Alternative Living In Montana

Finally, I have the time, electricity, and access to the internet. This picture was taken early on in my giving up my Section 8 Home Choice Voucher. The days were still hot, and nights warm, although this night the wind blew something fierce and I was afraid my tent was going to blow away. The folks camping to the right of me, came over in the morning to check on me, see if I was ok.  I thought that was really nice of them, after all, we never saw each other before.

Funny, never once in all my time using a Section 8 Voucher did any neighbor come and check on me, or the on-site manager when they knew I was ill, little alone when the wind blew all night. Heck most of them got upset if I reported repairs that needed to be made.

The above picture is what my tent looked like, unfortunately when I started to take the shade tent down, the wind caught it and smashed it into a tree. It didn't quite wrap around the tree, but it sure looked like it got ran over or something. I sure am going to miss it, as when the wind blew, and I mean blew hard (35 to 40 miles an hour or more) it kept the tent from doing the bobblehead dance. I did save the top cover, as it will go over the tent nicely, to give it some added warmth, and protection from wet weather.

I started living in my tent on August 26, 2020. I thought I would be able to find work and gradually some up the money to get into a new place without Government assistance. Well, that is not how things are working out, as it is now October 12, 2020, and I am still looking for work, and there is not a single one-bedroom or studio unit in the entire state in my budget that does not have at least 25 or more people applying for.

Most of the low-income apartments now have a three to four-year waiting "list, apartments that aren't even completely built have a waiting list a mile long. Shelters are full, and those that aren't I don't qualify for because my domestic violence threats were so long ago in the past.

Every room for rent in town (Helena) has been taken, and I am looking for work and housing in every area I think I would like to live in. The problem, well there just aren't any low-income rental units to be had, even in Northern Montana, most have been rented.

There are at least 1,357 (as reported in January 2019), people experiencing homelessness on any given day. Why that is more people than the population of some of our smaller towns in Montana. What I don't understand, is why there are so many empty office buildings that could be used to house the homeless during the pandemic or to be turned into low-income housing, yet they too sit and rot waiting for the next commercial, Real Estate Tycoon to snatch them up.

There are more Duplexes, Condos, Townhouses, and very large homes with vaulted ceilings of 15 feet of nothing but air till it hits the floor going up, and fewer and fewer average size homes that the working people can afford. Prices are so over-inflated, and you are forced to buy more acreage than you know what to do with.

The little starter home of two bedrooms, one bathroom, living room, kitchen, and maybe an office and/or full basement with the little picket fence around 1,200 square feet no longer exists. Such a shame because I can not see someone my age living in a five-bedroom monstrosity just because I could afford it, but that is what it is all about now.

Montana Department of Commerce Housing Division has failed Montana low-income tenants for over 30 years, never really paying attention to the condition of apartment buildings, or what landlords do or do not do leading us to the deplorable shortage in housing and housing that is decent, healthy, and safe.

I worry about living in my tent, or the back of my truck this winter. But apparently, you can sleep in a car until it gets 30 below zero, then it is pretty dangerous, you most likely won't make it through the night. I can tell you though living in my tent instead of Government housing, I have no bug bites, my clothes smell better, and the best part money in the bank at the end of the month.

Montana Department of Commerce Housing Divisions programs all need to be audited. If they made one error in the amount of $750, there are surely more. No one wants to listen, no one cares, well ok then it is your tax dollars that are being wasted on these buildings that catch fire in the middle of the night because of poor wiring, or someone sleeping on the sofa in the ally and drops a cigarette. But why should you care? You got money to burn, right?

And we wonder why public housing and afforable housing is in trouble.

Furious Gov. Patrick begins state takeover of Chelsea Housing Authority

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By Scott Allen and Andrea Estes, Globe Staff

The administration of Governor Deval Patrick has asked Attorney General Martha Coakley to begin a state takeover of the troubled Chelsea Housing Authority, whose chief executive resigned earlier this month amid an uproar over his $360,000 annual compensation.

The Department of Housing and Community Development, which has already frozen state funding to the authority, requested that the attorney general place it in state receivership, allowing the state to oversee the day-to-day operations of the agency.

·         11/12/11: Harshbarger goes
to bat for McLaughlin

·         11/11/11: Contracts show
McLaughlin's seduction of authority

·         11/7/11: Pay at top
riles Chelsea tenants

·         11/5/11: On way out,
housing chief cashed in

·         11/5/11: Housing chief pay
uproar recalls corruption

·         11/4/11: HUD examines
Chelsea agency

·         11/3/11: High-pay
housing director resigns

·         10/30/11: Chelsea housing
chief’s pay draws fire

Coakley will now petition the Supreme Judicial Court for permission to appoint an independent receiver who will monitor the uthority and ensure that staff cooperate with various state investigations that have begun since former director Michael E. McLaughlin abruptly resigned after his full salary was revealed by the Boston Globe.

“A court-appointed receiver can ensure that public funds are being spent responsibly, leadership is performing their duties in an above-board, transparent manner and the residents of Chelsea who depend on the services the Chelsea Housing Authority provides are protected,” Patrick said in a statement. “This will help restore the public’s confidence, and my own, and will put the housing authority on a better path.”

Patrick has said he is “boiling” over the high pay to McLaughlin -- perhaps the highest among housing directors in the United states - and he demanded the resignation of McLaughlin as well as the five-member board of directors who approved his contract.

McLaughlin stepped down Nov. 3, but not before co-signing checks to himself for more than $200,000 that he said the authority owed him for unused vacation, sick, and personal time. The five-member board also resigned, but not before making one of McLaughlin’s assistants, Albert Ewing, the new director and offering him a five-year contract.

Now, the FBI and numerous other agencies are investigating the authority amid allegations that McLaughlin’s staff shredded records in the hours before he left, while McLaughlin himself took numerous boxes out of the Locke Street administrative offices on his last night as executive director.

A state takeover of a housing authority is exceedingly rare, but Coakley and Patrick say it’s justified in Chelsea, where the entire city was once in state receivership. State housing officials say the resignation of McLaughlin and the board has left a leadership vacuum at an agency that manages housing for 1,400 low-income families, receiving millions in funding from the state and federal governments.

“As our office moves forward with its own investigations, we hope this strong action today will help prevent the further abuse of taxpayer money,” said Coakley in a statement. 

If approved, the receiver would report back to the SJC within 90 days. By that time, Patrick administration officials say, a new board of directors -- one named by Patrick, four by Chelsea city manager Jay Ash -- should be ready to resume normal oversight.

Scott Allen can be reached at allen@globe.com. Andrea Estes can be reached at estes@globe.com

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