Missoula council candidates outline housing priorities, urge shelter and services for unhoused residents

At a candidate forum on Oct. 29, Missoula City Council candidates for Wards 3 and 4 focused the most time on housing affordability and the city's response to people experiencing homelessness, urging expanded shelter capacity, affordable-home ownership tools and changes to land use rules.

The candidates said local government should help ensure basic needs are met and avoid criminalizing poverty. "I definitely think part of the government's job is to help make sure that everybody can get their basic needs met," said Daniel Carlino, a current Ward 3 city council member. Carlino said he had proposed an amendment years ago to require new shelter beds before the city closed the Johnson Street shelter.

Why it matters: Housing costs, limited permanent affordable units and the city's handling of shelters and public-space enforcement were repeatedly raised by candidates as immediate, large-scale problems that affect many Missoulians and require coordinated policy, funding and partnerships with service providers.

Candidates' proposals and positions

- Daniel Carlino (Ward 3 incumbent) urged more shelter beds, opposed criminal penalties for people who have nowhere to sleep and said the city should prioritize funding and permanent shelter space before closures. "I'm really worried about seeing our neighbors, freezing," he said.

- Jennifer Savage, a current Missoula city councilor running in Ward 3, said the city should be "a player at the table"—a convener of service providers, benefits enrollment and housing supports. She cited the mayor's housing sprint and named ongoing North Side work including the Rivera project on Scott Street as the kind of project that pairs housing with infrastructure.

- David Quattrocci, a community organizer and candidate for Ward 4, said the city must not rely solely on the private market and should push for low- and no-income housing and statewide policy changes. "If we don't have the government in the game of providing housing, then the speculators, investors scoop it up and charge market rate rents," he said.

- Mike Nugent, candidate for Ward 4 and former United Way president, pointed to a mix of approaches including community land trusts and deed restrictions on publicly supported homeownership projects. He said his work to change state subdivision statutes helped enable the Brevard (community land trust) project to proceed.

Programs, past actions and clarifications

- Johnson Street shelter: Candidates referenced the shelter's closure as a policy moment when the city should have secured alternatives; Carlino said he tried to require replacement beds before closure.

- Housing sprint and temporary safe outdoor space: Candidates credited the mayor's housing sprint and a partnership that set up temporary safe outdoor space with partners including the county, United Way and the Interfaith Collaborative. Mike Nugent said the temporary safe outdoor space showed measurable outcomes, asserting that "more than 50% of the people who are participating in them, either getting a job or finding permanent housing," a figure he cited as a program outcome.

- Tools discussed: community land trusts, deed restrictions on publicly supported homeownership, targeted use of public land to create permanently affordable units, and lobbying at the state level for rent-control authority.

Points of difference and limits of authority

Candidates diverged on tactics. Quattrocci advocated for local and state lobbying to enable rent control; Savage and Nugent emphasized using public land and deed restrictions to preserve affordability. Several candidates noted limits on what the city can do alone and highlighted the need for state-level changes and nonprofit partnerships.

Ending: Candidates encouraged voters to review election information and noted the Nov. 4 all-mail ballot deadline. The forum was organized by the League of Women Voters of Missoula and the Missoula Office of Neighborhoods.