WHY the Heck I'm running!

The French De-connection

I have been questioned a lot since I announced my candidacy for Chief Executive. Why am I getting back into government? (I never really left), when or why did you decide? Well…..I decided 2 ½ years ago. I will explain WHY in this post.

My wife and I were major supporters of Matt Vincent in 2012, as we felt there would be a major change in management, procedures and openness in local government based on Matt’s campaign platform. We used our Uptown Works storefront for months to show our support, and eagerly discussed this choice with the many residents that came into our shop. Because of my background in local government, people regularly sought me out for discussion.

Soon into the new administration I was asked by the Executive Director of the Butte Silver Bow Arts Foundation (BSBAF) to accompany her to a meeting with Chief Executive VIncent. My involvement with the Chateau spanned over 3 decades during which time I was a long-time Board Member, one-term VP, and donated much time, money and physical labor. I understood the struggles as well as the community-steeped history of the BSBAF-Chateau connection.

It was not apparent to me at that meeting that Matt had other plans for the Chateau. It was a slow dawning. Because I could not believe that anyone would divisively and intentionally sever these 4 decades-long ties without doing everything in their power to make it work.

It was agreed that the BSBAF was spread too thin, and that the focus had moved from its original focus of the Chateau to include the YMCA and Venus Rising Coffee shop. And this was a situation the Executive Director stepped into, not one she created.

As certain people in the arts community tried to be elected, unsuccessfully, to the board, my wife and I were invited to join. My wife was soon named President, a position she took very seriously. We agreed as a group to downsize and focus back on the Chateau. We worked closely with BSB, keeping them informed, filling out requested paperwork, etc. We were working with Cinda Holt of the Montana Arts Council to reorganize our business plan. We planned to close the doors for 6 months, reorganize, and reopen with a new mission statement and business focus. The sale of the YMCA was in process and everything was right on track. Per the Chief Executive’s directives.

However, the one thing we could not accomplish on the Chief Executive’s checklist was removing the Executive Director from her position.

So, in the eleventh hour and with no warning, Chief Executive Vincent pulled the lease on the BSBAF and locked the Chateau doors. The 4 decades-old Foundation that had supported the Chateau's care and rehabilitation with the Butte Heritage Cook Book was basically cut off at the knees.

The tragedy of this loss of partnership is that many Butte families, with deep roots, donated precious family heirlooms to the Foundation with the understanding they would be safe at the Chateau in perpetuity. In essence, they became a museum pieces of Butte’s legacy. By giving the BSBAF 30 days to remove all their belongings from the Chateau, BSB effectively sank a priceless ship and weakened a community-supported arts foundation that had existed and serviced the Butte community for 40 years, successfully.

This chain of events was a huge harbinger for me of the future of this administration. Favoritism, targeting, aggressive enforcement of personal decisions, destroying local history. Everything local government should not do. It should have been the opposite: Doing whatever was necessary to support and ensure success of the BSBAF/Chateau partnership. Working WITH the people rather than AGAINST them. 

It was an easy decision to make 2 ½ years ago to run for Chief Executive, to sell our business uptown, and turn my focus back to the people I had served for over 21 years. People that still call me and ask what has happened to their family heirlooms.

I do not agree with Matt Vincent’s policies. This does not mean I don’t like him. He is a fine family man, has a great sense of humor, and I even shared an office with him for a while at BSB.

I feel he has done a huge disservice to Butte by dissolving the partnership with the BSBAF and the Chateau. And yes, great things are happening at the Chateau now, but that is not the point of why I am running.