OBAMA REMINDS McCAIN THAT THE ELECTION IS OVER AND HE LOST

Any one watch any of the Health care summit? Should we move ahead with Obama’s plan with some minor adjustments? Or should we do as John McCain advocates and start over with a clean sheet of paper?
Take a look at this msnbc video of John McCain and President Obama and tell us what you think

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

HAS FORMER MAYOR BOB FINALLY FOUND A JOB?

One of our readers that didn’t want to be identified sent the Corrector this photo taken in front of the 1st Bank building with someone dressed up like a check waving a sign telling motorists to stop in and open a checking account. All and all a nice little advertising attention getter for promoting the bank. Our reader was perhaps being facetious when he asked “Do you think this might be Mayor Bob underneath that costume?” but it did get our little wheels to a turning.

You may recall that former Mayor Bob loved to dress up in his “little” outfits because he thought they charmed everyone that saw them. He had his infamous pumpkin suit that he campaigned in before Halloween, his Uncle Sam suit for the 4th of July, a Santa suit for December, and etc. Do you suppose Bob is now working in “undercover” (pun intended) advertising?

Have a great weekend everyone!

MDT REQUESTING COMMENTS HWY 2 EAST PROJECT

The Corrector was just forwarded this e-mail from the Chamber to remind everyone that wishes to comment on the upcoming Hi-Way 2 project to get your comment forms faxed in. Or if you wish there is an e-mail address below where you can send your comments. Thanks much to our “tipster” for forwarding us this important reminder
----Original Message-----
From: Debbie Vandeberg [mailto:chamber@havremt.net]
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 1:47 PM
To: Shari Robinson
Subject: MDT requesting your comments in HWY 2 East Project
Importance: High

The Director of the MDT, Jim Lynch, and MDT officials were in town January 28th for a public hearing regarding the proposed re-construction of a segment of Hwy 2 East. The purpose of the meeting was 2-fold : one was to inform the area about the project, the new design – which includes wider shoulders, wider traffic lanes, passing lanes and turn out lanes, the second reason was to seek your opinions and thoughts on the re-construction of this segment of Hwy 2.

The deadline to share your comments is Friday Feb 26th. The form may be copied and faxed to the MDT, or comments can be emailed to the noted address in this form.

Transportation is vital to community growth and affects alls sectors of the business community.
Project name: HAVRE – EAST Project ID: NH1-6(58)384 Control Number: 4951001 & 4951003
Meeting date and time: Thursday, JANUARY 28, 2010
Location: HILL COUNTY ELECTRIC BLDG, HOSPITALITY ROOM, 2121 U.S. HWY 2, HAVRE, MT
You are invited to make your comments on this form and place it in the comment box located at the sign-in table or take it with you and mail it to Steve Prinzing, Great Falls District Preconstruction Engineer, MDT Great Falls district office, at PO Box 1359, Great Falls, MT 59403-1359.
Comments may also be submitted by fax to (406) 453-8737 or online at
www.mdt.mt.gov/mdt/comment_form.shtml
The deadline for comments is February 26, 2010.
Please indicate your name, address and affiliation (if any) below.
Thank you for your interest in and comments about this project. Please use the back and/or additional sheets of paper if necessary.
Name and address (Include physical address & email address, please):

Comments:


Debbie Vandeberg
130 5th Ave ~ PO Box 308
Havre, MT 59501
Phone (406) 265-4383 ~ Fax (406) 265-7748
web site: http://www.havremt.com/
email: chamber@havremt.net

The Chamber putting Havre First since 1909
Montana Chamber Choices - affordable Healthcare for Chamber members.
disclamer: ...
In accordance with the mission of the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, the information provided in this email is intended to communicate to you an opportunity to gather information in furtherance of that goal. It is not intended to be an endorsement of any product, political party or political candidate.

UNITED DISPOSAL DISTRICT RECEIVES BIDS FOR NEW LANDFILL

The United Disposal District opened 14 sealed earth-moving bids at their meeting in Havre on February 16th which is the first phase of the new landfill project. The low bid of $677,995 was submitted by Advance Earthworks of Stevensville. Chinook contractor Moxley Construction was at $799,000, Patrick Construction of Havre was at $933,000 and the high bid of $1,314,000 came from Wickens Construction of Lewistown.

Today’s Blaine County Journal quoted district landfill coordinator Clay Vincent as saying that this estimate was “to move 350,000 to 400,000 cubic feet of dirt” and that the bids were given to site engineer, Barry Damschen of Helena to review and make sure that they were in compliance with the specs and all the related paperwork was in order. Vincent further went on to say that the Disposal District was already starting the next phase of the project which is erecting a building, starting the concrete work, and doing other related preparation work at the site. The Disposal District also must begin upgrading the roads from the Clear Creek turn off and from Hi-Way 2 east of Havre. It appears that Vincent also couldn’t resist taking a stab at the “local” contractors for bidding higher than other contractors that have to move their equipment long distances and pay for room and board for their employee’s. Pick up a copy of today’s Blaine County Journal and read the story for yourself and give us your impression.

Again, we at the Corrector wonder why this story wasn’t covered by our local Havre Daily “News”? We recommend that our readers subscribe to the weekly Blaine County Journal where the Corrector first saw this landfill story. Unlike the Havre paper it is a quality paper chock full of local stories instead of Associated Press reprints. You can contact them at The Blaine County Journal, PO Box 279, Chinook, MT 59523 or e-mail then at bcjnews@mtintouch.net

LOCAL MOTELS BAND TOGETHER TO PROMOTE HAVRE

The Hill County Commissioners met last Friday, February 19th with a group of Motel owners from the Havre area to consider a petition to form a Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID). Every single Havre Motel sent a representative to the meeting with the exception of the El Toro Inn.

A TBID was cited by the Motel people as a way to generate additional funding to recruit visitors to the Havre area which would in turn help our economy. A flat assessment would be self-imposed for each occupied night at member motels and at the end of each quarter the fees collected would be remitted to Hill County and could only be used for tourism promotion, marketing of the local area and events, and to increase awareness of what Havre has to offer to visitors. The assessment was requested at $1.00 per occupied motel room night to be added to the regular room charge. The expenditure of the collected money would be decided by a board made up entirely of Motel people with assistance from the local Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee. TBID promoters anticipate a budget of between 50-80 thousand dollars per annum which will allow the local board to be aggressive and creative in their sales efforts. The Havre Chambers current budget for recruiting visitors to Havre is around $3,000 although the recent annexation of the AmericInn and Super 8 into City limits will increase the Chambers budget for next year to upwards of $20,000 because they now have enough motel rooms within city limits to meet the State minimal threshold for the next level of funding.

Recently House Bill 235 simply expanded existing BID legislation to allow for tourism promotion. The district can be non-contiguous in the case of lodging and the funds are to be in addition to and not to supplement the existing bed tax. The TBID can run for a maximum of 10 years and after the initial term the motels must re-petition. All TBID funds are assessed according to occupied room nights and are collected quarterly. TBID funds are not collected on rooms that are rented by the month. To put a TBID into effect 62% of the lodging facilities must agree a TBID is needed. There are currently over 400 motel rooms inn Havre and the only motels opting out of the proposed TBID were the Circle Inn, Siesta Motel, Hi-Line Motel and the El Toro.

