Thanks to the Bitterroot Star for standing up for the Montana constitution!
Judge Langton found that our commissioners violated our constitution, statutory law and their contracted obligations by not complying with “the spirit of the law or the intention of the law” to allow public participation at a public meeting.
At this meeting, the commissioners awarded a developer $675,000 of our money with little to no opportunity for us to even comment. The county had received a copy of a signed settlement agreement on Tuesday, May 6 and Commissioner Chilcott placed it on the agenda for May 12. He did not post the agenda for the public meeting on the 7th or on the 8th. It was not until 4:30 PM on Friday the 9th that he posted the agenda for the Monday May 12th 8:30 AM meeting, a mere one business hour before the meeting.
While technically following the legal 3 day notice law for open meetings, Commissioner Chilcott’s actions are extremely suspect. Judge Langton apparently thinks so too. Why would they do that unless they wanted to avoid public participation?
Judge Langton found no evidence that the meeting could not have been scheduled for later in the week with better public notice. Wouldn’t they want to hear from you and others in the community and do all that they could to publicize this important and expensive settlement?
We, the county citizens, have paid $500,000 of the $675,000 to these developers (Big Sky Development, Inc). The remaining $175,000 is on your tax statement. See “Judgement levy” on your tax bill. I’m wondering if the county is still on the hook for that. I hope not as this settlement was done without our consent.
Those of us that have followed the actions of the previous commission, three of whom are still in office, are no longer surprised by their actions, just continually disappointed.
Amazingly, the county’s lawyer, Howard Recht, argued that because a reporter and the developer’s lawyers were present at that early morning meeting they are “members of the public and thus members of the public did attend the public meeting.” This is from a lawyer that we employ to protect our best interests.
Commissioner Burrows stated that he didn’t think that Judge Langton “understood our process.” I think that he understood perfectly and found that our commission violated our civil rights, our ability to participate in our government. The fact that the meeting was put to public notice a mere one business hour before the meeting occurred speaks volumes about the “process.”
On those occasions that public meetings have been properly noticed and have had a very high public turnout with strong opposition to their plans including days of testimony by the public, water specialists, wildlife experts, scientists and other professionals, they still made decisions decidedly at odds with the public. Think Legacy Ranch (another illegal decision as determined by a different judge last week), refusing Title X funds, throwing out our existing flood plain regulations, etc.
We as Americans and Bitterrooters have the right to overthrow our government every four years. Two commissioner seats will be open in two years. Will we again re-elect people who so obviously do not listen at public meetings and circumvent the spirit and intention of our laws and Montana’s constitution?
Andy Roubik
Corvallis