Mike Micone, Former Mayor of Butte

Oral History Transcript of Mario ‘Mike’ Micone

Interviewer: Clark Grant
Interview Date: January 10th, 2020
Location: Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives (By Phone)
Transcribed by Clark Grant, October 2022

[SETUP AND TESTING OF RECORDING EQUIPMENT]

Clark Grant: How's that?

Aubrey Jaap: That's good. 

Grant: Okay. I'm deaf from all the years of music.

[PHONE RINGING]

Mike Micone: Hello?

Grant: Hi, is this Mr. Micone?

Micone: Hi, how are you?

Grant: Good. This is Clark up in Butte again.

Micone: Yep.

Grant: So you're still up for our recording this morning?

[00:00:48]

Micone: Yeah. I just wanted to ask you though. If you can - when you're asking a question, can you speak up because I do have problems hearing. I've got hearing aids, but now and then, when someone speaks low, I can't understand them.

Grant: Absolutely. Can you hear me ok like this?

Micone: I can hear you fine now.

Grant: Okay. Yeah. I had the phone a little away from my face there, so yeah.

Micone: Yeah. That sounds good.

Grant: Okay, great. Well I’ll go ahead and start the recording if that's all right.

Micone: Fine. Okay. Very good. 

Grant: First, I just wanted to say thanks for agreeing to do this. I guess this would be the second of the oral histories that you've given. I've been listening a lot lately to an interview you did in 1987 with Teresa Jordan.

Micone: Oh yeah.

Grant: Do you recall doing that interview?

Micone: Uh, yeah, I do.

Grant: Lots of fascinating information in that, about all the decision making process around Model Cities and Butte Forward - and I definitely want to get into your professional life, but like I said last week when we spoke, this project is about people's life history. And so I was hoping we could start with some of your ancestors. What do you know about your grandparents?

Micone: Well, I never met my father's mother and dad. My grandmother passed away when my father was quite young in Italy. And my grandfather came to the United States with my father when he was young. And he stayed for - I don't know exactly how long, but a short time - when he went back to Italy. Apparently he didn't like the United States. So he went back to Italy. My father stayed and then around 1920, [phone beeps] my mother came with her parents to the United States. They ended up in Anaconda, Montana. My father was living in Butte and they got married in 1921. He then picked up and moved to Chicago where my two brothers and my sister were born. My father learned the furniture business - furniture upholstering business. And he stayed there until 1928, came back to Butte, and opened his own upholstery business.

[00:03:57]

And then I was born in 1931 in Butte. So that’s - my parents worked in the business all the years. And of course the kids worked out there also when I was growing up, going to school - after I got outta school, it was my job to go into the business and help out with little chores. And that lasted all the way up through college. So, I can't say I learned much about upholstering, but I learned a little bit about business during that endeavor. So, that's basically the extent of my grandparents…and my parents.

Grant: And where was their store located and what was it called?

Micone: The furniture store was - well, he had two or three different locations over the years, but it was called the Chicago Furniture and Mattress Company. He would upholster furniture and he had bought out a mattress company in Butte and began a process of advertising that - if you needed your mattress repaired, we'll pick it up in the morning, repair it and get it back to you that evening, so you're not without a bed. And that proved pretty successful for him over the years. And so that was one of my duties was stripping old mattresses and remaking them and then delivering them. So, it was interesting but something that I couldn't say I could do for the rest of my life.

Grant: [laughs] You were on to bigger and better things. Can you tell us a bit about Butte in the 1930s, recollections from your early childhood? W

Micone: Well, you know, growing up during the Depression, we had very little - and of course I would get gifts at Christmas and birthdays, just as every other kid. They weren't substantial gifts as we see today, but I really didn't know there was a Depression going on. My father worked every day and he was earning a living. We were getting fed. And in 1935, he bought a home on West Galena Street. And so that's basically where I grew up was on Galena Street. But [I] went to a private school. Went to St. Patrick's grade school, enjoyed sports and was able to participate with other kids. So to me, [phone beep] life during the Depression was normal. I didn't experience any lack of food. I didn't experience any lack of presents. I guess putting it today - I grew up in an era that seemed normal and I appreciated those times. I certainly had duties to perform as a child, but none of my brothers or my sister experienced anything any different than any other kid at that time.

[00:08:19]

Grant: Hmm. Did you have a sense of what was going on globally, you know, in the late thirties, the politics of Europe. Did you follow that stuff as a child or did they talk about it in school?

Micone: No. We really didn't talk about politics. I guess the first time I became aware of it was after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. I began - and I remember sitting and listening to the president talk about going to war with Japan. And of course my parents [were] talking about it at the time. So that was my first exposure to government. After that, going into high school, I took history and civics classes, so I learned a little bit about how government operates. But you don't really learn a heck of a lot until you really get into it and find out the real things that government is involved in.

But while I was in school, I did enjoy civics. I did enjoy history. And so I continued my interest in history as I went on to high school and college. But, growing up, it was just a matter of doing what I had to do, studying as I had to study and going to places that my parents took me to. So it was just kind of a normal life all that time.

Grant: What about socializing? Did your parents belong to any groups in town or anything like that?

Micone: Did they what?

Grant: I'm curious if your parents belonged to any social groups or anything like that?

Micone: No - well, my father, in the early thirties, joined a group called the Christopher Columbus Lodge. And they were formed in the 1920s to assist Italian families who were in need. And so, they had quite a group, over 200 men that belonged to that club. But my mother was primarily interested in home and she took care of the families. She did belong to a church group, as I recall, during my high school days, but as far as social activities, it was basically around family. We would travel to Anaconda to visit my grandparents and they would travel to Butte. So basically, all social activities would revolve around our family.

Grant: Mm-hmm. When you would travel to Anaconda, was it by car or by train?

Micone: By car, yeah. My father, of course, had a delivery truck and so we would travel in the delivery truck until he got a car. And then - god, that was like - that was like living high on the hog, traveling in a vehicle, a car. But we would do that probably every couple of weeks. My aunt and uncle and grandparents would travel to Butte every couple of weeks. And so that's kind of how we spent our time - visiting and of course, Italians have a history of having a great Sunday meal. And so we were used to that. That was a regular course of action.

[00:13:08]

Grant: And could you describe for us what, you know, what one of those meals might include?

Micone: Well, it would probably start out with some sort of antipasto. Then of course spaghetti, meatballs, possibly sausage, and then there would be either a roast or chicken, a roasted chicken. And that would be the extent of the meal until - but we would always have also a dessert which may be ice cream, possibly at times a cake, but it was fulfilling. And I have to tell you - that tradition carried on for years, even after I left school and got married, we would go to my mother's home on Sunday for dinner. And basically the same - although it was cut back a little. It got down to no antipasto or salad, but probably just spaghetti, the meatballs, and maybe a chicken or roast afterwards. But, that tradition carried on for many, many years.

Grant: I'm curious about your neighborhood. Did you play with other neighborhood kids?

Micone: I did. Most of the kids in our neighborhood went to St. Patrick's School. And we used to play baseball and basketball. One of my neighbors had a fairly large yard and so a basketball basket was set up in that yard. And we were down there probably every day, summer or winter, playing basketball. [I] got involved in school a little bit with our neighbors and we became members of the St Patrick's football team, but that was a short experience for me, probably my eighth grade, and that was it. But we also - that carried on into high school,  but in high school, we started drifting apart and didn't play so much together, even though we remained friends. So I guess our neighborhood in the thirties and early forties was no different than any other neighborhood.

