Hometown Helena November 13: Honoring Veterans, Transparent Election Initiative with Jeff Mangan

On November 13th, Hometown Helena covered several community and political initiatives, including discussions about affordable housing funding, suicide prevention efforts, and food assistance programs. A state senator addressed concerns about water rights and the launch of a new local newspaper. The main focus was on the Montana Plan, a constitutional amendment initiative aimed at reducing corporate political spending power through grassroots efforts focused on transparency and corruption reduction.

View the recording here, Passcode is: %6v%2UaU 

Last Week's Missive and Upcoming Meetings: 

November 11, 2025 Note: There will be a gathering to honor veterans today (Tuesday, Nov. 11) at 4:30 p.m. at the City-County Building, during which the building lights will be illuminated green to honor veterans as part of Operation Green Light. Dear Hometown Helena, Happy Veterans Day. Personally, I will be thinking of Colonel Joe and Leila Goldes, dear friends I first met while at Carroll College, who treated me like family from that day on. Colonel Goldes enlisted to be of the youngest officers in WWII and served in the European Theater, returning to Helena to live a life of remarkable humility and civic engagement after decades of continued service in Army Intelligence and a second career abroad in Brazil. Some of us had the honor of being present for the 21-gun salute at Arlington when he and Leila—his partner in every sense—were laid to rest. Their service and steady presence in this community stay with me. We all have friends and family whose service is woven into the fabric of this great national experiment—people like Nurse Diana Evans and our late City Commissioner and Army Medic Eric Feaver, who are among so many engaged in our community after their service abroad. And we know many other veterans in Helena who we will ask to stand and be recognized this Thursday. Even if we ourselves did not serve, many of us have family, peers, and loved ones who did—and some who never came home. We’ll take a few moments this Thursday to recognize those in the room. Last week, we heard from Sarah Sadowski, Director of the Governor’s Office of Community Service, who shared information about national service and volunteerism initiatives, including the Threshold of Life Memorial, which honors Montana’s organ, eye, and tissue donors. We also heard from members of the Tri-County Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD) team, who provided insight into the infrastructure of preparedness and community resilience. Some of our newly elected officials also joined, and we had several community updates, all of which are available here at HCTV in case you missed us. This week, after taking a moment to invite any veterans present—or friends wishing to speak on their behalf—to share a few words, we’ll hear from Jeff Mangan about his work with the Transparent Election Initiative. See you Thursday! Warm Regards, Matt Elsaesser Hometown Helena Team Nov 20 Judicial Initiatives FLEX Presentations Nov 27 No Meeting — Happy Thanksgiving! Dec 4 Library Teen Advisory Board Dec 11 Shodair Genetics Program Dec 18 Christmas Music Program