The 4 motels opting out of the TBID program cited concerns that this extra dollar per night would drastically affect their business and further had concerns that they may lose business to neighboring towns like Chinook. Since the original proposal included all motels in Havre it is currently being re-done to exclude the four that don’t want to participate and the Hill County Commissioners will call for a new hearing to implement the TBID.

KUDOS to the motels that was willing to step up to the plate and support and promote future events, conventions, and visits to the City of Havre. Considering what the Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee has accomplished on a budget of around $3,000 per year just take a minute to imagine what can happen with an additional $50-80,000 going into the promotion of Havre area accommodations.

We at the Corrector have to wonder why the expenditure of $80,000 collected from out of area travelers to be used for promotion of our local area by private business owners was not deemed important enough to have a story in our local paid subscription “news” paper? (by the way, great job from our “professional” news people for finally reporting on Jim Catt’s filing for Hill County Commissioner in tonight’s Havre Daily “News”.  Very timely indeed)

CHALLENGERS DOG-PILING COMMISSIONER ANDERSON

Oh Oh, Commissioner Mikie’s problems seem to be building up steam. Yesterday Havre resident Jim Catt filed as a Democrat for the District 2 Hill County Commissioners seat. From what we can find out about Catt he is a former railroad worker that took a swipe at the railroad lottery for a bad back a number of years ago. In the mean time he has been involved with doing a little concrete contracting, bobcat work, landscaping and other heavy lifting. Mr. Catt has also served a number of years on the Hill County Zoning and Planning board. We wonder if he is going to run his campaign on the courthouse “steps” issue since he considers himself someone with some expertise with concrete work? We sure hope so as this all needs to be hung out in the wash so the voters of Havre can finally see some transparency in the county’s behind the scenes maneuvers.

You may recall that the Corrector broke the story about Havre resident Jeff Lavoi gathering signatures to be able to seek the Commissioners seat as an Independent back on February 3rd. The Corrector has been informed that he has enough signatures and will be on the ballot. Mr. Lavoi will face off with the winner of the Democrat primary between Anderson and Catt.

Let the games begin!

MAYOR TIM APPOINTS NEW ANNEXATION COMMITTEE

Just back from a much needed break this past weekend and I am raring to get back into some sane discussion relating to what’s happening around Havre. I was sent a query as to “what is up with the Mayors new Annexation committee?” At last Tuesday’s council meeting Mayor Tim appointed a committee that will deal with future annexation, growth, development planning, and zoning issues such as the recent request for a permit for a medical marijuana grower, and the request by Councilperson Pam Hillary to look into an ordinance that would ban strippers in the City of Havre. The committee appointments were Woody Woodwick, Pam Hillary, Andrew Brekke, and Janet Tretheway. Mayor Tim also appointed Tretheway as chairman of this committee.


We at the Corrector applaud Mayor Tim for appointing a permanent committee to continue to deal with annexation of adjacent properties but we find it odd that the newcomer to the council, Democrat Janet Tretheway, would be appointed chairman over the Republican council person that spearheaded the committee the last two years, Andrew Brekke. The Corrector advocates that we do what is best for the City as a whole and it would appear that the person with the most knowledge and experience has been passed over strictly because he is of the opposing political party than the Mayor. Come on Mayor Tim – You can do better. The City’s work is not about Democrats and Republicans, but the taxpayers in the City limits.

Of course, aside from the annexation issues, maybe they will be seeking some volunteers to review the problem strippers and to do some taste testing to make certain this “medical” marijuana is safe for the general public? I am sure we have some readers that would be willing to get involved!

TAKE BACK CONTROL OF HILL COUNTY'S POLITICAL DESTINY

After one of our recent posts we received some questions about the elected Precinct positions. Basically each of the four “official” political parties in Montana is controlled by something similar to a board of directors that are elected from each precinct in the voting districts. In Hill County both the Democrat and Republican Party voters in each precinct elect these directors, or precinct representatives to represent them in local party business. These elected representatives are the only people who can officially vote on any business brought forth at party Central Committee meetings. Both the Republicans and Democrats in Havre hold regular meetings each month where numerous votes are taken on business brought before the Central Committee. Legally, only those elected by ballot, or in the case of a precinct being vacant, those appointed by the County Chairman can vote. The Corrector has been told by both parties that they routinely take Yea or Nay votes from those present at their meetings without regard to the voting members qualifications. However, in the case of a contentious vote, both groups only count the votes of the official voting members. Votes for the leadership of the local county party can also only be cast by these elected precinct people.


These “official” precinct people are elected in the June 8th primary this year. If you want to see changes or make waves in your local Democrat or Republican Parties you need to file the attached “Declaration for Nomination and Oath of Candidacy” with the Hill County Clerk by the March 15th deadline. Make sure it is notarized and on time.

We challenge all our readers to take an active and official part in their party’s inner workings.  If you wish you can also direct further questions to both the Hill County Democrat Party Chairman, John Musgrove and the Hill County Republican Party Chairman, Andrew Brekke

HOMELAND SECURITY "BRIEFS" OUR ENEMIES

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano held one of those top-secret type meetings to “brief” radical Muslim groups about the Obama governments new “counter-radicalization and anti-terrorist” programs according to today’s Judicial Watch. http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2010/feb/napolitano-hosts-terrorist-groups-d-c
Yep, that will help. Nothing better than briefing the guys that are trying to slit your throat or blow-up government buildings up-front what our security measures are for preventing these types of things from happening to the American people. Considering the 100 billion dollar “investment” NASA was directed to give to radical Muslim countries earlier this week it appears that the Obama administration is focusing on helping his Muslim connections rather than the people that actually voted him into office.

I know, I know – it is all Bush and Cheney’s fault but give the Judicial Watch article a read anyway and give us your thoughts. I have to wonder just where our congressional delegation from Montana was while all this was going on. Give a call to Baucus, Tester, and Rehberg and find out.

Who is Janet Napolitano? http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/gc_1232568253959.shtm

BERGREN FILES IN SENATE DISTRICT 17 RACE

 or at least that’s what the real “news” paper had for a headline in tonight’s paper. (we see the filing posted finally on the SOS filing page around 4:30pm)

Democrat Bob Bergren has spent four terms as the House District 33 Representative from Havre. Bergren has reached the term limit for the house and is apparently moving over to now seek the Senate District 17 seat that is currently held by termed-out Senator Kim Hanson. Unless someone else files Bergren will be facing political newcomer Republican Rowlie Hutton, a Havre minister.

Potential candidates have until March 15th, 2010 to file for the following Hill County offices; District 2 commissioner, Clerk and Recorder, Sheriff, Hill County Attorney, Hill County Superintendent of Schools, County Auditor, Public Administrator, Treasurer/Assessor, Justice of the Peace, Senate District 17, and House districts 32,33 and 34.

Also don’t forget that 3 positions are available on the Havre School Board and the Havre Daily Corrector has voted unanimously amongst our bloggers to assist and promote any candidates that will run for one of these board positions against one of these tax-spending give-away artists currently hiding and cowering under the "top-secret" banner.