Grant: Did your family have any ties to Meaderville.

Micone: I'm sorry, did they what?

Grant: Did your family have any ties to Meaderville?

Micone: No - they tried to do everything they could for us, although, like I said before, we did have responsibilities, and even though I could - [I] was free to recreate or play with the other kids in my neighborhood, I still had responsibilities around the house.

Grant: Yep. And working in the family business.

Micone: And working in the family business.

Grant: And so, you had mentioned earlier that you didn't really become an expert upholsterer, but you did learn a little bit about business. What did you learn, helping out at the family shop?

Micone: Well, I certainly learned how to make a mattress. [laughter] I learned that - and on an occasion, when my parents were busy, when someone came into the store and wanted information or wanted to purchase something, I helped them as best I could. And that would've been in my later years in grade school, but then, going on in high school. So I would - if an individual wanted to have a piece of furniture upholstered, I would show them the samples of the fabrics available. But mostly that was done by my mother and father. My chores - the young one always gets stuck with the cleanup, so I had to sweep the floor all the time and take out the trash from the business. But then, I soon began helping out in making the mattresses and then helping to deliver it. And by the time I got into high school, I was responsible for delivering. So I got to meet an awful lot of folks in Butte with delivering furniture and delivering mattresses. And I guess looking back on it, it was a good experience for me and talking with people. But as far as the actual business is concerned, I guess I transitioned into being a delivery man and a salesperson and stayed as much away from upholstering the furniture as I could.

[00:19:35]

Like one side now, - one benefit of that, growing up - furniture that my father was gonna reupholster. I had to strip the old cover off. Well, in stripping the old cover off, there was always change in the chair or in a couch. So that was - so when I wanted to go to the movie on Saturday afternoon, which most kids did - they went to the Park Theater, which is no longer in Butte - my father would have me strip a chair or a couch in order to get my change to go to the movie. And that was - I viewed it as a great experience.

Grant: [laughs] I love that. What were some movies that you saw as a kid in Butte?

Micone: Oh, I think Gene Autrey was a favorite. They were mostly all westerns. Gene Autrey was a favorite. Roy Rogers was a favorite. They were all held at the Park Theater. And as I recall, there was always a double feature and a cartoon. And at that time, I believe the movie cost 10 cents to get into on Saturday afternoon. So I’d try to get as much change as I could, which might be 25 or 30 cents. And I was able to pay for the movie, get a candy bar, and get a bottle of pop and still have a nickel left over. So that was kind of the life we led. Sunday, of course - so Saturday was the movie. Sunday was visiting Anaconda. Five days a week was going to school and helping out in the business.

Grant: Sounds like a full life.

Micone: Yeah, and it was an enjoyable life. I have to say, looking back on it, I had a pretty good life growing up. We didn't have all the toys that kids have today. By that, I mean, cell phones, computers, all the electronic equipment. I had a two wheel bicycle, but it was handed down from my two brothers. My oldest brother had the bicycle. When he went off to college, my next brother had it. And then when he graduated from high school, it transitioned to me. So when my brother was in high school, I was still in grade school, so I really didn't have a two wheel bike until probably the sixth or seventh grade, maybe his eighth grade. But that was life at the time. And so I can say that it was a good experience for me growing up. I learned to deal with some issues that kids today aren’t dealing with. And that is having to work every day. So it was a good life.

Grant: Hmm. I'm curious about your experiences in high school and if you had any favorite teachers or subjects that stood out to you.

Micone: Yeah, well, in grade school, of course we had the sisters of charity, who were the only teachers in the school. I can recall a teacher who made you pay attention. She taught geography - and I wasn't on the receiving end - but I can recall her bouncing a geography book off of one of the kids' heads because he wasn't paying attention. I can't say I was particularly interested in geography, but I think you learn from individuals, and at that time, nuns - from the ones you like versus the ones you dislike. So, my English teacher was great. You know, I liked her, so I paid more attention. My math teacher, same way, but usually the same teacher was great. So I think I learned how to add and subtract fairly easy. We all had to take religion, of course. And you took it whether you liked it or not. And I got to appreciate more so the things that we did in our Catholic school - but we prayed every day before class and when the priest would visit, we'd probably say a prayer with him. But we learned more about the history of our religion. And I grew to appreciate that more as I grew older. And that's why I ended up at Carroll College, one of the reasons I ended up at Carroll College. The education in religion got much more intense at Carroll.

[00:26:29]

So, I don't know. I guess I can say I learned the basics of the school. I was attentive to them, things like geography - I really wasn't interested at the time, but I did gain an interest in history later on. In high school I had - kind of followed the same course, although subjects such as algebra, calculus - I really didn't care for. And so needless to say, I didn't do very well in those courses. But the English, the history - I did pretty well.

Grant: Hmm. And what year was it that you went to Carroll?

Micone: I went to Carroll in 1949, graduated in ‘53. [I] really didn't know what I wanted to do when I went to college, but I can - matter of fact, I wasn't sure I was even gonna go to college, but I recall my mother and father went on vacation for a couple of weeks in August of ‘49. And I remember my mother telling me that, ‘when I get back, you better be in college.’ I had no idea where I was gonna go. So a couple of my friends that I went to school with stated they were gonna go to Carroll. And so, I packed a bag and off we went to Carroll at the end of the end of August. At that time, there was no need to submit an application to a college and get accepted. We were all accepted and so we registered and started class. That’s - when I think back on it, that was an experience that kids today can't enjoy. They have to decide a year in advance if they're gonna go to college and where they're gonna go to college and go ahead and submit applications to various colleges to see which one they get approved for. And that wasn't my case going to college. But my greatest - I believe, the shaping of who I am appeared at Carroll College.

We had great profs. A lot of them were priests, but there were secondary professors at that time. And I just learned a great deal from them, both in life and in the books. We had a great prof in economics. So I got very interested in economics, but I went in with a business administration endeavor. So I took accounting, took economic classes. Again, we took a religion class but I just kind of moved into business administration and economics and that's what I graduated in with a degree.

Grant: I'm hoping you can elaborate a little more. You said, you know, a lot of your identity came into being at Carroll. Can you just explain more about that?

Micone: About - I'm sorry, about what?

Grant: You said, you know, you kind of developed into the person you are today - that really took place at Carroll.

Micone: Yeah, well, it was just the environment of Carroll. When I went to Carroll College, there were approximately 240 students in four years, and 100 to 120 of us lived on campus, and the other - and the balance were residents of Helena. So I got to meet kids from really all over the country, and even some from outside the country. And we lived together and we stayed together. We prayed together and we ate together. So you know, I always said, when people asked me about Carroll, at that time, there was one building. We slept there, we ate there, we went to class there, we went to church there. And then, as the case may be, we went to a basketball game, all in the same building.

So you know, you're living in a very close environment with a hundred other kids. And so you get to know them, they get to know you. And the priests also lived in that building. So we became close with a couple of the priests. One that I can mention, who was the Assistant Dean of men, was Bishop Hockhausen.

[00:33:17]

Bishop Hockhausen lived there and he would ask myself and a couple of my friends to get up early in the morning, because he needed an altar boy for mass. So we would do that. And when I say early in the morning, he probably said mass about six o'clock in the morning. And he was a great inspiration, as were a number of the priests. But also, I had some secular profs who were great. And if you had questions after class, they would take the time to talk with you. So I learned how to deal with people at Carroll. I learned much more to respect others' views. I learned to respect and delve into my religion more, even though it wasn't, you know, in depth - but I learned to appreciate my religion more, but more than anything, I learned that everyone, every individual, has certain rights and we live by those rights.

