Star Editorial
It’s time for Stevensville Town Council President Bob Michalson to resign from office, again.
Michalson resigned from office the first time, saying he could no longer serve under a corrupt administration. He had been making repeated allegations about the mayor’s “illegal activities,” one after the other for months. All were unsubstantiated and either based on rumor or misinterpretations of the law. Some were rejected by the Town Attorney, some were rejected by the Commissioner of Political Practices, some were rejected by the County Attorney. The County Attorney warned Michalson that continuing to make unfounded charges against the mayor could itself be taken as a form of harassment under the law.
Allegations of bullying and harassment of Town staff were made against Michalson at that time and the situation was investigated by an independent attorney from Missoula. Her report identified Michalson’s behavior toward town staff as meeting the definition of bullying and harassment found in the Town’s Personnel Policy. But the policy contained no penalties for the behavior. She strongly suggested that Michalson apologize to the Town Clerk.
Michalson then delivered an apology at the next Town Council meeting. But he did not apologize for his behavior. Instead, he said he was sorry that the Clerk had misunderstood his behavior. With no real apology, it is not surprising that a $500,000 lawsuit was finally filed against the Town. That case is still pending. Lawyers are currently trying to reach a settlement in the case. But Michalson resigned soon after that.
When Michalson ran for office again and got elected, we all hoped that he had reflected upon things and perhaps learned a lesson.
Unfortunately, it now appears that he only came back to take up his old campaign against the mayor again and the Mayor’s staff are making identical complaints about his behavior.
If these allegations are true, is Michalson going to apologize this time? Or is he going to slip into denial again and possibly bring another half million dollar lawsuit down on the town? We wouldn’t be surprised if the attorneys for the Town’s insurer, MMIA, who are right now trying to work out a settlement with the last clerk, are pulling their hair out over this latest development.
We think it’s a bit late for an apology at this point. We think that Michalson should resign for the sake of the Town. The Town can’t afford a déjà vu on this kind of thing. With so many different, hard-working employees complaining, with an independent legal investigation confirming previous inappropriate conduct, why can’t Michalson admit it?
If you think about it, even if all the different people that have made allegations of bullying and harassment against him were wrong or mistaken, doesn’t it still reflect on Michalson’s behavior? The fact that his behavior is so commonly misunderstood over such an important issue should at least make him question his own effectiveness as a town official. He should resign for the sake of the town over such a string of misunderstandings.
If he won’t resign, then the council should send him home.