Also anyone wishing to take back citizen control of either the Hill County Republican or Democrat Party's central committees that have run amuck of voter wishes need file as precinct captains to win the position as the only policy making votes within the parties. You can make a difference! File for the precinct positions.
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OUR “ROCKET SCIENTIST” PRESIDENT DIVERTS 100 BILLION DOLLARS TO MUSLIM COUNTRIES ............... CAN YOU SAY "HAIL TO THE CHIEF"?

Anyone remember the News story earlier last month when President Obama announced that he was slashing 100 billion dollars from the NASA budget that was to return astronauts to the moon? At that time the President said that the program was over -budget, behind schedule and he didn’t think it was important enough to fund at that level. He further went on to say other programs like science and earth observation posts were more important. Even though both President and myself, likewise an arm-chair scientist with no experience, knowledge or background training in science and engineering , agreed on this cut I was under the impression that this 100 billion dollars would be used elsewhere for some “substantial” need of the American people. What will this money be spent on you say? Well let me bring you up to date. Mr. Obama has directed NASA to find ways to spend this money in Muslim countries. One hundred billion to boost the economy and good will amongst those trying to slit our citizen’s throats.


An article written by Mark Matthews in the Orlando Sentinel on February 16th had this to say;

WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said Tuesday that President Barack Obama has asked him to “find ways to reach out to dominantly Muslim countries” as the White House pushes the space agency to become a tool of international diplomacy.
“In addition to the nations that most of you usually hear about when you think about the International Space Station, we now have expanded our efforts to reach out to non-traditional partners,” said Bolden, speaking to a lecture hall of young engineering students.

Specifically, he talked about connecting with countries that do not have an established space program and helping them conduct science missions. He mentioned new opportunities with Indonesia, including an educational program that examines global climate change.
“We really like Indonesia because the State Department, the Department of Education [and] other agencies in the U.S. are reaching out to Indonesia as the largest Muslim nation in the world. We would love to establish partners there,” Bolden said.
As a presidential candidate, Obama espoused a space program that invited more participation from the international community and Deputy NASA Administrator Lori Garver said recently that the next time NASA lands on the moon it would be part of an international exploration effort.

This is another of those “You had better call your congressmen” to voice your opposition items. We at the Corrector hereby take back both of the positive comments about the President Obama Administration that we were able to muster this past year and hereby move him into the 100% “IDIOT” column.
Orlando Sentinel source;  http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_space_thewritestuff/2010/02/nasa-plans-more-outreach-to-muslim-countries.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed: news/space/space_blog (Space Blog The Write Stuff)

HAS DEMOCRAT SENATOR BAYH DEALT HIS PARTY THE DEATH BLOW?

Was Senator Evan Bayh right when he made the claim that congress has gone “brain dead”? Since DeConstructor takes exception to this blog using what she calls “Faux” news for our “facts” we have gleaned the information for this post from an article in the ultra-liberal left-wing Washington Post by Dan Balz. We don’t want to be accused of being cross burners.


In this morning’s Washington Post, Bayh was quoted as saying "If I could create one job in the private sector by helping to grow a business, that would be one more than Congress has created in the last six months” Senator Bayh has over 13 million dollars in his reelection war chest and was leading in the polls when he announced his retirement. The Corrector thinks this is just the beginning of a mass exodus of Democrats that will be seeking to save their political souls by distancing themselves from a failed Presidency but we encourage our readers to check out the “facts” from the Democrat perspective at the Washington Post and tell us what you think http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021605974.html?sid=ST2010021606269&sub=AR

SICK OF WINTER YET?

I watched the news on KRTV and saw the story about all the ice in Great Falls and the big wreck between 3 school buses and a few cars. For once Havre had better conditions and weather than Great Falls. They have been warmer all winter while we have been in a pocket of misery just close-in around the City. And now this! More shoveling! Is it ever going to end?


On a positive note the City is doing a much better job of keeping the ruts out of the streets this year. They at least have been blading so the streets aren’t rutted . Thank you

SENATOR EVAN BAYH, DEMOCRAT FROM INDIANA ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

Bayh is the fifth Democrat to announce his retirement citing that he was fed up with congress. What’s with all these guys bailing off the Obama sinking ship? Bayh was favored to win reelection against Former Republican senator Dan Coats by over 20 points. Apparently congress is broken and no one wants to be associated with what they fear will take place in the next two years.

White Males Need Not Apply For Stimulus Package- Racism is Alive and Well in the "White House"

Perhaps this is why the only questions on the Census 2010 deal with one's race? 

THE "FACTS" ABOUT COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ABSENT FIREFIGHTER

The Havre Daily Corrector ran a story back on February 3 about Jack Tretheway filing for the HD 33 seat in which we stated that we hoped he would not burden the City of Havre with costs associated with not showing up for work if elected to the House. Three days later a comment was posted by a person with the handle of “Bob” that took offense to the Corrector’s “suggestion” that Representative Bob Bergren cost the City taxpayer’s any money because of his simultaneous position as both our representative and a city fireman. Portions of the article are below;
http://havredailycorrector.blogspot.com/2010/02/jack-tretheway-files-for-hd33.html
We at the Corrector wonder is Tretheway retiring? Or does he plan on giving the City “one on the chin” like our former representative did his first term. I would hope that Tretheway would do the honorable thing and resign his position with the City to save the taxpayer from paying for an employee that is not showing up for work as did his predecessor. Currently Havre Firefighters are on a three day work schedule. Kris Hansen, his opponent, has stated that she would be taking a leave of absence without pay during the legislative session.
Response from a guy that called himself Bob on February 6, 2010
Bob  said...
Bergren was never paid a dime from the city for any time he spent in Helena. Not one Penny...Please check your facts!!!!

The Corrector has taken your advice Bob and checked the facts with our sources connected with the City and this is our synopsis;
Fact # 1 – For every hour that Bob Bergren was allowed to remain on the City pay ledger as a firefighter for the City, we paid his health insurance, his retirement, and he accumulated vacation pay, sick leave and etc. While he was off “serving” his district in the House these costs continue to march on even if the City halted his actual pay check. For him to claim that he never cost the City of Havre a penny is a fallacy. The sad part is that he apparently truly believes this and he was the House of Representative leader in charge of spending yours and mine tax dollars while not truly understanding how an actual business operates.

Fact # 2 – It has been reported to the Corrector by several sources that Bob Bergren repeatedly called in sick when he had campaign conflicts with not only his campaign but also when he was campaigning for Jon Tester in his Senate quest. Eventually Bob was “caught in the act” calling in sick while actually he was out campaigning and was called on the carpet by Fire Chief Dave Sheppard and Mayor Bob Rice. Bergren’s response to them was “I guess you have me on this one” and he was protected by his union. Being paid for sick days when he was actually out campaigning for office cost the City more than the “nothing” Bob claims in his comment.
When someone calls in sick, the City of Havre Fire Department is required to call in off duty personnel to replace him at over-time rates. Here’s how the system works; there is always a fireman on standby call and is paid for this stand-by time. When this stand-by person is activated because a regularly scheduled fireman did not arrive for his scheduled shift that stand-by person is called in at the over-time pay rate and an additional fireman is called to replace that person now working and is likewise paid the stand-by rate. If the firemen that are working are called out to a fire or an ambulance call additional personnel are called in at over-time pay to keep the station legally staffed. So upon our research Bob is correct that he didn’t receive one penny of legitimate payroll for his time away, but his actions cost the City Taxpayers huge amounts in unnecessary over-time pay. His refusal to relinquish his position as a fire fighter his first term also left the Fire Department unable to hire a replacement to fill in for his time away resulting in yet more over-time being paid to cover his shifts with an inadequate number of fire fighters in the City’s employ in addition to the costs associated with his vacation and retirement benefits accruing with no services rendered to the City. Is Bob really this clueless as to the workings of a business? Or is he smart as a fox and realized that by prolonging his departure he could net some financial gain for himself at the expense of the tax-payers? Either way, he “worked” the system! Eventually in his second term as a legislature Bergren was pressured into “retiring” by Chief Sheppard and Mayor Rice so they could hire a replacement that would show up for work at the regularly scheduled shifts. Bergren now receives a pension that we the taxpayers paid for and is now off spending our tax dollars as our District 33 Representative.

