Although the county’s Public Health Officer Dr. Carol Calderwood announced in a widely distributed email which was also sent to the press, her intention to resign in two weeks, the Board of Health, at a meeting on Tuesday, July 28, decided to hold the resignation in abeyance until a fully oriented and trained replacement is on board. Calderwood agreed to the arrangement.
Calderwood had expressed in her letter of resignation a willingness to help the Board in the transition process. Board members Dr. Michael Turner and Roger DeHaan expressed doubt about being able to do that in two weeks and that a longer transition period would be necessary. A three-month transition period was proposed but then dropped. It was decided to leave the exact time-frame open and agreed to simply accept the resignation once a suitable replacement had been selected and received the required orientation and training.
County Commissioner Jeff Burrows expressed some reluctance, saying he wanted to make sure that if she was going to continue to serve for some indefinite period that she was really committed to the job.
“I just want to make sure if you are in, that you are all in,” said Burrows.
Calderwood said that she understood his concerns and then said, “I’m all in.”
Although public comment was supposed to be limited to a discussion of the Public Health Officer position and not get off on topics like wearing and not wearing masks, members of the public insisted on broadening the discussion. Many complained about the governor’s latest masking order and were critical of Calderwood for “blindly” accepting it. Some called the whole emergency a hoax. One constant refrain was that the situation was not a medical issue but a political issue and called for a political solution, not a medical one.
Alan Lackey, for instance, said that so many businesses had been closed in the state that “the cure has become worse than the illness.” He too called for a political solution, saying, “We need someone not associated with outside people like the Governor and the CDC.”
Some medical solutions were also discussed, however. The controversial alternative medical treatment using Hydroxychloriquine, promoted and used by President Trump, and the health establishment’s refusal to endorse it, was also a recurrent theme. As was the notion that the CDC was giving out exaggerated numbers about the crisis.
Some of the public spoke in strong support of Dr. Calderwood and praised the work she has been able to accomplish and asked her to reconsider and stay on. Others insisted that her expertise and experience were invaluable in moving forward and she should at least be kept on until a new officer could be fully trained.
Deputy County Attorney Royce McCarty was called upon to explain the interweaving layers of authority involved in managing the COVID-19 crisis. He said the Governor had the legal authority under Montana law under Title 10 and Title 50 to declare a state of emergency. He said that under the public health laws that the governor did have the power to issue mandates and direct the local Public Health Officer to enforce it at the local level. So Calderwood has exercised that directive twice, he said. Once when she issued the stay at home order and once when she cancelled the county fair.
Local legislative Representative David Bedey said that a lot of the vitriol being expressed towards Dr. Calderwood and the Board of Health was misplaced. He said the problem really lies with the legislature, who gave the governor this kind of authority.
“I’m not happy with giving the governor absolute authority for an emergency of undetermined length,” he said. “We never imagined an emergency that would last an indefinite amount of time. We need to make it short term.” He also noted that once someone was granted this kind of power it was “hard to take it back.” He said it would take a bi-partisan effort to overturn the likely veto from the Governor if they did try to change it.
“In the meantime, though,” said Bedey, “we need to live under the rule of law. We need to change the law and not beat up on the board members who are following the law.”
Commissioner Burrows said that the current solution was “worse than the problem.” He doesn’t wear a mask and says it’s because he is “not afraid of Covid.” But, he said, Dr. Calderwood was being made a sacrificial lamb or scapegoat by people. He said that from working with her from the beginning he was certain that she was not operating out of any political agenda. He said, “We need someone to stand up against the commissioners and maybe against the Board and do what is right.” He did say, though, that he didn’t think Calderwood was in it for the long term, but that she was willing to help transition and they should take her up on it, “whether it takes two weeks or four months.”
The board finally voted unanimously to place the resignation in abeyance until a qualified replacement could be found and given the necessary orientation and training. It was also decided to appoint Public Health Nurse Tiffany Webber as Interim Public Health Nurse Director to replace Karyn Johnston who also resigned last week. The county will be advertising for a permanent replacement.