We had a few, not many, Asian students who were refugees from Vietnam. And we listened to some of the problems that they had growing up, and during the war, early years of 1930s and 40s - didn't even know they'd been at war for a number of years. But we learned what they lived through, so we appreciated more, our lifestyle.

Grant: And following your education there, did you come right back to Butte?

Micone: I did. Well, when I was a senior in college - after high school, I joined the Naval Reserve and so I spent three or four years in the Naval Reserve. But then, after the Korean situation broke out, I was called to  active duty when I was a junior. I was fearful that if I ever left college, I'd never finish. So I applied for deferment until after I graduated. And it took a while to get, but I did get my deferment. [break in recording] …immediately volunteered for active duty. Now it took the government a year to call me up. So I went into service, into the Navy for two years and then came back to Butte, and so that would've been in ‘56 and I began working in my father's business again for a short time until I got an offer - I shouldn't say I got an offer. There was an opening at the Metals Bank, which I applied for and got, so I went to work at Metals Bank for a couple of years.

In that interim, I met my wife and we got married in ‘57. But after two years at the Metals Bank, I felt that was not for me because I just was not interested in the banking business. And so I went - I quit, and at that time, my brother was working with my father in the business. My father was working to get out of the business and so my brother and I took over the business and ran it until I became mayor. And after that, I couldn't spend any time in the business because I found out things were a little busy at the city.

Grant: A little bit! I'm curious, I'd like to back up - coming back to Butte in 1956 - can you kind of give us a big picture of what the city was like then?

Micone: Well, of course, Butte depended upon the Anaconda Company. And in the fifties - I don't know exactly the number - but there were probably somewhere around 15 to 20,000 people working for the Anaconda Company. So the whole community relied on them. Butte was, after the war, not much different than before - because Anaconda dominated it so much. There were businesses that would start up, and of course after the war, we saw more vehicles on the street. So Butte was growing economically; it wasn't growing in population.

[00:39:43]

And at that time, Butte was probably around - I'm guessing around 50 to 60,000 people in the mid-fifties, but it had been on a decline and kept declining until - in 1969, there were like 45 to 50,000 people in the county with about 25,000 in the city of Butte. But it just didn't seem to change much over the years. And we had the same opportunities, the same recreational opportunities. We had the same workplaces that were there in the 1940s. The same businesses were there for a number of years, and so we grew to know more about them and expected them to be there forever, which of course didn't happen.

Grant: What about the Berkeley Pit? What role was that playing at that time, in ‘56. I guess it was kind of new.

Micone: Well, the Berkeley Pit - I'm trying to think when that started. I think it started around the mid-fifties, 54, 55, 56, somewhere in there. I don't know if anyone, at least at my age, really recognized the impact that pit was gonna have on the community. I don't know if any of us expected it to grow westward and start taking up more and more of the city. But it certainly had an impact on the employment in the community because as the pit started growing, mines started closing. And there were more miners in those mines than there were truck drivers in the pit. And that of course was Anaconda’s idea - that they could produce much more copper with a lot fewer individuals than sending men down in the mines and doing it by hand. So we began to see - or the city began to see a drop in employment. 

I don't know what the unemployment rate was, but it was evident there were more men not working in the mines than there were in the past. And of course, with the unions, they were afraid of what was gonna happen. So we saw some labor disputes. And I think in the late fifties or maybe early sixties, there was an extended strike in Butte by the labor organizations. And that one lasted - oh, I'm not sure how long, but it was a significant amount of time. And that of course has an impact on the community. But Butte managed to survive all of that, and I guess in some instances would work with the Anaconda Company and in other instances, would fight them.

But because they were buying up whole neighborhoods - and of course the first two to go were Meaderville and McQueen. And those families in Meaderville, which were predominantly Italian - and McQueen, which were predominantly, I believe [of], Serbian, Austrian descent - they were split up. And so they started moving all over the community where they could find a place to live. That was something that we all realized was gonna happen to all of us one day and Anaconda could never put a limit on where the pit would stop. But I think the economy dictated where the pit was gonna stop. So it was - in the late fifties, early sixties - there were some trying times in Butte, because of the pit operation.

Grant: In that interview from 1987 you did with Teresa Jordan, one of the questions that she asks is about how Butte seemed so prosperous in the early 1950s and by the mid-1960s qualified for area redevelopment. And so would you say that's due in large part to the expansion of the pit?

Micone: Yeah, I do. You know, when you have 18,000 men working - or 20,000 men working in the mines - and whatever their salary was, or their hour day wage was, it was certainly much more being added to the community as far as holding our economy stable, than it was with, say a hundred truck drivers and operating engineers and digging the coal out of the ground - or digging the copper out of the ground. So it was obvious that things were gonna happen

At that time, I was involved in the furniture business with my brother, so I didn't pay too much attention to government. Although, one thing I did understand is that if something wasn't done - it was obvious that if the pit kept moving, the city of Butte was gonna be gone. And, so in 1961-62, an effort was made to consolidate. And I wasn't involved in that, but I listened to the ads that were being proposed, and the newspaper reporting on it. And it was - it told me that for the community's - Butte, the city of Butte to survive - it was gonna have to consolidate with the county. Well, that effort failed. It failed in ,I believe, 1962 or 63 - and pretty overwhelmingly by the vote of the people.

[00:47:55]

And it's my view that they - one of the main reasons for that was there was only one form of government that you could consolidate into, and that was the manager form. Well, the people of Butte like to elect their officials. And that manager form - they would elect their city councilmen, but the city councilmen would hire the manager. The people of Butte didn't like that. Other communities went ahead with the same form of government and have been involved in it for a number of years, like Bozeman and Helena. They both were into the manager form, and liked it. And it was pretty successful for them, but it didn't - the people in Butte just wouldn't go for it. So that was the end of unification, or consolidation, for as far as the eye could see.

Grant: I can't - it's hard really, for me to imagine someone proposing nowadays that we tear down entire neighborhoods. And not having been there at the time, I don't fully understand the pressures the town was facing. But to your recollection, was there any opposition to the expansion of the Berkeley Pit into McQueen and Meaderville?

Micone: Other than the people I knew from Meaderville and McQueen - and there weren't many of them - they didn't like the idea of having a move. They were happy in their little home that they had in Meaderville and McQueen. Both were very old communities, so they didn't like the idea even though I think they got a fair - or I'm pretty sure they got a fair value for their home. They didn't like the idea of having to split up their community and move elsewhere. But that impact, I think, affected the entire community from the standpoint of knowing that the Anaconda Company was on the move with the pit. And eventually they might be taking over where you live, or where I live. And they did encroach upon the city limits, to a degree, on the Eastern edge. But we did not get affected, as far as losing property, our homes and businesses, as much as Meaderville and McQueen did. So every business there was out of business. And I don't think there was a one that reopened in the city of Butte, or Silver Bow County. But just, uh, from those two communities, when they were taken over, everything was gone, no businesses moved that I'm aware of.

And so the community - they filtered to McQueen and Meaderville, filtered into the city. And of course I was-  they really didn't add anything as far as economic is concerned because, uh, they were already doing their shopping in view. So it was a fact of the community or the county was losing tax base. And so that's what happened. I can't say it was traumatic, but it certainly wasn't a time that was enjoyable for anyone. People in Meaderville having to move - people in McQueen having to move. And the threats for the citizens of - particularly East Butte - that this pit was gonna take them over. So that's as much as I can relate of that time.

