Priorities

Cost of Housing

It’s no secret that the cost of everyday living, especially in the housing sector, has increased dramatically for Missoulians. In just the last 5-years (Apr. ‘20 v. Apr. ‘25) the median home price in the city of Missoula has increased by about 59%. This increase has significantly outpaced the national average and if I’m elected, the cost of housing and the creation of more affordable housing options will be a primary focus. There are a lot of factors that influence the overall cost of real estate (e.g., local market conditions such as supply & demand, interest rates of borrowing money, property taxes and utilities). While the City doesn’t have control over a number of these factors, I think the following areas deserve a dedicated focus:

Property Taxes - A vast majority of the City’s expenditures are funded through property taxes. With the costs of funding City services and projects consistently increasing I think it’s important to employ need-driven budgeting and look critically at our expenses. This approach will help ensure that the City is doing what it can to keep costs in-check for Missoulians while being good stewards of the taxpayer dollars that are paid to the City.
Zoning & Development Code - Over the last 2+ years the City has started a much-needed review of the decade-old Growth Policy for Missoula. We need to ensure that review of this policy along with zoning and development code reform remain a priority. In many ways these policies are dated and no longer align with the needs and challenges that Missoula faces today. The goals in amending these policies should give priority to removing barriers for creation of more affordable housing and planning for responsible city growth in terms of infrastructure and creating more public spaces for residents of Missoula.

Houselessness

The impacts of houselessness in our community are far-reaching and impact the residents of Missoula in varying ways. The challenge of tackling the issue of houselessness in our community is complex and there’s no one size fits all approach as the needs of each person experiencing houselessness are unique and require tailored solutions. I think the biggest impacts of houselessness are felt by the members of our community who are experiencing lack of housing and shelter firsthand and we need to continue to support those in need through the comprehensive programs available in Missoula.

The societal and economic challenges of this complex issue cannot be ignored nor understated. I believe that Missoulians deserve access to safe and clean parks, trails and other public spaces and also should feel confident that their tax dollars are being spent responsibly on viable solutions to houselessness. Studies over the years in various geographic areas have produced varied results however they point to an approximate average cost to a community of between $7,000 and $10,000 for each unhoused person per year. With that in mind, solutions around addressing houselessness need to have a budget conscious approach while also providing support for our neighbors in need. Some of the areas I would dedicate focus to would be the following:

Continue to fund and support the work being done to curb houselessness by organizations such as the Poverello Center, MCES, Missoula Mobile Support Team and the Housing Solutions Fund.
Focus as many resources as possible on preventing individuals from tipping into houselessness. From an economic standpoint it’s far more cost-effective and efficient to provide temporary, short-term relief to individuals to ensure they remain housed as opposed to providing support once they become unhoused.
With the closure of the temporary Johnson Street shelter and the limited inventory of affordable housing, we simply need more investment in housing opportunities. While the cost of housing in the city of Missoula has increased dramatically in recent years, an increase in production for modular, tiny homes and other manufactured homes has created an interesting investment opportunity that we should explore and study further. If the cost per unhoused person per year is on average up to $10,000, that gives us latitude to look at ways to invest and deploy those dollars on long term housing solutions and emulate the successes seen in other communities using this strategy.

Budget & Fiscal Responsibility

For the last decade, I’ve worked for both public and privately owned organizations managing multi-million dollar annual budgets. This is an area where I’m hoping to be able to bring my years of experience to the role on City Council. My budgetary goal is simple; work to establish a balanced operating budget by focusing resources based on need.

Across the board, the costs of goods and services have been on the rise. This of course also extends to the costs of operating the city which include providing essential services such as law enforcement, fire response and road maintenance among other public works and services. As I mentioned above, a vast majority of the city’s revenue comes from property taxes. I believe in a balanced budget and one that ensures funding for our most essential public services. I would advocate that departments take a look at their local budgets for potential opportunities to cut costs before we consider implementing additional property tax increases which would further exacerbate the unaffordable housing issue we’re already facing.

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