Great Falls Mayor Donna Stebbins Offered Choice to Resign or Face Recall

Last night I sat through what had to be one of the poorest examples of representing citizens at a city meeting it has ever been my misfortune to encounter.

I also observed a stellar example of why Mayor Donna Stebbins, two commissioners (Beecher and Rosenbaum), the City Manager, John Lawton, Police Chief Grove and shelter director, Jamie Bennett, were asked to tender their resignations by this morning or face a recall by the citizens of Great Falls which would commence at the end of this week.

Montana allows for a recall for a limited number of reasons. Two being pertinent to this discussion: violation of the oath of office and official misconduct. Ladies and gentlemen, they were apparent in spades last night.

The room was packed with local firemen, a Missoula fire chief, paramedics, local ambulance company representatives, a gentleman straight from a corporation in South Africa, boy scouts, animal shelter crisis people, airport authority issue people, a Cable 7 supporter, and at least one television camera (other than cable 7) and Richard Ecke of the GF Tribune.

Correct me please, as I only have the on-line Trib version, but I saw no coverage of 5 people's request for resignation or recall reported in the newspaper this morning.

Two new commissioners were seated last night, Bill Bronson, who gave every indication he's a party-line man with his unwavering support of whatever the old regime required, and Mary Jolley, the only Commissioner who questioned anything and whose questions showed just how out of skew this entire shell-game has become.

And let me tell you, it IS a shell-game.

Today's Tribune, in Opinion, had this statement, "What is not needed or justified is a campaign for recall of city commissioners or, worse, a boycott of an unrelated foundation's fundraising efforts. "

The Tribune is sorely remiss in the one job they exist to do - to report news. This shows where the paper is aligned. This shows where they receive their bread and butter. This shows they present ONLY the news that is "approved by committee." They censor. They filter. They decide what you hear.

The Tribune did NOT report a request by 5 citizens for resignations of the above entities and failing that, the inception of a recall by citizens.

By saying there will always be problems with the animal issue they have given it tacit approval.
They are saying, in short, "There's always been an animal problem. There will always be an animal problem. Why address it? Learn to live with it because it won't change. And keep giving your money to entities which WE endorse, that won't do anything to change it."

Do it our way. The way we approve, through the Animal Foundation, Spay of the Falls, etc., just not YOUR way. YOUR way is not to be borne. YOU are not legitimate. YOU are not US.

This is the exact ideology and intent which demonstrates the penchant to take anyone's money, but decides that the animal activists who voice concern over actual care and life and death of animals are of no consequence, not worthy of acknowledgement and that the concern they voice for the animals is of no importance.

We actually find ourselves in the exact position that the animals we care about are in...the animals are of no importance to them. WE are of no importance to them.

The Trib cries, "It's not that animal suffering is less important than human suffering; it's that people seem to get more worked up about pain among animals than about pain among fellow humans."

This is because the animals cannot file the paperwork for recall or blog to protect themselves. They have no recourse to fight back. WE can on their behalf.