 400 votes Malesich is likely to recieve. Futher, he will easily overcome the 300 votes Straugh is likely to recieve. On the other hand, if he and Straugh split those votes evenly, it will be a much closer race with anyone’s guess who the winner will be.

A rumor circulated earlier on this month that Malesich was going to conceed from the race once the ballots were set out. Had he done that (and endorced Straugh to his loyal minority), the race would have been effectively over - Straugh would have won by a comfortable majority. I did not really believe these rumors when they surfaced and see no indication of Malesich bowing out now. Further, with an apparent ego that doesn’t fit inside City Hall and every chance that he may once again squeek out a victory, I personally can’t see Malesich conceeding. He is spending a lot of money on advertising as well (full page adds in the Dillonite Daily, etc) and I do not believe that he would spend that money if he was not going to finish the race.

Straugh’s despiration is also showing. Recently he put an add in the Dillonite Daily claiming that he had been endorced by Paul Pilgram (as well as a number of other people). That was obviously an outright lie as Paul Pilgram has sent a written letter of endorcement to Mike Klakken. Lynn Giles has also endorced Mike Klakken and both letters of endorcement have been published multiple times in the Dillonite Daily.

I believe the results of the election will be close between Mike Klakken and Malesich. I think that Mike will get the needed 2/3 rds of the Giles/Pilgram votes and win the election. I also believe that Straugh will come in a dismal third in that race.

Endorcement -

I can’t and won’t tell anyone how to vote. What I will do, is tell you how I voted and more importantly, why.

I voted for Mike Klakken and wholeheartedly endorce him. While he is not as elequent a speaker as Straugh, he has proven time and time again that he serves the Citizens of Dillon. He has always been fiscally responcible and has stated many times that annexation should only be done when it is beneficial to both the City and the property being annexed. He has spoken out against the questionable practices of our current City Administration and worked diligently to involve the Citizens of Dillon in the decision making and planning process of City Government. He has called for transparency in both City Dealings and City Documents and been snubbed publically by both Malesich and Straugh for doing so.

My opinion of Malesich is well documented on both this blog and my former blog, Pragmatic Revolt. I would not vote for him if he was running unopposed.

In the two years that I was actively following the City Council, with the exception of Lynn Westad, Straugh was the most supportive individual in City Government for Malesich. Much of the questionable things Malesich did during that two year period could not have been accomplished without Straugh’s backing. Straugh voted for limiting public participation in City Government, he voted to move public comment to the end of City Council meetings and he supported the many times Malesich refused to provide public communications to the City Council.

All of a sudden (after announcing his candidacy for Mayor), Straugh has a “change of heart”. He is suddenly concerned about Malesich’s practices and makes flowery speeches about how the City Council should question Malesich’s agenda (though his voting record still supported the Malesich agenda…). He sent a letter to a select percentage of people that signed the Recall petition agaisnt Malesich basically throwing Malesich under the bus. He starts writing a weekly column in the Dillonite Daily (in my opinion he spends more time tooting his own horn in that column than he does actually providing information to the citizens).

I see Tom as the consumate politician. He recognised that the majority of people in town are unhappy with Malesich and even though he has advocated the same policies Malesich has, he is slicker than Marty. He turns on an easy smile, tells people what he thinks they want to hear and asks for thier vote. Unfortunately for him, a lot of people aren’t buying it - the primary vote proves that.

In short, I support Klakken for his honesty and integrity. He isn’t as well spoken as Tom, but he believes in what he is saying and is willing to work with the citizens of Dillon in a partnership. In my opinion, Tom will rule, Klakken with represent. There is a big difference.

Moorcat

For weeks, my wife and I have been trying to plan a weekend trip to Bozeman to see my brother. We haven’t seen him since Christmas (he works insanely hard and has little time to travel to Dillon) and I miss him and his wife. Understand that we planned this trip before finding out that President Obama was coming to Bozeman the weekend we were traveling there.

When the plans were announced that President Obama was visiting Bozeman that he would be having a short “Town Meeting” about the “Health Care” issue, I was really excited. As someone that has some very strong views on the issue and has posted a lot about it in the last month, I was finally going to get the words directly from “the horse’s mouth”.

That was, until I attended the Stevensville Creamery Picnic Parade. It seems that the blind rage expressed by many on the right of the Health Care issue spilled over into the Parade. I personally saw both the signs in question and it really makes me sad that this issue - which effects EVERY single American - can’t be discussed in a reasonable and adult fashion. A few have commented on the breakdown of reasonable discourse on the subject Here and Here.

It seems that there is already a protest planned for the Obama visit. Since the event requires tickets to get in, they are going to line the area surrounding the event so that they can be as disruptive as possible. They have even called for support for the protest from right leaning bloggers from around the state. Understand that these are not the professional protestors following around the Congress Critters trying to get a feel for what the public wants - these are actual Montanans who, instead of wanting to actually listen what the PRESIDENT has to say on the matter, they want to disrupt the proceedings, denying those Montanans that can attend the oppurtunity to have a say with our Chief Executive.

When was the last time a sitting President actually visited Montana? Can you remember it? How many times will Montanans get a chance to actually see a sitting President and offer up our views on the Country or how some planned legislation should be handled?

Instead of seeing this as an oppurtunity to do some good (whatever your view of “good” is, this fifth grade rejects have chosen to be as disruptive as possible - not only ruining thier chance for meaningful dialog, but ruining the chances of thier fellow Montanans.

I am ashamed of these people and even more ashamed that they claim to be responcible conservative Montanans. There is nothing responcible about this. If you disagree with the President, fine. It is your right. I disagree with many of the things he has to say about Health Care. That does not inspire me to make an ass of myself and deny my fellow Montanans of a chance for reasonable exchange with the man.

My wife and I have decided to forgo the Obama visit. We do not want to deal with the crowds, the hupla and the protest. Thanks, assholes, for ruining what could have been a once in a lifetime experience.

Moorcat