Grant: Well, when did the idea first come into your mind about getting into government in Butte?

Micone: Getting into power?

Grant: Uh-huh, yeah. And running as an independent?

[00:53:10]

Micone: Well, that's kind of a strange situation. Although I was in business and we were busy enough - in some ways I felt a little bored, so I talked to a couple people and then they suggested running for the city council. So I thought about it and I said, ‘okay, I might do that.’ So I knew our councilman, or alderman, and so I called him up to talk to him. Well, he was thinking of running for mayor. And so I said, ‘good. If you're gonna run for mayor. I'm gonna run for your seat.’ And that was - he told me he would call me and let me know for sure if he was gonna run. I said, ‘okay.’ So everything was friendly.

Well, between the time that I talked to him and the time he called me back - there was a group in Butte called The Better Butte Committee. Problems, at that time, they felt - there was a lot of prostitution going on. They didn't feel the police department was doing an adequate job for the city. And so I was invited to a meeting of that committee and I told them what my plans were. And so we met on terms of how to deal with the issues in the community at that time, mainly how to deal with the police department, how to deal with prostitution. Those were the two major issues. And it almost was simultaneous, but as it went along, they finally decided they had to have a candidate to run for mayor. Well, their primary candidate was a businessman in Butte, Joe Roberts, and everyone thought he was gonna be running for mayor - everybody on the committee thought he was gonna be the one running for mayor. But he said he wasn't gonna run. The business that he had took too much time and he just couldn’t give the time to [the office of the] mayor. So the committee started talking and thinking about who to run for mayor. And I guess we all came up with suggestions, but then towards the end of one of the meetings, they approached me and said, ‘why don't you run for mayor?’ And I told 'em that I really didn't want to, that I preferred to run - if JD Flynn, the alderman, ran for mayor, I was gonna run for his seat. ‘Well, we think that you oughta run for mayor.’ But I said, ‘well, you know, let me think about it.’

And coincidentally, after that time, JD Flynn called me and told me that he was gonna run for his seat again - he wasn't running for mayor. So I thanked him, didn't say anything about what was offered to me. So, after a few days - I think it was probably a week - we had another meeting. And I had talked to my wife and my family, and we talked a little bit about it. And so I said, ‘okay, I'll run.’ So it was kind of a strange situation that I ever got into the situation and that I ever got into the job. But that was how I actually got into running for mayor. And how I decided to - the committee is the one that helped me decide.

How I got into running as an independent: there were the incumbent mayor and there were two individuals that had filed to run for mayor on the Democratic side. I knew I couldn't win the primary with four of us in it. And I knew I couldn't get elected as a Republican because Butte at that time just would not elect a Republican. So the decision was made to run as an Independent and research the law. And we found out that I had to get a petition signed by - I don't remember the number, but probably 300-400 people - and submit those to the city by a certain date. And that's how that all came about. We got the petitions and then I just sat back and waited for the primary to be over.

[00:59:16]

Grant: Were you surprised by the results?

Micone: Pardon me?

Grant: I’m curious if you were surprised by the results?

Micone: I was! I was surprised. I was not only surprised by the results of the primary election, but more surprised by the general election. You know, I never - when I said I would run for that job, I never expected that I would win. [laughter] But then when I saw the results of the primary, where the two opponents to the incumbent had more votes than he had, when you combine them, I thought, ‘well, there's a chance that I can do it.’ Well, that election was - I can't remember if it was two weeks or four weeks before the general election. I think it was probably around three weeks, but I had already geared up and I had a publicist put together the campaign - I should say our committee did - had put together the campaign, told him the problems. And so he put together ads, and for the first time in a long time, he said, ‘a big thing to do is put up billboards.’ So we put up billboards.

And my opposition thought, ‘where did you get all this money to buy those expensive billboards?’ Well, as it turned out, the billboards were cheap. We had like six billboards up for a month and I think it cost us like $800-$900 for the whole month, so that was a pretty cheap investment. And that's really how I got to be running as an Independent.

Grant: Hmm. And was it Tom Powers that you beat?

Micone: Tom Powers, yeah. He was the mayor at the time. And I knew I had a chance, but I still didn't feel comfortable that I was gonna win. But as it turned out, apparently our message got across. And there was a lot of door to door work done by the committee and folks that we approached. And so as it turned out, I guess as the news reported, I won five to three. The only thing that I wasn't sure about is - reading the subheadlines in the paper the next day, it said ‘a neophyte won.’ Well, I had to go and dig out my dictionary to find out what a neophyte was. And so, I was a little concerned when I first read it. But yeah, I was surprised at the results and I was surprised then at the overwhelming support I got after the election.

Grant: It sounds like one of the main planks of your campaign was dealing with the police. What exactly was wrong with the police department at that time?

Micone: Well, the police department had a chief that really wasn't running the department. He was a smart guy. He had gone to the FBI academy, but he just wasn't interested in running the department. So he kind of let things flow as they may.

[01:04:00]

Well, consequently, police officers in some respects were doing what they pleased. They would make an arrest if they wanted to, or they didn't make an arrest. They would enforce some laws and they wouldn't enforce others. At that time, it was obvious that there was illegal gambling going on in Butte, and by illegal gambling - I'm not sure the people of Butte even viewed it as gambling - were punch boards. That was a big item at the time - punch boards. Well, you know, people would go into a bar. They'd have a drink or a beer. And a punch board would be sitting in front of 'em, which would cost, you know, a nickel or a quarter, to punch out. And so they might punch out a dollar's worth of punches and they might win a hundred dollars, or there might be a rifle that was the prize, whatever it was.

And so they really didn't view that as gambling, but nevertheless, it was the law. And so there was illegal gambling going on. It was - from stories I had heard that the police may have been getting paid off to allow that gambling to go through - well, we didn't know that. And I didn't know it, and if they were, you can never prove it anyhow. But the important thing was to get the police department moving in the right direction with the right people. And it was obvious to all of us in the committee that we needed a new chief. Well, when we read the metropolitan police law - I mean, you have to catch an individual in the police department in the act, in order to get rid of him. It is very, very difficult. So, you know, I dealt with that for two years. [I] gave the chief my thoughts. He gave me his thoughts. I gave him orders and he told me why the orders wouldn't work.

And so in late ‘69, maybe early ‘70, I wrote a letter to him and told him, ‘this is what I want done.’ And by the way, he would not come to work in a uniform. He always wore a sport coat. And one of the points I put in the letter was, ‘you be in uniform every day.’ And I gave him 13 points that I wanted done in the police department. And we felt that he wasn't gonna comply with all of them, or if he would comply with any of them. And so we felt that was the avenue to take to fire him. Well, he started putting things together in the department. We wanted a detective bureau. He put together a detective bureau. And he went along - we wanted patrols on the street. He put patrols on the street. But he just did enough so that there was no way we could get at 'em. Well, in ‘71, the day after the election, there was a letter on my desk that he was retiring.

So it took two years to get rid of him, but then we had all sorts of problems in hiring a new chief, because you had to hire from within the department, at that time. You couldn't go outside the department. And trying to find - well, there were certainly officers that I could trust, but finding one who had the management experience in place was difficult. But [we] finally appointed a chief. Unfortunately for me, I put him on probation for a year. And that was the wrong thing to do because it put him in a precarious situation where he didn't know if he had a job at the end of the year. But I did - I made that mistake and after a year, I appointed him full time. Shortly after that, he retired. And then I had to go through the experience again. The second time, I didn't make that same mistake. And so we had two chiefs of police in a matter of a couple of years and both of them did everything they could to straighten out the department and to get it working as a department should.