Fact # 3 – The Corrector made the claim that Bergren also paid people to take his shifts. The fact of the matter is that the union does not have this practice spelled out in the Firefighters contract however it does take place as part of an in-house buddy system. It works something like this; a fireman calls in a buddy to work his shift, he can pay him or trade shifts, after all, the department is all for one and one for all. Both Havre firemen and police are considered hourly employees but paid on a salaried basis. They work between 33 and 36 hours, are paid for a 40 hour week, and are paid extra for holidays, vacations, and sick leave. These contracts were negotiated between the clueless inexperienced Havre City Council members and the firemen. You may recall all the hubbub when former Mayor Rice called in a professional negotiator that knew the labor laws to try and turn this wasteful ship run amuck around to be held accountable to the taxpayers they serve instead of some of the certain select firemen’s personal selfish desires. Be sure to watch and see if the City, under the leadership of Mayor Tim, will again go back to the inept City Council member negotiation teams dealing with these unions instead of a professional.

Fact # 4 – Fireman Jack Tretheway was so angered by the “professional” negotiator that he convinced his wife to run for the city council seat she now holds. How can this not be a conflict of interest? Jack has spent years telling everyone who will lend him their ear that he was being screwed over by the City in his role as a Havre fireman and now he wants to take this agenda to Helena as a representative to continue the work of his mentor, Bob Bergren.
The Corrector stands by our call for Jack Tretheway to resign as a City firefighter if he wants to be a state representative instead of again putting the City in the position of continued costs with no service as did his predecessor Bergren. Since Bergren has not yet filed for any elective office this session we will leave off any comments about the thingy with Monica L, the union fire hall lobbyist connection or any of the other questionable judgment calls while in Helena unless Bob would like us to check our "facts" on these topics also. We will just say that if Jack is the best choice we have on the Democrat ticket for HD33 the Corrector will support his opponent, Republican Kris Hansen.

The Corrector wants to go on record as saying that we think our current Havre City Firefighters do an outstanding job of serving the community and are getting an unwarranted “black eye” by a select few in their group with a personal “ax to grind”

What say you fellow bloggers?
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CENSUS 2010

The Census 2010 is beginning and we are being told that it is mandatory that everyone take part. April 1, 2010 is being called Census Day and all the results of the census are to be complete and delivered to the President by December 31, 2010. The Census literature states that the Federal government distributes more than 400 billion dollars annually to state, local and tribal governments.
According to information at  http://2010.census.gov/2010census/index.php
That's why it's so important that you fill in the form and promptly mail it back. Census information affects the numbers of seats your state occupies in the U.S. House of Representatives. And people from many walks of life use census data to advocate for causes, rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases, research markets, locate pools of skilled workers and more.

When you do the math, it's easy to see what an accurate count of residents can do for your community. Better infrastructure. More services. A brighter tomorrow for everyone. In fact, the information the census collects helps to determine how more than $400 billion dollars of federal funding each year is spent on infrastructure and services like:

• Hospitals
• Job training centers• Schools
• Senior centers
• Bridges, tunnels and other-public works projects
• Emergency services
Participation isn't just important—it's mandatory.

Interestingly the 400 billion cited in the website above is actually cited as 300 billion in the local Census hand out material. Apparently the government doesn't even know how much money they waste accurately enough to not disagree with their own literature except somewhere in the neighborhood of give or take a 100 billion. Typical government mediocrity and incompetence. The Montana Department of Commerce Census and Economic Information Center further claims that all answers to the questions are confidential and are protected by law (Title 13 of the U.S. Code, Section 9) It is illegal for the Census Bureau to share this information with any governmental department, including law enforcement, IRS, Immigration, etc. If they can’t even control the information as to how much money the census affects can we really believe this information will remain confidential? The survey will only consist of 10 questions and the front page is attached below.

Notice that they are very concerned with race but their is not any questions as to if you are a citizen or an illegal.  One important aspect of this Census for Montana is the possibility that our numbers will warrant an additional Congressman which would result in a much needed additional vote for Montana. In Montana the majority of the Census will be conducted by mail with the exceptions of the green areas on the following map which shows an actual census worker will personally conduct interviews to complete the form. Note that in Montana these areas include each of the Native American populations. What does this mean? Do they think the Native Americans are not bright enough to complete the 10 questions themselves? Do they think they won’t be returned? Are they attempting to employ people in those areas with a “make work” project? Is this a “racial” profiling? Why are these areas singled out?

How many people will be employed to do this Census?  The following information is from the Census website
 2010 Census Jobs
The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting temporary, part-time census takers for the 2010 Census. These short-term jobs offer good pay, flexible hours, paid training, and reimbursement for authorized work-related expenses, such as mileage incurred while conducting census work. Best of all, census takers work right in their own communities.
Hundreds of thousands are needed for temporary jobs
Conducting the census is a huge undertaking. Hundreds of thousands of census takers are needed nationwide to help locate households and conduct brief personal interviews with residents. Most positions require a valid driver's license and use of a vehicle. However, use of public transportation may be authorized in certain areas.
Your community is counting on you
Every 10 years, the Census Bureau takes a snapshot of our population, determining how many people reside within the nation's borders, who they are, and where they live. The results help determine your representation in government, as well as how federal funds are spent in your community on things like roads, parks, housing, schools, and public safety. As a census taker, you'll play a vital role in making sure that everyone is counted.
Bilingual speakers are encouraged to apply
All census takers must be able to speak English, but people who have bilingual skills are needed in communities where a large number of residents primarily speak other languages. If you have the appropriate language skills and cultural knowledge to communicate well in your community, we encourage you to apply.
Census taker jobs are excellent for people who want to work part-time, those who are between jobs, or just about anyone who wants to earn extra money while performing an important service for their community.
Apply today
Apply today by contacting your Local Census Office or by calling 1-866-861-2010 .

The literature goes on to say that Census takers work approximately 20 to 40 hours per week, primarily in the evenings and on weekends.  How much will they be paid and how many will be hired?  The average pay is between $15-23 dollars an hour depending on position plus mileage and expenses.  The Wall Street Journal reports that most of the jobs will pay between $10-$20 an hour and will involve knocking on doors, processing data and publicizing the census. The total number of hires will depend on how many U.S. residents return their census forms.  Again, the facts being given to the tax-payers are conflicting.  The Wall Street Journal went on to say that more than a million temporary workers will be hired by the U.S. Census Bureau for the 2010 count.  Congress has set aside $14 billion for the 2010 operation  and after the forms are processed, they go into a locked vault for 72 years. In 2012, the results of the 1940 survey will be open to the public.

