An Interview with Lewie Schneller, Ward 6

By New West Editor, 10-31-07

Editor’s note: In the run up to Missoula’s City Council elections November 6, NewWest.Net/Missoula will be publishing interviews with the candidates.

Tell us your life story, in 150 words.

I was born and raised in Butte and educated at UM. I have a B.A. in Liberal Arts and an M.A. in guidance counseling. In college I was in the ROTC and served active duty in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer from 1967-1969. I taught several years in elementary and high schools and spent much of my career as an independent contractor. My last job was with LJS Contractors working for stadium arenas in the manufacturing and distribution of chairs. At present I’m almost completely retired. I have a background in entrepreneurship and have one patent awarded and one pending for stadium chair designs.

Why are you running for city council?

I’m running to replace the current incumbent, Ed Childers. I believe he’s done our ward some serious harm, particularly in his support of infill and neighborhood clusters. Ward 6 has been cherry-picked to death. He’s been responsible for helping ruin the neighborhood. He’s never seen an infill or planned neighborhood cluster he hasn’t loved. I’ve talked to a lot of constituents who are very dissatisfied with the state of affairs. Many wonder if they’ll continue to be able to live here. Childers has created tremendous inflationary rates. He has limited the ability to get affordable housing, especially for young people.

When out-of-towners ask you about Missoula what do you tell them?

I’ve been in Missoula a long time, since 1961. I raised four kids here. Missoula has great schools. It’s great for outdoor recreation. Missoula has an avant-garde feel and is innovative and creative in a lot of ways, yet it’s rather slow-paced and easy to enjoy life here.

What do you see as your Ward’s greatest asset? Its greatest challenge?

I think its greatest asset is its large contingency of older people. They’re kind of middle of the road with old-time standard values. A lot of the homes here are older homes. However, more than 50 percent of the people in Ward 6 have lost ownership of their homes because of infill. Alderman Childers made it very easy for real estate developers to cherry pick the place to death. I’m in opposition to all of that.

What are some tools you think Missoula should use to manage its growth?

Under Childers’ leadership, the rate of increase for the city’s annual budget has increased 6.5 percent each year for the past several years. We have a tax and spend majority of the city council. They don’t understand the word downsizing or trim. I’m for trimming the budget and regaining control of the legislative process.  For example this aquatics project budget has ballooned. It has doubled since the original cost estimate for what has been approved. I’m in a fight to save our neighborhood, to save our town from this excessive growth and development and infill and clusters.

One of the symptoms of growth is the lack of affordable housing. How, if at all, do you think the city should tackle the issue?

You know as an individual, I don’t know the answer to that question. I think we need a citizenry task force—citizens from ordinary walks of life—who could come together to study the problem of the lack of affordability in housing. What are the key issues causing this? Right now I don’t think anybody has a handle on it.

Several issues, including infill and planned neighborhood clusters, have created what some call “armed camps” within the city that make it difficult to draw even a hint of consensus. As a city council member, how do you or how would you, work to overcome some of the gridlock that develops within the city council on such contentious topics.

A matter of balance has to be achieved in City Council. We need to achieve a balance in the voting and even things out a little bit. Right now we have an extreme left liberal influence in the city council. We have had secret deliberations with email. This is because of the extremism of many members’ positions.

If you had your druthers, how would West Broadway be designed?

Right now West Broadway is severely choked off because of a knee-jerk reaction to some tragic accidents that happened there. Because of the bars on one side of the street and residential apartments on the other there were intoxicated individuals crossing the street without adequate lighting. I recommend restoring West Broadway to its original function as a major four lane artillery. It also needs to have a convenient, lighted crosswalk right across the street from the apartments and the bars. We need to maintain West Broadway as a four-laner to reduce congestion.

How many days a week do you walk, bike, bus or carpool to work?

Well, I don’t work. My bicycling is recreational. I walk a lot. I’m an avid hiker. I hike the “M” regularly and I play golf.

Do you support urban chickens?

No. I think research about the threat of avian flu is a sign. Montana is also looking into avian flu in our bird population. With the threat of this on the horizon, I don’t think raising chickens in the city makes sense. I think maybe there are areas of Missoula proper where it makes sense to chickens, places where there is sufficient space. But not in downtown Missoula. Right now some in city council want a blanket ordinance for the whole city. I don’t buy that at all. Eggs are still pretty cheap in the grocery store, and although it would be nice to have fresh eggs in the city it’s not worth the risk.

When you’re stuck on a specific issue, where do you or where would you go for information to inform your vote?

Right now I’m presently involved with a variety of politically astute people. I’m concerned with a concerned citizen political group that meet on a regular basis. We get a chance to discuss these issues. We try to reach a middle-of-the-road consensus without getting too extreme.

What other town in the West do you think has lessons to teach Missoula, good or bad? Name one lesson and please explain.

I think it’s hard to compare Missoula to other communities. Missoula is in a unique position. We’re such a distinctively unique place and we have a liberal perspective, and Missoula allows for a diversity most communities couldn’t handle. Many cities are such a one horse town.

Who do you like in the presidential race and why?

At this time I would support Hillary Clinton. For one, she’s married to Bill Clinton. It’s two Clintons for the price of one. I think Hillary is clearly prepared and motivated. I think its time for this country to have a female president. I think it’s her destiny. We need a change from the George W. Bush style of the overbearing patriarchal authority figure. Just look at the mess he’s made of everything. He’s depleted the nation. It’s going to take a mother figure to restore America back to health.

If you could donate $10,000 to one local non-profit, which would it be and why?

The Poverello Center. It opens its doors to anybody and everybody. They are very dedicated and they serve a tremendous amount of people with food and emergency housing. Many in Missoula don’t realize how great this service is.

What is the best book you’ve read in the last year?

I’m currently trying to get through a biography of Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist and founder of analytical psychology. The gal that wrote the book really did a hell of a job. Jung makes the hippies of the sixties look tame. Jung viewed himself primarily as a scientist, yet produced methods of understanding that are useful today and will be useful in the future.

What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?

Depending how successful I am in this race, I’d like to be serving the public in that way. I feel a real kinship with the politics of understanding the people. This has solidified my desire and interest for helping people in a societal way, not just in an individual way.