[01:10:18]

But I have to tell you that the police - police officers are individuals. And at one point we had - well, we had a force of about 36 officers. At one point we had as many as nine off [the job] injured, for various reasons. They were in a car accident and were injured. They were making an arrest and got injured. They slipped on ice out in the street and got injured. I even had one officer who got - going up the stairs, he tripped going up the stairs. And one officer was involved in an arrest and injured his trigger finger. So he was off! So we had all sorts of things like that going on. It got to the point where I finally had to call the doctor of one of the injured officers who injured his back. And I said, you know, I'm suspicious about this injury.

And he said, ‘well, I don't know about that.’ But he said, ‘I'll tell you what I'll do.’ And he said he would give the officer - the next time he came in, if the officer was still hurting, he was gonna give him this special test. And he said, ‘he will not take this test because it hurts, if he’s not injured. I said, ‘okay.’ So that's the way it transpired. So eventually we got all the officers back on the job - some of them retired, took a disability retirement. And that was over the course of four to five years. So it took a long period, and by that time, we're into consolidation and I don't have to worry about a chief anymore because the sheriff is gonna be elected. And that's about how long it took.

Grant: At that time, the mayoral election - it was for two years?

Micone: Yeah. My first two elections were two years and then the law was changed and so I had a four year term from ‘73 to ‘77.

Grant: So you were elected to that position three times?

Micone: Yes. Yeah, I was elected in ‘69, ‘71 and ‘73.

Grant: Okay.

Micone: And then we consolidated, and my term ended about  - well, not about - it was at the same time that a new government took over. So the city aldermen - half the aldermen and the mayor and other elected officials in the city - their terms all expired on the day the new government took over. But the others, the county officials who were elected earlier - I can't remember if they were grandfathered in or not until their term expired. I can't - just can't recall that.

Grant: Hmm. Well, I'd like to back up just briefly and have you comment on Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, that concept of which Model Cities was a component, I guess. What was your sense of that effort nationally and where did Butte fit into that?

Micone: Uh, I'm not - Lyndon Johnson's - I'm not sure that that came into being - that Model Cities came into being during his term, but it may have. Well, yeah, it probably did, now that you mention it. Because the city received planning funds to become a Model City in 1968, ‘69, in that timeframe. And that was the only program that the city was dealing with.

[01:15:56]

The county, of course, was dealing with a number of other programs that were initiated at that time, one being the anti-poverty program. But the city - the only thing that they were dealing with was planning so that they could become a Model City. And so they received funds in ‘68 and it carried over into ‘69. And the decision wasn't made - the plan was submitted, actually, by Tom Powers in ‘69. But it was not approved until like October of ‘69. So we had a transition of administrations. It's one of those things where, just as government works, and politics work - Tom Powers laid the groundwork, but I got the credit. [laughter] But you find that all over in politics. It happened with me. I had laid the groundwork and my successor got a lot of the praise, so that's the way it is. And that's the way we live with.

Grant: I guess if you like, we can go into this now, this subject, which is extensive, so share to whatever extent you want. What was the goal of Model Cities? What does a Model City look like?

Micone: Well, the goal - Model Cities, predominantly, from the federal standpoint, dealt with areas of communities that were in poverty. So, you know, when you look at a large city like Chicago, there were probably a number of areas in the city that were poverty stricken. Butte was a little different situation. And by the way, Helena also applied for Model Cities and we both were approved for Model Cities, which was - the only thing I can tell you about that is that Mike Mansfield was the majority leader of the Senate and Mike Mansfield was pretty influential. And so both the city of Butte and the city of Helena got the designation for Model Cities.

So we had areas that were low income, but mainly we had areas that were deteriorating aside from the income. And so the plan was put together to work on those areas, make them physically more attractive, but also to work on economic development, to improve the economic conditions in the city. And I guess those were the main thrusts. And so initially, the Model Cities staff identified a number of areas, or a number of locations where houses were dilapidated and could be torn down, or there was vacant property, or both. And so it was decided to put in a neighborhood park in that area. So that if there was property to be cleared, it was cleared, and then a small park was put in, with maybe just playgrounds - may not even have been grass in the area, but it did improve the neighborhood.

The Model Cities program also put a considerable amount of money into the city's road department, and so we had a major effort to repair the streets of Butte. And we first had to look at taking care of those streets in those areas that were dilapidated, so to speak. And so we did that, but I can tell you that in the first couple of years, the Model Cities program was our road department, because without their funding, we couldn't have done a 10th of the work that was done during that time. So it was really a godsend at that time. And the same thing would've happened if Tom Powers would've been elected  - streets would've been a top priority, and it was. [beeping]

Grant: Can you tell us about James Murphy?

Micone: Murphy was hired - and let me, let me think. I believe he was either hired by the mayor (Tom Powers) to put together the Model Cities plan, or the board was put together and he was hired by the Model Cities board. And I'm not sure which at the time, but in any event, I'm guessing if the mayor wanted him, the board would've hired him. And I knew Jim before I ever came into office. I didn't know him well, but I knew him. So, it took a while for him to get to know me and for me to get to know him, but we worked together for, I guess, four years, maybe five years, while he was Model Cities director. There were times that we disagreed, but we always worked things out.

And so I considered Jim to be a big asset to us. From the time I came into office until he left, he was doing what he could to help the city of Butte. He was running his program and he would make sure that we got what other priorities we had. I can tell you - also during his tenure with the city, and I can't remember the exact date - the Nixon administration had put together - they wanted to phase out Model Cities and get rid of it. So they put together [something] called plan something or other, that would give an additional amount of money to the Model Cities that were selected. There were initially 150 Model Cities. Of those, 20 of 'em would be selected for this new program. So we received not only our allocation of Model Cities money, but we received an identical amount from this Planned Variation - that’s what it was: Planned Variation. Under Planned Variation, the chief executive or the mayor had full authority. And so we would still work through the structure of Model Cities, but every federal program being funded in the community had to be approved by the mayor.

That meant we were gonna get involved in social programs that we really weren't interested in at the time. But nevertheless, that was one of the issues - that the mayor would have to approve those programs. So that worked out alright. But the biggest thing about it -we got an extra million and a half dollars now. You know, a million and a half dollars isn't the hell of a lot today, but when you think back to 1960 and ‘70, it was quite a bit of money.

[01:25:45]

So with that extra money, we took on some projects that we could not take on in Model Cities, because we didn't have the money. One of 'em was to build a police and fire facility, a new police and fire facility. We used the money from Planned Variation for the - the civic center needed remodeling and needed upgrading. And even though the city didn't own it, Planned Variation put a pile of money into that. And then we used it for various other programs. So, I'm trying to think what other construction projects we got involved with, with Planned Variation. We did build a home, a senior citizen home on, on Main &...god, I can't think of this name of the street, but that was done through the Model Cities effort. Where the Model Cities program was able to put some money in, the initial money, into the construction and planning of it - but then there were other programs through the economic development and senior citizen programs that provided funds to build that. So that didn't cost the citizens of Butte, directly, any money. But the Planned Variation really helped us out for the last two years of Model Cities.

Grant: What, if any, studies were funded by these federal dollars?