The Missoulian reported that there would be 1.5 million jobs available nation-wide and 3,000 of those jobs would be in Montana. Again, one source says 1.5 million, one says one million. Typical government bungling of even a simple task like this. Is it any wonder the citizens of our fine country don’t trust our government when it comes to money or efficiency?
Let’s just think about this in terms of Montana alone, Up to 3,000 workers will be hired to count a little over 900,000 people or about one person hired to count up to 300 people and report back to the Census Bureau. This appears to those of us at the Corrector to be yet another example of an already too expensive government run amuck with our tax dollars. I hope they can find 3,000 people that can count to 300
Will the census count noncitizens?
Yes, US law requires a count of all “persons” and “inhabitants” – without specifying whether they are citizens or noncitizens, legal or illegal. The First Congress was aware that many foreign-born people were living in the country, says Audrey Singer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “They intentionally did not use the term ‘citizen,’ ” she says of the 1790 law establishing the census.  Remember, counting illegal residents is what cost Montana our second Congressional representative.
Further information can be found here http://2010.census.gov/partners/pdf/cccGuide.pdf

It seems there is no cost to high in the budget to conduct this census, but considering the money being wasted on "stimulas" projects this is apparently the new "norm" for government bureaucracy.

LITTLE SHELL TRIBE STIMULAS GRANT

The Little Shell Tribe lost over $600,000 in stimulus money as per this piece on KFBB TV. Although the Corrector bloggers have tons of opinions on this story we would like to hear from our local readers as to what they think and will keep our comments to ourselves until later.. What do our readers think? Do you agree with this decision?

HAVRE DAILY CORRECTOR HASHED OVER ON THE TRIBUNE FORUM

Well apparently the Corrector has been giving the Great Falls Tribune something to buzz about since the article about us appeared in the Montana section some time back. You can take a look at the comments, both good and bad, on the Tribune forum at http://www.greatfallstribune.com/comments/article/20100209/NEWS01/2090307/Havre-bloggers-gaining-steam-with-government-rants?s=d


Thanks to those that stood up for us and to the rest, we will aim to do better

OBAMA AND THE 7 DORKS

No matter what your opinion is of the Tea Party Patriots you have to admire their humor. This picture is from one of the recent Tea Party rallies. I was just hoping the mess this county finds itself in was just a fairy tale and I would wake up soon to find everything back to normal. Of course Savior Obama worshippers will tell you that it took us 8 years to get into this mess under Bush so let’s just give the poor martyred guy a chance to work his fairy tale magic. The Tea Party website has provided us with an easy to understand video on deficit spending through the last few presidents. What say you fellow bloggers?

HAVRE SCHOOL DUH! CREW

Well here we go again. The Duh! Crew made some decisions regarding the Highland Park School addition last night at the regularly scheduled school board meeting.

The foundation contract was awarded to Electric City Concrete of Great Falls since not one Havre contractor even placed a bid on the project. Apparently the Havre contractors have now accepted thier dimished stature in life and won't cause anymore problems.  The project manager from Anderson Construction told the board that this bid was several thousand dollars below the project estimate. Several thousand? Well, let’s just call that 3 thousand to be safe, now keep a tally because we will be adding up all these below estimate savings at the end of the project to see if they jive with what the ending numbers are, which we assume to be unlikely. Next, the excavation contract was awarded to Havre contractor Patrick Construction which was also miraculously “several thousand” dollars below original cost estimates. Let’s again for sake of future argument, call that number 3 thousand.

A person from the audience asked the board if these sub-contractors and the illustrious Dick Anderson Construction provided the school district taxpayers with any performance bonds. The answer was “Duh, we don’t know for sure, we will have to check with the architect. When asked why this wasn’t required to protect the interests of the owner, in this case the tax-payers of Hill County, again the response was “Duh, we don’t know for sure what a bond is or does but we will check into it” I get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that we have Shad and Harvey, the school’s “construction experts” looking out for our best interests. It is also interesting to note that the person that dared ask this bonding question at the public school board meeting was reported to have also received the “evil eye” from most of the board members. Perhaps he should remember the former blog where a contractor dared ask a question and was accused of “dung stirring.”

Here are a few basics of construction bonds for our “construction experts”
SOME SURETY BOND BASICS
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A surety bond is not an insurance policy. A surety bond is a guarantee, in which the surety guarantees that the contractor, called the “principal” in the bond, will perform the “obligation” stated in the bond. For example, the “obligation” stated in a bid bond is that the principal will honor its bid; the “obligation” in a performance bond is that the principal will complete the project; and the “obligation” in a payment bond is that the principal will properly pay subcontractors and suppliers. Bonds frequently state, as a “condition,” that if the principal fully performs the stated obligation, then the bond is void; otherwise the bond remains in full force and effect.

If the principal fails to perform the obligation stated in the bond, both the principal and the surety are liable on the bond, and their liability is “joint and several.” That is, either the principal or surety or both may be sued on the bond, and the entire liability may be collected from either the principal or the surety. The amount in which a bond is issued is the “penal sum,” or the “penalty amount,” of the bond. Except in a very limited set of circumstances, the penal sum or penalty amount is the upward limit of liability on the bond.

The person or firm to whom the principal and surety owe their obligation is called the “obligee.” On bid bonds, performance bonds, and payment bonds, the obligee is usually the owner. Where a subcontractor furnishes a bond, however, the obligee may be the owner or the general contractor or both. The people or firms who are entitled to sue on a bond, sometimes called “beneficiaries” of the bond, are usually defined in the language of the bond or in those state and federal statutes that require bonds on public projects.
Source;  http://www.attny.com/gci32djd.html
*****************************************************************************

Building and performance bonds costs borne by a contractor are usually 1-2% of the bid amount. Let’s see, 1.3 million x 1 ½% is about $20,000. We also noticed that the school building project has already shrunk from the advertised 9,800 square feet for 1.3 million to 9,500 square feet for 1.3 million. That equates to $133 per square foot of building so at $133 per ft x 300 feet we have already cut the cost by $39,900.Ok people, add this $39,900 to the $20, 000 and the several thousand twice from above ($6,000 or so) and you can see where this project is going to turn out to be a wonderful deal. Not even started and already we have “saved $65,900. Write these numbers down because there is going to be a little math test in the upcoming months where we will be deducting all of our good deal numbers from 1.3 million and comparing that to the total final cost of the out-of-town contractor.

In further school news, school clerk Zella Witter reported that high school student numbers are down by 40 kids which cut their revenues. Montana schools estimate it costs about $7,000 to educate a student. If voters do not approve the mill levy this year the budget will take another hit of $45,200. Witter was quoted as saying that the “high school struggles to maintain its programs now and any cuts would have a negative impact”

Let us put this in simple terms we hillbillies can understand. We can piss off $200,000 dollars for a 7 month Superintendent, we can send what tax money we do have to out of town contractors, but a failure of a $45,200 mill levy will ruin the school as we know it?

Hmm……What to do? What to do? VOTE NO, NO AND HELL NO TO ANY AND ALL SCHOOL MILL LEVIES!

