John Scott Engen (October 27, 1964 – August 15, 2022) was an American politician and journalist who served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ; fla, label=Salish language, Séliš, Nłʔay, lit=Place of the Small Bull Trout, script=Latn; kut, Tuhuⱡnana, script=Latn) is a city in the U.S. state of Montana; it is the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, Missoula Cou ...

, from 2006 until his death in 2022.

Early life and education

Engen was born in Missoula in October 27, 1964. He attended public schools in Missoula before earning a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

Career

Before serving as mayor, Engen served on the Missoula City Council, worked as a journalist and newspaper editor, and operated a small business. In 2013, Engen and the City of Missoula initiated a legal process to use

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

to require the city's privately held water utility be sold to the city. In June 2015, after a 10-day trial, the Fourth Judicial District Court found that the City of Missoula had the right to use eminent domain to acquire Mountain Water Co. The decision was appealed to the

Montana Supreme Court The Montana Supreme Court is the supreme court, highest court of the state court system in the U.S. state of Montana. It is established and its powers defined by Article VII of the 1972 Montana Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court wh ...

, which issued an opinion upholding the district court order on August 2, 2016. During the 2008 presidential election campaign, Engen endorsed

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. In 2015, Engen was criticized after the city council approved adding

morbid obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

surgeries to city health insurance coverage. At the time Engen refused all comment to local media on his involvement or benefit from the change. Later that year, Engen again refused to speak to the press but released a letter to the community stating he had undergone

bariatric surgery Bariatric surgery (or weight loss surgery) includes a variety of procedures performed on people who are obese. Long term weight loss through the standard of care procedures ( Roux en-Y bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and biliopancreatic diversion ...

on October 19 and was recuperating at home. He confirmed his insurance had paid all but $3,200 of the surgery costs, but refuted critics by saying his surgery would "not add to anyone's tax bill." In October 2016, Engen took a month off work to enter a rehabilitation program for alcohol addiction.

Personal life

Engen died on August 15, 2022, at the age of 57 from pancreatic cancer. Engen left behind his long time partner Lucy Guthrie Beighle and her two children Allison and Calvin Beighle John Scott Engen
obituary

References

External links

Missoula Mayor
Official Government Website
Engen for Mayor
Campaign Website
Fans of Missoula Mayor John Engen
Campaign Fansite * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engen, John 1964 births 2022 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer Montana city council members Mayors of Missoula, Montana Montana Democrats University of Montana alumni