Micone: Oh, studies funded? We had a - we put together a comprehensive plan for the community, and in that was included the concept of urban renewal. So that was a study that was paid for. Another one that was my priority was to - and I went to the Crime Control Commission in Helena and got funds - and we funded a project through the International Association of Chiefs of Police to come in and do a study of our police department. That study took about six months, I believe. And then they came in and reviewed it with us, and that was done, it seemed to me in ‘71. I'm not sure of that date, but I think senior [inaudible] was in 1971. And so we gave it to the police chief at the time, and we reviewed it. And just about every concern that we had with the police department, the IACP, or the Association of Chiefs of Police, had the same concerns.

Grant: Hmm.

Micone: And so they did suggest that they were undermanned and we should provide more manpower for 'em, which we provided more manpower when we unified. So that took care of that little issue. And I don't recall what other studies - but those were the two main ones that the city per se was involved with.

Grant: Okay. Do you mind if we pause for one moment? I just need to run to the restroom.

Micone: Okay. You too?

Grant: Yeah. So let's both do that, but I'll leave the phone on here. I'll just - I'll be right back.

Micone: Okay. All right.

Grant: Thank you. Okay.

Micone: See you in a second.

Grant: Okay.

[two minute pause in the conversation]

Grant: Alrighty. Are you there?

Micone: Yep, I'm here.

Grant: Okay, great. Shall we resume?

Micone: Yeah. Okay.

Grant: Okay. Another thing I learned listening to that interview from the late eighties with you and Teresa Jordan was the connection between Model Cities and Butte Forward. And I never really had understood how Butte Forward came into being, that concept. And I'm curious if the Anaconda Company was communicating with you in the mayor's office, about their intentions?

[01:33:04]

Micone: No, no, they weren't. I became aware of Butte Forward because there were a couple individuals who were involved with it, both financially and involved in discussions, [who] informed me of it. And I believe that they were in contact with Jim Murphy because I think they were looking at using Model City funds for Butte Forward. But I really didn't have much contact with them to be honest with you. I don’t recall, you know, having any meetings, per se, with them. I had met with individuals, so I knew what they were up to and what they wanted to do.

And quite honestly, I was supportive of it. Because it was an answer to Anaconda’s problem and it was an answer to Butte’s problem. But it was a job that - I don't know if it could be attained, you know. To talk about leaving the Uptown Butte entirely to Anaconda and building a new city somewhere out in the south of Butte was hard to fathom. But I think the people involved with Butte Forward really believed it could get done. Now, I did get involved with them because they had requested that I and Jim Murphy go to Washington, D.C. with representatives of Butte Forward to talk with our congressional delegation and also officials of the Economic Development Administration…and there had to be others. So we did that.

And so we went back. We talked to our congressional delegation, in particular Mike Mansfield, because nothing would get done without Mike Mansfield.

Grant: Right.

Micone: What we were talking about was an amount of money that our area had never seen before. You know, we were talking upwards of 50 million, and more, in order to move the city. Because it involved funds for businesses to move - for residents to move in some cases - but mainly for businesses to move. And we also needed funds for building new infrastructure - streets, parks, what have you. So as I recall, we did not get a good reception back in Washington. Mike Mansfield of course supported us. And Mike Mansfield said he would help to try to identify the money that was needed, but we would have to convince the people of Butte that it's gotta get done. And in that endeavor, we failed. We couldn't convince the people of Butte and we couldn't convince - because that eventually came before our city council and we couldn't convince the aldermen that it had to get done. So that was really a major, what I consider a major failure, that we had.

But looking back on it, I'm not sure that it was a major failure because the uptown area of Butte has improved considerably from the time of Butte Forward because business owners did in fact put money into their establishments, and the city got involved with helping out with parking facilities.

Grant: So there was - wasn't there an opposition group? Was it Save the CBD? I think it was maybe Beverly Hayes. That's one of the few instances where I have seen opposition to -

Micone: Opposed to Butte Forward.

Grant: Right, right.

Micone: Yeah. Well, you know, I think everyone that was opposed to it truly didn't want the uptown area to be destroyed. I think they felt historically, you couldn't build a city to match the buildings in Uptown Butte, and that's true. So it had some historical value. And then individuals may have had other priorities of why they opposed it. But I think the vast majority really felt that the Uptown area of Butte was worth saving, so they made a major effort coming to city council meetings whenever that issue came up. And the issue didn't last that long in city council - I think maybe a couple of months and that was it. But there may have been some hard feelings because of it. I certainly didn't have any hard feelings over it - I was disappointed - but I had no hard feelings over it. But I'm sure there were some individuals, particularly in Butte Forward, who were upset about it. But you know, that's the political process. You go through the process - you try to do the best you can and you either support or you oppose an issue and you let the chips fall where they may. And that's what happened in Butte Forward.

[Micone drops phone]

Grant: Are you there?

Micone: I dropped…

Grant: Okay.

Micone: I dropped the phone.

Grant: Are you there?

Micone: Hello?

Grant: Hello?

[01:41:41]

Micone: Hello.

Grant: Oh, there you are.

Micone: Yeah, I dropped my phone and I came apart, so…

Grant: [laughs] Okay!

Micone: I had to get another one so…

Grant: Okay, well we’re still -

Micone: But anyhow, as I mentioned, Butte Forward - I guess I can say it was a forward looking organization, and they wanted to do the best for Butte, but those that felt Butte was worth saving, that Uptown Butte was worth saving, won out. And looking back on it, I have no ill will towards anyone. Uptown Butte is surviving and improving. And so I think all turned out as well as could be expected.

Grant: Hmm. The meeting where the vote was taken, were you presiding?

Micone: Pardon me?

Grant: Were you presiding over the vote at the city council meeting?

Micone: Yeah, I was.

Grant: Was it close?

Micone: Um, let's see. It wasn't close enough that I would break a tie - I know that. But there were probably - we had 16 members in the council. Maybe we had 14 at that time because we did cut two members later on in our reapportionment. And so if it were 16, I guess the vote would've been ten to six, if it were 14, I would guess it would be nine to four - that's 13, isn't it? Nine to five. So I didn't - I really don't have that information to determine whether or not the vote was closer than that. I don't - it was fairly significant as far as I was concerned.

Grant: Yeah.

Micone: I knew that I wasn't gonna be put on the spot anyhow, but if I would've been put on the spot - if it were a tie vote, I would've voted in favor of Butte Forward.

Grant: Wow. It seems hard to believe at the present day that anyone would consider tearing all these buildings down.

Micone: Yeah, that's right. And that was a feeling - I think, at the time - that citizens, particularly those involved, opposed to the move, felt - why anyone would wanna move the city, the business district. But looking at Butte today, it wouldn't be the same if they - if Butte Forward were successful, it wouldn't, from a physical standpoint, be the same city that it was in the past and what it is today. So if Butte could get their economic issues moving - that is, get more large companies, retail companies, to come in and get more factories into Butte - Butte would thrive.

[01:46:15]

But I'm fearful right now of what's going on in Butte, with the retail establishments that have left and continue to leave. But I notice the same thing is happening in Helena where businesses are moving and they're moving to other parts of the city. Either that, or they're closing up. So maybe it's a phenomenon that all cities have to go through at times.

Grant: Hmm. So in 77, when ARCO bought Anaconda, were you still in office at that time?

Micone: I was.

Grant: And so what was the - I guess at, at that point, it was kind of like the impossible had happened. Anaconda was gone.

Micone: Yeah, that was a - I guess - somewhat of a surprise that Anaconda had sold out to ARCO. But I think at the time there was, at least from my standpoint, there was a hope that a company the size of ARCO would make a considerable investment to improve situations with the mining operation and thus improve the overall economic stability of the community. It didn't turn out that way. And I'll tell you - it didn't take me very long to figure out, and those of us in city government, that ARCO really didn't know a hell of a lot about copper mining. They were experts in developing oil, but they didn't know a heck of a lot about copper mining.

