Montana Main Street Blog

Bozeman Tennis Court Debacle

The city of Bozeman's decision to use stimulus funds to build tennis courts grabbed the attention of many conservative news outlets, including Fox News and the Drudge Report.

Thinking he may have an opportunity to get on the "fiscal conservative" side of this issue, Governor Schweitzer showed up to Bozeman City Council to express his displeasure with this poor use of funds. What he got was a mayor ready to stand up to him. Here is the exchange as reported by the Flathead Beacon:

Schweitzer: I didn’t come here to blame the city council. You absolutely have the right to do this. You have the green light through the Department of Commerce because they can’t turn anybody down. That was the legislation. It was not the intent of the dollars that came to Montana

Krauss: So if you’re perceived as being a person who has attacked the city of Bozeman. And maybe because you’ve been used by the media or you’ve used the media to do just that.

Schweitzer: Mayor, what were my words? Do you recall?

Krauss: It was a quote about how you did not approve of this. Didn’t approve of this. That this wasn’t appropriate and you didn’t approve of this.

Schweitzer: That’s correct and that’s what I’m saying today.

Krauss: Right. But we have a letter from your administration approving it.

Schweitzer: Sure.

Krauss: So you approved it before you disapproved it.

The report from the Chronicle also brought up how the council questioned the Governor's use of his airplane to fly down to the council meeting, and whether that was a good use of taxpayer dollars. Interesting stuff.

Schweitzer Will Headline National Trial Lawyers Convention...Again

February is a great time to go to Hawaii, I guess. I love the theme of the trial lawyer convention: "Networking in Paradise."

Blaming an Airport For Your Divorce

From the NAM "Focus" Newsletter - Legally Insane Column:

"Stanley G. Hilton blames 37 organizations for the collapse of his marriage and is seeking $15 million from each of them ($555 million total). He alleges the defendants - the city and county of San Francisco, San Francisco International Airport and every airline based there, airline engine manufacturers and the real estate agencies involved in the sale of his house - failed to warn him that the house he purchased was very close to the airport. As a result, he argues, he suffered from noise and air pollution that caused physical and emotional injuries."

I hope the defendants use Rule 11 and get this lawsuit dismissed with sanctions against the plaintiff. Ridiculous.

My Prediction in the State Senate Race for District 25

Rep. Kendall Van Dyk has just announced his intention to challenge incumbent Senator Roy Brown in district 25. This was known all the way back to the last session, but Van Dyk formally announced yesterday.

I'm not going to make a prediction on the outcome, but I will say that this will be the most expensive state senate race ever. Both Van Dyk and Brown have already done fundraisers around the state, and Van Dyk has even done one in Washington, DC. Both are good campaigners as well. The outcome will depend on hard work and the electorate's mood on state and national issues like health care, cap & trade, the federal deficit, the state budget, and more.

This will be an interesting race to watch. Who do you think will win the race between "Big Oil Roy" and "Tax Hike Van Dyk"?

Schweitzer for Interior Secretary?

With the news that Governor Ritter of Colorado will not seek re-election, Democrats in CO are scrambling to find a candidate to keep the seat. The Obama adminstration is interested in having a Democrat as governor there to help the President's re-election chances in that state and in the West overall. The best candidate would be Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who is a former senator from CO and who has never lost a statewide election there.

Here's where the speculation starts - reports say Salazar has interest in a gubernatorial run and may have even secured the blessing of Obama. Governor Schweitzer is already being mentioned as a possible replacement. Could the Governor be heading to DC in the next few months?

Would Schweitzer even have interest in such as job, you ask? Absolutely. Since he is term-limited from running for Governor again, many have speculated about his next gig. To the press he always said he was not interested in a cabinet position. Behind closed doors, however, he was definitely looking for an appointment even back in November of 2008.

And who wouldn't want to leave that job right now? Revenue projections are falling every month and it is possible that Montana will join the other 48 states that have deficits by the end of this biennium. If he secured the appointment soon enough, he could leave when there was still a few million dollars in the bank. Not a bad time to move on to the next thing a little early.

Now here's another layer of speculation that already makes two assumptions. If Salazar runs for governor of Colorado AND Schweitzer is appointed in his place, will Lt. Governor John Bohlinger be a Democrat or Republican? He has always declared himself a Republican, and the MT Democrats used that effectively to have a bi-partisan ticket, but the MT GOP always called him a traitor. Republicans claim he had a (D) by his name when his name appeared on the ballot, so that made him a Democrat. If Bohlinger becomes Governor, both camps may reverse their positions. Oh the irony.

It's fun to hear the gossip and go through the "what ifs", but just keep in mind that it's still just speculation.

UPDATE: The Fix is reporting that Salazar will not run and he will back Denver Mayor Hickenlooper instead. Speculation over.