Remembering Conrad, proxy pickle and kids
Ramblings, mutterings, keen observations and things you ought to know out of Helena from the mind of Phil Drake.
GOODBYE CONRAD: I was speaking to state Sen. Taylor Brown, R-Huntley late Thursday about his friend, former GOP Sen. Conrad Burns, 81, who died earlier in the day at his Billings home of natural causes. I thought most of my questions were OK, but there was one that came out a little clunky and could have used some polish. Of course, when you are talking to someone about the death of a friend all questions are bad. I asked the senator if Burns’ death left a “void.” And there was a pause. Brown then said “The void is when he left the Senate. That ended a period for Montana that will never been seen again.”
“Conrad Burns was a powerful Republican and Max Baucus was a powerful Democrat,” he said. “Montana reaped the benefits of that and it will never happen again, not in your or mine or our grandkids’ lives.”
A nice legacy.
MONEY TALKS: The subject of rate structures for community-based workers came up Wednesday at the Montana Developmental Center Transition Advisory Council meeting in Boulder. The state is closing MDC and moving clients with developmental disabilities into community settings such as group homes. The discussion included higher wages for workers (to increase by $5 an hour over the biennium) and the proposal would have asked the Legislature for millions more to help with these increases. I didn’t report it at the time because the proposal died, but what tickled me is that one of the state (GOP) senators who sits on the panel was unable to attend and had given his proxy vote to someone who supported the proposal. Many in the room knew it was a pretty safe bet that Fred Thomas would not be in favor of spending millions more, but there was some much-needed levity at the meeting when chair Dan Villa noted the irony. His vote was listed as a no.
WEAKENED UPDATE: For the past seven months I get a call four to five times a week from a grandfather who wants to see a change in Child and Family Services. It doesn’t matter the day or the hour, that phone rings (actually, it quacks cause I have a duck ringtone). He tells me he’s an old platoon sergeant who has had multiple heart attacks and couldn’t make the last meeting of the Protect Montana Kids, the governor’s panel looking into CFS. I sat in Monday’s meeting and he called for an update.
Him: Are they doing anything to help kids?
Me (Stammering): Yes, I think so. They seem to be hard at work and sincere in what they’re doing.
Him: (Somewhat irked by a certain stammerer) But are they doing anything to help kids?
Me: (Still stammering): Yeah, they’re asking questions, they’re talking, but there’s only so much they can do. They can carry the ball so far and then it’s taken over by the Legislature, which can be a Culture of No.
Monday’s meeting was interesting to me in that the panel was told they’d likely have to approach lawmakers about more money to fix some of the problems within the department. That includes overworked employees, high turnover and an increasing number of children admitted into the system.
I don’t know what the answer is. At one time I thought the system was too big and unmanageable, but the more I look into the issue the more I wrestle with the question: “Does any state have a system that works?” If there is one, nobody has told me.
Monday’s meeting was interesting in another way as one of the folks testifying in front of the panel said that not every problem could be fixed with money.
That is pounding in the back of my mind as well.
HAZ MATTERS: I hope you read my story last Sunday on hazardous materials teams in Montana. It seemed to fall off our website real fast and replaced with a story about a duck that wears a hat (OK, maybe not, it may have been a pig). But I did get some calls and emails. Basically my story said there were no regional hazmat teams east of Great Falls and Billings. I am told there is a Valley County hazmat team stationed in Glasgow, but it is volunteer (the regional teams are full time) and consists mostly of members from Glasgow and Long Run fire departments. “Although it is not as well equipped, trained, funded or as capable as Montana’s regional teams, it’s a valuable asset to our state’s regional teams and would be the ‘boots on the ground’ prior to the arrival of the nearest regional team,” the person wrote me. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and more importantly, thanks for your service. I spent some years during my youth in the Midwest in a town that had a volunteer fire department. Those folks were truly hometown heroes. Had I stayed in that town I doubt they would have let me be a volunteer firefighter. I’d probably want to stop for a pizza (to go, of course) on our way to a blaze.
NO EASY FIXES: It was with some interest that I read Thursday that Gov. Steve Bullock proposed $200 million in infrastructure fixes for the state, even though details have yet to emerge. I sent a copy of an Associated Press story to Bob Sivertsen, a former Havre-area lawmaker who has been pushing for such repairs. He’s proposed a special legislative session to come up with a plan. I’ve told him that ain’t gonna happen. “Now the devil is in the details,” Bob wrote me. “We will have to see how this unfolds.” Bob and I aren’t getting any younger, so they better hurry up.
ON DECK: The Water Policy Interim Committee will meet in Bozeman at 9 a.m. May 2-3, no internet streaming. The meeting is in the Bozeman City Commission Chambers, 121 N. Rouse Ave.
The Revenue and Transportation Interim Committee meets 1 p.m. May 3 in Room 137 of the state Capitol.
The School Funding Commission meets 8:30 a.m. May 4 and 8:30 a.m. May 6 in Room 102 of the state Capitol.
The Information Technology Managers Council meets 8:30 a.m. May 4 in Room 137 of the state Capitol.
The Environmental Quality Council meets 9 a.m. May 4 and 8 a.m. May 5 in Room 317.
Dome Lights appears Sunday, unless the villagers catch me. Email me at pdrake@greatfallstribune.com or call 406-422-0772. I’m based in Helena. Mail me at P.O. Box 1601, Helena, MT 59624.