I recall going - a delegation of us went to Denver to speak with an official from - I think he was a vice president - from ARCO, and he was taking over the operation of the Butte mining. And he was planning on coming to Butte to make a major speech. So we asked him what he was gonna say. Well, after you heard what he had to say, we were convinced that he really didn’t know Butte, and he didn't know Anaconda's operation. So, in leaving Denver, we weren't very optimistic about the future that they were ever gonna make a major investment into Butte. And as it turned out, today they're still paying for problems caused by the Anaconda company, as far as the environment is concerned. And they spent a lot of money in Anaconda just taking care of environmental problems. And I know they hired staff some time ago to deal with it. And I think they still have staff there. I'm not sure how many, but they still have staff there. So that was - I'm sure - an experience that ARCO would like to forget. But it sure didn't improve the situation in Butte.

[01:50:30]

Grant: At what time did you leave the mayor's office and leave Butte?

Micone: When?

Grant: Yes, when.

Micone: I left - after the government unified, consolidated, I ran for the chief executive position. And so I took over in May of 2077 [read 1977] and I left - and I really didn't want to run, but the committee, the Better Butte Committee, talked me into running because I was heavily involved in helping put together the initial plan, even though I opposed some of the things that the study commission was doing at the time. But it was just important that we get this thing unified. And so - but I thought, you know, eight years is enough in this job. But I let them talk me into it and so I ran for it and got elected as the chief executive. And then we began the process of putting it together. Well, there was more opposition still to consolidation from county officials than I expected. And they continually fought me for two years. Well, not quite two years. So in January of ‘79, late January ‘79, I left. I decided ‘that's enough.’ And I got out. There was still about two years left on my term, but I just had had enough. On top of that, which certainly helped me make my decision, was [that] the firemen pulled a strike on us, which we didn't anticipate and [we] really suffered over that when they went on strike against the city.

And so I said, ‘that's the final thing. I'm getting outta here.’ So then Don Peoples submitted his name to the commission, as did others. But Don was elected to the Chief Executive and continued on till, I believe, 1984 or ‘86. I'm not sure of the timeframe, but he continued in that job for about seven years, I believe.

Grant: Prior to consolidation - I know from our mutual acquaintance, Maurice Burke, that you had made many efforts to annex parts of the county. Can you talk to us a bit about that, hat story?

Micone: Okay. Well, you know, annexation in Butte - really nothing serious had been done for years. And I don't know the - I can't tell you the last time - well, I can tell you the last time they tried to annex and they were defeated substantially. But that was in 1962 and there was some sporadic annexation. You know, businesses or individuals that wanted to be part of the city. So they would come and the city would annex them, but there weren't any large tracts of land. And matter of fact, the program that we took on after I got elected in ‘71 was pretty extensive, probably the largest annexation that had taken place in a number of years.

And what that entailed is - when we took office in 1969, I went through our first budget period. And we took over and found that we had like a $250,000 deficit. Now, $250,000 isn't that a hell of a lot of money today, but I can tell you in 1969, it was a lot of money. And so we had to work to balance the budget. That's a state law that we had to have a balanced budget. Well, we had to use some of the methods that previous administrations had used. And that is - to balance a budget, you have to show an increase in revenue. So we partially did that. So we showed an increase in fines. We couldn't show an increase in taxation because that was pretty well set by the county, and by the amount of mills that we could levy. But we changed the method of mills - the cities could levy mills for roads and/or for general operations of the government, or for recreation - and could do all of that separately. Or they could go into an all-purpose levy, which is what we did in ‘69. We changed and went to an all-purpose levy. And at that time I think it was around 60 mills that we could, so we picked up a little bit of revenue there.

But then we had a spike in our other revenue sources like fines from police courts, licenses being purchased, that sort of thing. And so we had to spike that a little, to a degree, and by the end of 1969, or by the end of the budget of ‘69-‘70, we had either reduced substantially or eliminated that $250,000 deficit that we inherited.

[01:58:07]

Okay. So we knew that if we didn't do something, Butte would not survive because police and firemen had to be paid - and they always want a raise. Our road department always wanted a raise, and we had to pay them. The people working in city hall also wanted a raise -  and plus, costs were going up. And so we knew that if we didn't do something, that in time, we would have to disincorporate, which nobody wanted to do. And the only thing we could do was annex additions to the city. So my city attorney was Charles Harrington - Chis, as we knew him. And in talking with him, he did an awful lot of research on the state laws and on court cases about what had happened as far as annexation in the past, not only Butte but all over the state.

And here's basically what he came up with, and that was that: vacant land (adjacent to the city) can be annexed without any opposition. And businesses along Harrison Avenue, for example - they could also be annexed without opposition. Now, the reason for that - and it was in his research - determined that resident freeholders can protest any annexation action. And the key to that is resident freeholders. So it was our determination, basically his determination, that businesses along Harrison Avenue were not resident freeholders, that corporations mainly owned the business or the property. So we started laying out our plans and we had all the county maps to look at. And we first looked to vacant land to the south that was adjacent. We thought, ‘well, that one's easy.’ But then we also said, ‘let's annex the businesses basically from Harrison Avenue and Massachusetts on out to Harrison Avenue and Homes Avenue.’ So there were a considerable number of businesses in that area. So we put that before the city council - city council approved it, and in 1971 - we completed the annexation of the businesses in September of 1971, as a matter of fact, the businesses along Harrison Avenue.

Well, they didn't like that. And so the Butte Plaza, along with other businesses, the Ramada Inn at the time - which is now Butte Plaza Inn or something like that - they took us to court to oppose the annexation. Well, in December of ‘71, the court hearing was held by Judge Allen because the district judges in Butte really didn't want to hear the case. So they excused themselves and Judge Allen from - I think he was from Lewistown, came in and heard the case. And he ruled in favor of the city, probably around March of ‘72. Well, the Butte Plaza and others appealed to the Supreme Court. And so it wasn't until March of ‘73 that the court issued their decision and they ruled in our favor. So we waited almost two years. Well, we did wait two years to finally get Harrison Avenue annexed to the city, with the Supreme Court decision.

[02:03:27]

But in the meantime, we were annexing vacant land nearby. As a matter of fact, I even met with the state highway commission and proposed to them that they request that their right-of-way be annexed to the city of Butte. Now, I guess, at least the chairman of the State Highway Commission at that time - he understood what I was trying to do. And they were gonna provide a method for us to surround [phone beep] Silver Bow County, or the urban area of Silver Bow County. And once you surround an area, you can annex them without protest. So that was our goal. So we went ahead in late ‘73 and we annexed the Butte Country Club, which I was a member of at the time - and they didn't appreciate it. But nevertheless, we annexed ‘em in ‘73. [Then] we continued to annex vacant land so that - our whole purpose was to try to surround the urban area, the Country Club area, the Racetrack area, the Holmes-Atherton area - and surround that entire area.

And I have to tell you - I don't know why, but previous to that, the city of Butte - the businesses on the west side of Harrison Avenue were in the city, but the businesses on the east side of Harrison Avenue were not in the city. Now why the city didn't do something earlier is beyond me because that land was all vacant for some time back in the fifties - and nothing was done to annex at that time. So we wouldn't have been faced with this issue if it was taken care of at that time.

