MISSOULA — The Missoula City Council will be seeing some new faces after Tuesday's election and they're looking forward to working together to advance city priorities.
The new members include Sean Patrick McCoy, of Ward 6, which covers Orchard Homes east to Russell Street. McCoy says he’s looking to build relationships with fellow council members to better city policies.
“I think the thing that I'm looking forward to the most is getting to know my council members that I'll be working with and building relationships so that we can have a really strong foundation and working relationships so that we can begin to move policy forward for our constituents. People are really in need of really good policy and that's what I'm hoping to do with my fellow council people,” said McCoy.
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Justin Ponton won the race for Ward 2, which runs along West Broadway to the airport. Ponton says that he is ready to start tackling the three main issues — housing, safety and houselessness services — he campaigned on.
“Some of the things I want to focus on right out of the gate, you know, is affordability for housing. And I also want to look at some infrastructure projects specifically and probably starting with that Reserve Street corridor with the Reserve Street Safety Action Plan Study. And then also just working with fellow councillors and the mayor's office to continue to advance some of the, you know, initiatives and it creates some new initiatives,” Ponton told MTN.
Jennifer Savage won her race for Ward 3, which is mainly within the University district. This is not her first time being a part of the council, as she previously held a seat for another Ward. Savage says she is excited to work with her new neighborhood on the issues they face.
“Ward 1 is very different. We're in the same city and not that far away, but there are a lot of different issues and a lot of things I heard on the campaign trail and I think that [the thing that] became clear to me is that Missoulians are ready for some change," Savage said. "I think that they want their local government to work for them. They want their local government to listen to them and I heard that loud and clear," said Savage.
Betsy Craske won the race for Ward 1, but MTN was unable to speak to her at the time of this posting. Craske will be sworn in next Monday, while the remaining council member-elects will start their terms on Jan. 1, 2026.