RANDY RANDOLPH ENTERS COUNTY ATTORNEY CAT FIGHT

Local attorney, Randy Randolph has filed for the office of Hill County Attorney as a Democrat. Randolph will be competing with current county attorney Gina Dahl and deputy county attorney Lindsey Lorang in a three way primary election on June 8th. As of today, no Republicans have filed.


We at the Corrector hear that tensions are escalating at the county attorney’s office between Gina Dahl and her deputy Lindsey Lorang who had the audacity to file against her. We wonder what the addition of yet a third candidate will bring to this race. Will they forget the attacks against each other and turn on Randolph? Speculation is rampant as to which candidate Randolph will bleed votes from. Will he garner some of Dahl’s support or that of Lorangs? Can Randolph pull off an upset by voters sick of politics at the courthouse? What do our readers think?

GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE GIVES US A PLUG

Great article in today’s Great Falls Tribune by former Havre resident, Kim Skornogoski, giving a plug for the Havre Daily Corrector. Thanks Kim!

The Corrector is here not only to motivate conversation about local issues, but also to help keep the Havre electorate informed as to what our elected officials are up to “behind the scenes” We welcome unedited guest editorials to our blog which you can e-mail to us at havredailycorrector@bresnan.net  Sign your name or use you pseudonym, it matters not to us. Like always, we would welcome some help from people attending some of the many public meeting that are held each week in Havre. We have noticed that various public speakers and groups, like the Museum Board, Park Board, Buffalo Jump meetings, Zoning Board, etc receive no coverage in the local newspaper and we would be happy to publish those reports here as well. While we have focused on the “snafus” made by our elected officials our readers would also welcome some positive news of what the various groups and organizations are doing about town. Maybe an article about the good works at Kitty Keepers? How is the new fishing pavilion at the lower lake progressing?  Do they still need help?What have the Boy Scouts been up to? What is the Trap Club doing?  Is the Havre Beneath the Streets gearing up for spring? Allot of what happens around Havre never makes the news and you can make that happen here at the Corrector.

Thanks again Kim for a great article.

OPPSY DAZZY SENATOR TESTOR

In light of this morning’s Tribune article about ridership of Montana’s Amtrak system dropping off we wonder what Testor was thinking last week when he asked the Obama administration for funds for a “high speed” rail system through Montana. http://havredailycorrector.blogspot.com/2010/02/high-speed-rail-service-for-montana.html  Was his plea for more spending and this announcement just a coincidence? Or is it more evidence that Montana’s Senators are “out to lunch” and likewise out of touch with reality? The Corrector thinks that even Amtrak service through Havre is in constant jeopardy of being cut because of the losses suffered by the system along their northern route, let alone someone naïve enough to think that we should expand the system to a “high speed” rail system. Even the liberal over-spending Obama administration would have to question the credibility of our Montana Senator.

Look at the following facts and give us your opinion.

Procurement/Contracts
Amtrak expended $268,336 for goods and services in Montana in FY08.
Employment
At the end of FY08, Amtrak employed 43 Montana residents. Total wages of Amtrak employees living in Montana were $3,604,411 during FY08.
 http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/factsheets/MONTANA08.pdf  

Empire Builder Revenue
Chicago - St. Paul - Portland/Seattle
Total Revenue: $64,000,000 Profit/Loss per Passenger Mile:1
(excluding costs such as depreciation) $-0.10
Profit/Loss: $-40,500,000 Profit/Loss per Passenger Mile:2
(including costs such as depreciation) $-0.21
Ridership: 554,266 Profit/Loss per Passenger:3
(excluding costs such as depreciation) $-73.07
Profit/Loss per Passenger:4
(including costs such as depreciation) $-97.36
Source - http://subsidyscope.com/transportation/amtrak/

High speed rail system for Montana?  Yea, right Senator.  It makes for a great press release to tell us hill billys back home how you are "fighting" for Montana but maybe you should try to work towards something attainable and reality based.

SARAH PALIN'S KEYNOTE SPEECH AT THE NATIONAL TEA PARTY CONVENTION

Governor Sarah Palin delivers the keynote address of the National Tea Party Convention, held in Nashville, Tennessee. Could the Tea Party be the answer for those disgusted by out two main-stream political parties? The speech, carried on C-Span, is over 40 minutes and is followed with about 20 minutes of questions from the audience. Let us know what you think, not just about Sarah Palin, but the actual Tea party Movement

SCHOOL RECEIVES NO BIDS FROM LOCAL BUILDERS

It was not a surprise to us to learn that not one Havre building contractor bid on the foundation work at the Highland Park School. They all got the message loud and clear via the School Board that they weren’t wanted muddling up the project headed by the out of town superior contractor, Dick Anderson Construction. On the bright side, the Havre School Board can now go around town vindicated in making their poor choice and truthfully tell everyone that NO building contractor from Havre would even give them a bid.  We can hardly wait for Monday’s “news” to see how the School Board spins the story of this bid opening.



Also interesting was that fact that several excavation contractors from Havre submitted bids for the dirt work and digging at the site. Noticeably absent from this list was Baltrusch Construction who never is seen bidding on any project where there are competing bids yet does 90% of the City of Havre’s work without competition. We hope that Mayor Tim and the new council will look into this shady practice at the city that has gone on all through the Mayor Bob reign of terror as well as that of his predecessor.

DISCRIMINATION

Ok ………. We are certain that there will be those that will take us to task for being a No-good “prejudice” hate-spewing blog full of bloggers that are not tolerant for our fellow man that is “different” from our lily-white complexions (at least some of us at the Corrector)


We have been discussing the articles about poor Senator Jonathan Windy Boy, who thinks that every one that is non-native American is out to get him. It was bad enough that he was making racket about the lame, yet dumb “honest injun” comment by the GOP Chairman in the last post but he also has been going around trying to get “his people” better representation on the board of the Hill County Commissioners which he clams discriminates against Natives. Well Jonathan is in luck. The District 2 County Commissioner is up for election this very year and the district takes in most of the reservation. Those of us at the Corrector can never recall anyone from Rocky Boy ever running for commissioner but since Incumbent Mike Anderson has apparent problems with base of support we would say that the “stars are aligned” for our first Native American Commissioner All Jonathan has to do is field a candidate and campaign and work towards getting elected. There has never been a better opportunity for a Native American Candidate to get elected and those of us at the Corrector hope Rocky Boy fields a candidate for this position. Good Luck Jonathan and we look forward to the campaign.

Since I am one of those mostly white types, I personally found it offensive when the Great Falls Tribune reported on their front page this morning all the billions of dollars President Obama is giving to Native American Tribes strictly because of their race. No other group of people or race was given this privilege. Is not this discrimination against those like myself that are mostly white and cannot be registered on tribal enrollments?
What do our readers think?

ARE YOU A RACIST? A HATE-MONGER? OR JUST STUPID?