But in any event, the Country Club was probably the last major facility that we annexed. And fortunately - and I'm gonna tie this into consolidation now - in 1972, Montana passed a new constitution. And in that, there was a section dealing with local government, and in particular home rule, which gave local government the right to rule their communities as they saw fit. They also provided that we could write a charter, which would determine how our community would be run. The only thing that we couldn't touch was taxation. In other words, we could not impose a sales tax, which was another hot issue in Montana, but we could not impose new taxes. We could only rely on the taxes that were available. Okay.

So that new constitution and the mandate for local government, or the options for local government - but it also mandated, or maybe it was legislation after the constitution was adopted - and they have been [inaudible] legislation that mandated local government has to review its structure every 10 years, starting in November, 1976. So this was really the impetus that led us to consolidation. I don't know if we would've attempted consolidation without that effort. So then study commissions were elected from each government and they could either make their studies separately or jointly. So Butte elected a study commission. Silver Bow County elected a study commission. Walkerville elected a study commission. So Butte and Silver Bow decided to jointly develop a plan, but they said, ‘we'll jointly develop a plan, but we want to vote separately. We want the study commissioners to vote separately and the Silver Bow County Commissioners to vote separately.’ Walkerville opted to go it alone, but they worked with the joint study commission. So really, even though we were annexing parcels of vacant land in ‘73, we basically curtailed our major efforts of annexation because now we had the opportunity to consolidate. So we - or at least I turned my effort to working the consolidation.

[02:09:36]

But we annexed quite substantial acres during that time frame, plus all the businesses along Harrison Avenue, on the east side of Harrison Avenue, and on the west side of Harrison Avenue beyond Holmes Avenue - we annexed all those. So if unification wasn't available, we had increased our base substantially, so that the tax base would increase substantially. And so I have to say that I don't know where other administrations were in the past, what their thinking was. But after we had accomplished - you know, I always just asked myself ‘why in the world did they not annex on the east side of Harrison Avenue?’ Because it was a fairly simple process, even though we had to go through a court - but it was a fairly simple process to annex vacant land and businesses.

And all those businesses could have been in the city for a number of years if it had been done at that time. So that annexation that we did do, I believe, helped the thinking of the people in Butte of - ‘yeah, consolidation is the best way to go.’ And so that was our thrust from, I'd say, late ‘73 until the time the charter passed in ‘76.

Grant: Hmm. Yeah. Well, thank you for that. I just have one more question in this time period, and then I wanted to just ask you about what you think of Butte in the current day, in the year 2020. But my final question for the sixties and seventies is: do you see a connection between all of the major arson fires, the fires uptown, police corruption, and the desire of the Anaconda Company to mine the hill.

Micone: Of the what?

Grant: The desire of the Anaconda company to mine the Butte hill.

Micone: Oh yeah.

Grant: Are those things connected at all in your mind?

Micone: That was - for about a three, maybe four year period- that was a difficult time for Butte, and for me personally. Because I think the first major fire was Penney’s, which, if I remember correctly, started out as an arson fire. So alright, the buildings, the Penney's building caught fire and that's bad enough, but then it went ahead to destroy a half a block in either direction, destroyed businesses. And that was really difficult. Well then you follow that up with the Medical Arts building fire a year later, or thereabouts, and that destroyed another half a block in either direction. The Pennsylvania Building fire, and the fire at - I can't remember the name of the building up on Granite Street - those were all major fires, and they were difficult to deal with. And particularly having to deal with what it does to the people who not only worked or lived there, but for the whole community. Because then all of a sudden, you know, we're seeing our city burn out. Whether it's coincidence or not, we lost some major pieces of property in the city. We were fortunate that at the time, there were working agreements between the city fire department and all the volunteer fire departments, and they all came to assist. And so without their assistance, I'm guessing those fires would've been worse than they actually were, but those are trials that you put up with. And, you know, who knew at the time where we would be going? We had hoped that those fires - that somebody would've built on those locations right away.

Well, now the Medical Arts building has a new building with Northwestern Energy. And down on Park Street where the fire was and destroyed three or four businesses, I guess they made a park there now. So the community has dealt with it, but I can tell you - for four years, it was a difficult time, because people get discouraged and they feel as though they've been let down. But that's - that's life. And we dealt with those issues and I think the city has overcome them.

[02:16:27]

Grant: So if we can jump to the present day - do you follow politics in Butte anymore?

Micone: Uh, I don't really follow it. Every now and then, you know. I still have nephews and nieces in Butte and, in talking with them, I ask him about what's happening in politics. Don Peoples and I used to communicate occasionally, when we ran into one another, about the condition of Butte. And there were times that we both said, ‘boy, I wish things were going the way they were when we were in charge.’ And we get up to visit Butte once a year. And just viewing the condition of the streets in some of the residential areas is depressing. You know, and I recognize they're hamstrung again with finances. But I don't know if they prioritize or not, but you've gotta prioritize and take care of areas where the residents live, along with the major arterials. So, I get a little depressed when I go there. I have to tell you, I particularly got depressed when I drive up to the area where I lived on West Granite and see my old house sitting on blocks - that it's been on blocks for I don't know how many years now, at least 10 years, probably 15 years.

That's the sort of thing that we tried to do away with during the Model Cities program, to get rid of structures that are sitting on blocks, to get rid of structures that are a fire hazard, or a health hazard. And so we demolished a lot of buildings during the Model Cities program. And we opened up some land for some - and then you sell the lots and hope somebody builds a house on 'em. So, I think we made quite a few improvements during Model Cities, And  with Model Cities money, we were able to lay out a plan for our road department to take care of areas and not just fill potholes. And we did that.

And, so now, you know, when I drive into some of the neighborhoods in Butte, I see a lot of potholes again, which is depressing. Overall, I think the city continues to survive and hopefully it's gonna continue to maintain itself and grow both in its physical appearance and economically. And that's all I guess we can do is give the local officials support and hope they can accomplish what they intend to.

Grant: Well Mr. Micone, thank you for your time today. I really appreciate you sharing all this with us.

Micone: Yeah, I appreciate it. When is your project gonna be completed?

Grant: It'll be completely done in April of 2021.

Micone: Oh, okay.

Grant: And so, at that time we'll have an event, recapping everything we've done. And all these materials will be available on a website. Um, do you use email?

Micone: You're gonna have a website?

Grant: Yeah. Do you have an email address?

Micone: Yeah.

Grant: Okay. What is that? And I'll be sure and send this over to you so you can take a look.

Micone: Okay. It's [gives email address]

Grant: Okay, great. So I'll get that sent over to you and give you an idea of what the whole project entails.

Micone: Okay. So you'll have it available on a website.

Grant: Mm-hmm.

Micone: I'm just trying to think, if there's gonna be any CDs or whatever available?

Grant: I can send you CDs if you like.

Micone: Okay. Yeah. I'd appreciate it.

Grant: Sure. What's your mailing address?

Micone: [gives mailing address]

Grant: Okay. Thanks for that.

Micone: I hope I'm still around in 2021.

Grant: Why wouldn't you be?

Micone: Huh?

Grant: Why wouldn't you be? [laughs]

Micone: Well I'm 88 years old!

Grant: Well, you seem to be doing very well. You have a great memory. That's for sure.

Micone: Well, yeah. And I feel well, so I feel fortunate for that. You never know.

Grant: Yeah, that's true. Well, I thank you again. It was very illuminating to speak with you. Is James Murphy still alive?

Micone: Okay, Clark, and thank you. I appreciate your call.

Grant: Absolutely. We'll talk to you again.

Micone: All right. Bye now.

[phone hangs up]

[END OF RECORDING]