Our local Democrat Representative Jonathan Windy Boy has joined the gang calling for Republican National Committee Michael Steel to apologize for saying the phrase “honest Injun” during an interview on the Sean Hannity show on Fox. It seems the whole country has gone “nuts” about all this race baiting and indignations unleashed on people that are different? Montana’s delegation of Native Americans (or is that Indian? First Montanans? First Americans?- we don’t want to be offensive) You may recall that Senator Windy Boy has numerous times called people to task for what he sees as “racist behavior” Windy Boy accused the Havre police of being racist and said they profiled Native Americans. Windy Boy introduced legislation dealing with race as a “hate crime” and on and on. When can we all just be “Americans” and stop all this racial feeling of some injustice or another towards other people? Come on Senator, you are our representative in Helena, spend some time representing us and quit fanning the flames of hatred.

Of course the Republicans deserve this lash of “racist” anger because it was just a short time ago that they were hollering for Democrat Harry Reid to resign because he said something about President Obama being a good choice as a candidate for president because as a Negro, he was “light skinned and didn’t speak with a dialect” I admit that Harry Reid is dumb as a post but come on – calling for him to resign because of a racist comment? Voters should be resigning him because is stupid, not because he is racist, though it appears he is indeed.


What exactly is a “Honest Injun” and where did that saying come from? HONEST INJUN - "from Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, has been traced back to 1851, but it is probably much older than that. Originally it was probably an expression of sarcastic derision - 'as honest as an Indian.' But later it came to mean about the same thing as the British 'honor bright' or the American 'scout's honor' - a pledge of truth and honesty." From "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).

President Obama is even taken to task by Nevada citizens because he actually made an intelligent statement. “When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don't go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage," he said. "You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices." What he said was on the money yet someone someplace that gambles or has just bought a boat is irritated.

Please give us a break with all this race-baiting and faked “outrage” about everything that is said about anything. Take a look at this clip of Michael Steele’s “Honest Injun” comment and tell us your opinion.

REPUBLICAN WING-NUT

We have posted many times here about stupid things that happen around Havre and the rest of the country. We have taken to task many of our politicians and community servants for their ignorant ideas, broken campaign promises, top-secret back-room deals, and other less then flattering stories. It may appear to our readers that we lean to the “conservative” side as we have mostly bashed the elected Democrat but the truth is that there are stupid actions taken by members of both parties.

The Corrector’s idiot story for today is about Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina who is a Republican running for the U.S. Senate seat held by California Democrat incumbent Barbara Boxer. Fiorina recently pulled out of the California Governor’s race to pit herself against former Congressman Tom Campbell and State Assemblyman Chuck Devore in the an attempt to win the spot on the Republican ticket to unseat Barbara Boxer.

Take a look at Fiorina’s recent campaign ad against fellow Republican Tom Campbell

@ Yahoo! Video

One wing-nut running against another wing-nut for the right to challenge yet a third wing-nut. Only God can save California!


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HAVRE DAILY "NEWS" AGAIN GETS "SCOOPED" BY THE CORRECTOR

We are pleased to see in tonight’s paper that the HDN reporters are checking our blog to get the latest news, happenings, and “scoops” from around Havre. Nice story about Commissioner Candidate Jeff Lavoi by the way but you really should have used the Corrector’s photo of Mike Anderson. We would be happy to try to send some “breaking news” type tips to the paper so they don’t have to read about the news around Havre from a blog but we have found in the past that when we have e-mailed the paper with “news” and “ideas” we were basically ignored. We may just have a few more stories up our sleeve so stay tuned. If the HDN wants to get the story ahead of us they should be digging deeper at both the Hill County Courthouse and at the Havre School system. Maybe a reporter at the School “foundation” bid opening would produce an interesting story.


We hear allot of talk around town about this blog, some love it, others think we go too far, but the fact of the matter is that local people love having a place to vent and express their opinions. We try to get information out “early” and from the perspective of the “man on the street”.

Remember, if it’s stupid or the story advocates change we will be on the job. Thanks to all our readers for your comments and to those that have e-mailed us “tips” to havredailycorrector@bresnan.net

HILL COUNTY DISTRICT 2 COMMISSIONER MIKE ANDERSON MAY HAVE A PROBLEM

I went downtown this afternoon and what did I run into out in the cold but someone gathering signatures on a petition. Petitions are usually for some cause or another to be placed on the ballot so when I saw the guy busy with someone else I tried to bolt but he hollered after me “Hey, Hey, will you consider signing this petition?” He had me cornered. “Ok, what is the big cause you are working for?” I asked him. Imagine my surprise when I saw that he was gathering signatures to get a candidates name placed on the ballot as an Independent for the District 2 Commissioners race in Hill County. I didn’t realize that if you want to run for office free of any political party encumbrances you must first gather signatures from registered voters in your district to even be allowed to have your name printed on the ballot. In Montana you may only file for office with one of four political parties. If you don’t wish to declare yourself as either a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or a Constitutional party member Montana State election laws require that you must first gather signatures of registered voters in the district in which the office is held.

The person with the petition told me that local resident Jeff Lavoi is gathering signatures to have his name placed on the ballot for Hill County District 2 Commissioner against Democrat incumbent Mike Anderson. The person also went on to say that Lavoi thinks all of these local offices should be governed by non-partisan elected officials and that is why he is seeking to run as an “Independent.”

It seems that Mr. Lavoi did previously run for the position 6 years ago and was defeated by Mike Anderson in a 3-way race on the Democrat party ticket. The petitioner told me that Lavoi ran as a Democrat because he was told 6 years ago that he would have to run as a Democrat and have the party leadership’s blessing if he hoped to be elected. Lavoi now realizes that was a mistake and he will be campaigning for an end to partisan politics in Hill County this cycle and will begin his quest in that direction by being truly non-partisan in his endeavors.

A portion of the story published in the Great Falls Tribune story on June 5, 2004 from that election is printed below in blue;
THREE VIE TO REPLACE CONWAY ON HILL COUNTY COMMISSION
Hill County Commissioner Pat Conway's decision to step down after nine years in office has attracted a wide field of candidates to replace him. Conway will give up his seat to travel and spend time with family. He also is no longer eligible to run since he has moved to a home outside the district he represents.

 Vying to replace him are Democrats Mike Anderson, Jeff Lavoi and Timothy Herron, all of Havre. The primary election winner faces Republican candidate Jody Manuel of Havre and Independent candidate Wyatt Dahlin of Havre in the November general election.

Anderson, a lifelong Hill County resident, said economics is central to his bid for election. If elected, Anderson, a career firefighter and captain on the Havre Fire Department, said he'd take a more "pro-active" approach to economic development, including exploration of value-added agriculture products. "We need more jobs is basically what it boils down to," he said. Water issues also are close to his heart, including reconstruction of the St. Mary Canal that feeds the Milk River, which he said is vital to the region. "It would be devastating not only to Havre but also the entire Hi-Line if that's not repaired, and that's a huge issue," Anderson said. Obviously the county is behind it already, but I would like to be more proactive to get funds raised and get the project moving forward." If he wins the election, Anderson said he plans to retire from firefighting.
Excerpts from a similar story published in the Havre Daily News on June 4, 2004 is below in blue;
Anderson, a Havre native who describes himself as "young, energetic and proactive," is president of the Montana State Fireman's Association, having been elected on an annual basis since 1996. The association, which has about 450 members statewide, works to preserve the retirement plan of professional firefighters in Montana, Anderson said. Anderson is also a member of the Montana State Council of Professional Firefighters and is a lobbyist for that labor group. He plans to retire from the Fire Department and step down from the labor organization if he is elected. Anderson cited his ability to work with other people and experience working with budgets as his primary attributes in the race.

LaVoi, 58, owns a small ranch in the Bear Paw Mountains and works in the sales department at Moodie Implement Co. in Havre. He said his strongest attributes are his well-rounded education, good common sense, and a caring attitude. LaVoi was raised on a small farm in Minnesota. He spent four years in the U.S. Navy and has a degree in agricultural business from the University of Minnesota-Crookston. By age 25 he was the manager of a John Deere dealership. In 1981 he and a partner purchased a John Deere implement company in Havre, and he moved here to manage it. Five years later LaVoi moved to Grand Forks to run a second John Deere dealership he had purchased with his partner. He returned to Hill County in 1997.

The salary for a Hill County commissioner is $34,865 a year.  (Corrector note*  This was the salary in 2004 -It is now $41,904)

The Corrector thinks Mr. Anderson may just have a problem retaining his cushy position at the Courthouse. Looking back at campaign promises made 6 years ago kind of show where the bacon has hit the frying pan. Anderson has failed miserably in his campaign promises. Still no substantial efforts made towards St. Mary’s Canal funding, but of course that issue was “hot” in 2004 and it made for great campaign rhetoric. Anderson said he would be pro-active in seeking economic development but what he has spent his 6 years in office doing has been battling partisan politics and pitting City taxpayers against County taxpayers which in the most part are one and the same. He said he works well with other people yet the Corrector hears continual reports of the difficulties he has working with Courthouse staff. Anderson said he had experience with budgets yet he was directly responsible for the 20% cost over-runs on the recent Courthouse basement remodel, not to mention the steps and the expensive of the new failed computer system. Interestingly, the HDN reported in their article in June of 2004 that the commissioner position paid a salary of $34,865 and now 6 years later the position pays $41,904, an increase of over 21 per-cent from when he first took office. I guess we now know what Mr. Anderson has concentrated his efforts upon.
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SAFETY REPORT MISSES CHANCE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND INSPECTION

What ever happened with the “big” safety audit that took place a couple of weeks ago? Will that rat councilman Bob the squealer Kaul that turned the City into their insurance carrier now have to wear safety gear when he “saddles up”? We were told before our last report by a city employee that Kaul was big- shotting around with the three lady inspectors for three days inspecting the city’s safety issues. Every time one of our bloggers asked about this we are still told “we know nothing”. Last night the HDN reported that Mayor Tim discussed the findings at the City Council meeting. When the Corrector asked one of our sources at the City they emphatically said that nothing was said about the safety inspection at the council meeting by either Kaul or the Mayor. Apparently the quotes from Mayor Tim were made to the HDN reporter after the meeting and outside of public scrutiny. What’s up with that?


Our findings were that the council meeting was short and sweet with the biggest bone of contention was raised by newly elected council person Janet Tretheway that thought the Havre Tourism committee from the Chamber should hire a “professional” marketing firm to help them develop a plan to expend the approximately $20,000 that they will receive from the State bed tax collected by local motels. She apparently took exception to long time Chamber Director Debbie Vandeberg developing the expenditure plan herself in-house. Interestingly, Havre has not qualified for this money in the past because motels in the city limits have not had enough bed nights to comply with the State requirements until the recent annexation of the Super 8 and the AmericInn. Annexation has caused the nights counted in city limits to finally meet that threshold and give the folks that work toward developing tourism in Havre a much needed boost. The paper also stated that Mayor Tim campaigned on developing a bed tax to “promote Havre’s economy”. News flash for the paper – this is a STATE bed tax that has been in place for years, not something of Mayor Tim’s doing.

In addition, we wonder why there was nothing brought forth to the council about sending an endorsement for the 4 for 2 Associations proposal to wait for the 4-lane instead of proceeding with the “Super-2”. You may recall that Councilman Kaul made that motion at the last council meeting on behalf of the Highway 2 Association and it was tabled until the next council meeting which was Monday night. Is the council going to just ignore this motion and leave it on the table?

Questions, questions, questions!

JACK TRETHEWAY FILES FOR HD33

Democrat Jack Tretheway, Havre firefighter and manager of a local convience store, filed for the office of House Representative in HD 33 yesterday. Tretheway will be running against Republican Kris Hansen, currently the Chief Deputy County Attorney in Hill County. Tretheway’s wife Janet just took office as a Havre City Council person after defeating incumbent Republican Terry Schend in November.


House District 33 is currently represented by Democrat Bob Bergren who is termed out. Bergren also was a former Havre firefighter that used leave of absences and sick leave to enable him to be gone from his job and still serve the 3-month stint in Helena. Bergren has since retired from the fire department and is now working for the Democrat party recruiting candidates.

We at the Corrector wonder is Tretheway retiring? Or does he plan on giving the City “one on the chin” like our former representative did his first term. I would hope that Tretheway would do the honorable thing and resign his position with the City to save the taxpayer from paying for an employee that is not showing up for work as did his predecessor. Currently Havre Firefighters are on a three day work schedule. Kris Hansen, his opponent, has stated that she would be taking a leave of absence without pay during the legislative session.

Good luck to the candidates

PORK BUSTERS HALL OF SHAME WINNER

Everybody on this blog has been commenting on the large wasted expenditure by our local school board to make a little problem like Mahon go away. What I find interesting is that we don’t get that much response when we post about much larger wastes in Washington, DC. Remember a guy named Jon Tester that ran for Senate on the pledge of ending “shady” relationships and chastised Senator Burns as being the “king of Pork”? (Burns did only have a 8.33% rating on the website PorkBusters) Tester also used the sound bite of “NO to Earmarks” and “No to wasteful Pork” continually throughout his campaign. He made allot of promises and I wonder just how he is doing in “reforming” that runaway spending that bothered him so during the campaign. Here he is during the Democrat National Convention September 2, 2008


Suprisingly, Tester made the “PorkBusters Hall of Shame himself with a rating of 16.66%. To put that in perspective he is performing twice as well as Senator Baucus. http://porkbusters.org/scorecard.php


I am sadly disappointed that we took the guy at his word to be the man to make changes in the way the government operates. It is bad enough that the taxpayers are paying him a salary of over $174,000 per year but I was astonished to learn that his staff payroll runs into the millions. Sadly, he is not the only one in the Senate with such an outlandish budget.

Senator Tester’s staff salarys
• Total Salary Expenditures
o 04/01/2009 - 09/30/2009   $1,236,752
o 10/01/2008 - 03/31/2009   $972,556
o Fiscal Year: 2009   $2,209,308

o 04/01/2008 - 09/30/2008   $1,089,757
o 10/01/2007 - 03/31/2008   $978,609
o Fiscal Year: 2008 $2,068,366

Now on to the Earmarks requested by Senator “No EarMarks Ever” Tester
Sen. Jon Tester ( -Montana) In Office - Earmarks Requested
Fiscal Year(s) 2008-2009 Number Cost
Solo Earmarks 12 $3,742,070
With Other Members 144 $303,965,010
All Sponsored Earmarks 156 $307,707,080
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Amazing, simply amazing.  Check it out http://www.legistorm.com/earmarks/details/member/818/Sen_Jon_Tester.html