Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Opinion & Editorial

by Bob Frost, Lorraine Crotty, Ellen Prosser, Dave Snell, Hamilton

Montana Law requires that a municipality prepare an "annual financial report" within six months of closing each fiscal year, and this report is filed with the State of Montana in Helena. Audits are only required if the city receives funds, like grants, over $200,000.

For over 10 years now, CPA Terry Burke, who always finds "no material flaws" in any of the financials he has audited, has audited Hamilton's books. Why then did Elmore & Associates of Missoula find so many problems with the Hamilton financials during the only year Mr. Burke was unavailable to do the audit? This was the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, and we attended that "audit exit conference," as did many other citizens, in March 2005.

We became really interested in the year-end reporting during that audit. What was revealed then is that the auditing firm, Elmore & Associates, hired by the city of Hamilton, made numerous corrections to the city's books in order to make the audit "free of material misstatements." In other words, the auditors themselves cleaned up the books. What is disturbing about this is that it is considered an acceptable accounting practice. We watched this six-month process up close, because we occupied an office in city hall right next to the auditors, and we spoke with them often.

Total actual expenditures for 2004-05 were $5.4 million. The auditors made corrections of more than $5 million. This immediately told most of us in attendance that the "appointed treasurer" was not competent to handle the finances of the City of Hamilton. So instead of firing the "appointed treasurer," Mayor Petrusaitis promptly fired the auditors (Elmore). All that was reported to you, the Hamilton taxpayer, is that the city books are in "decent shape."

The main finding of this particular audit, and one that has plagued the city for many years, is that the city has "inadequate internal financial controls" in that there is no segregation of duties. Only one person controls all of the financial functions of the city, including check writing and signing, purchasing, payables, receivables, and all account reporting. With no oversight, or checks and balances, no wonder the books continue to be in such shambles, and impossible to decipher by the average person.

Then we get to the latest audit for the year ending June 30, 2005. Once again we have Mr. Terry Burke on board, and once again, the books are supposedly squeaky clean, except for "a number of reporting errors" in the annual financial report. What about all those recommendations from Mr. Burke regarding lack of accounting oversight, problems in payroll and payables, accrual, incorrect receivables accounts, negative cash balances reported incorrectly, understated capital assets, city council minutes incorrectly recorded, cash not insured by FDIC, misclassification of accounts, clearing accounts not in agreement, and city court receivables not correct. How can our books be squeaky clean with all these problems?

To us, these findings are significant and serious. Yet how many of you folks even knew the audit had taken place even though this is your money and you have a right to participate? The latest audit was never advertised in the newspaper, never informed the citizens beforehand and was never even presented to the full council. What happened to the former "council work session" where citizens would attend, ask questions and make comments? Why was this conducted in secret? Only one citizen was in attendance, and when he asked what was going on, Jerry Steele told him that this was "just a preliminary meeting." Then why was there never a "final meeting?" To this day, few people know the condition of the city books for the last fiscal year.

If Hamilton had an elected Treasurer who reports to the citizens, instead of the mayor, a lot of things would change here. For one, the Treasurer is obligated to make periodic reports to the people. As it stands now, the citizens of Hamilton have not had a Financial Report presented to them by the Treasurer for many, many years. That is because the illegally appointed financial department works for the mayor, who has historically been dumbfounded by the financials, and sees no benefit in reporting numbers to the people. That's another reason we need an elected Treasurer, folks.

And by the way, Elmore & Associates presented a bill for $43,000 for the audit they performed, and as yet have only collected $22,500 from the City of Hamilton. No wonder they won't come back. Our reputation stinks all over the state and now you know at least one of the reasons why.

Thanks to Marcus Daly Home Health

I would like to thank Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital's Home Health Department for the excellent care they gave my friend during December. In spite of bad country roads, at least one of their members came to the house each day and saw that the patient was made comfortable, medically tested when necessary, and evaluated properly for future care. Ravalli County is lucky to have this group of dedicated persons.

Helen Thrasher
Stevensville

Present commissioners make biased triumvirate

Dear Editor,

During his last eight years as Ravalli County Commissioner, Alan Thompson has exhibited arrogant, pompous and priggish attitudes towards his constituents.

Early in his first term, I was one of his more ardent supporters. I was impressed with his stand on starting the Growth Policy process, that hot summer evening in the Hamilton Community Center, when he said, "We will have a growth policy in this valley. It will be citizen-driven, a bottom up policy, crafted by you. Focus groups will be established throughout the valley to gather input." This was in response to the failed "Vision 20-20" policy that the planning board had done. I was very hopeful after that meeting.

He has made several major gaffes along the way, however. His true colors started to show when he had a hissy-fit before the Republican Central Committee. "You didn't elect me, my church did." He also took an active role in the 10-hour marathon parsing, reworking and generally splitting hairs reworking the citizens' growth policy, literally gutting it. He also had a role in the stacking of the planning board into a more development-friendly board with the introduction of a developer/builder, mortgage banker, and real estate agents, whose interests were not in planning but in rubber stamp approval and dollar signs. Since his tenure in office, in addition to the rejection of the most recent subdivision, Aspen Springs near Florence, only one other subdivision has been denied, that being Bridle Ridge up Hamilton Heights.

Thompson even had the audacity to reject the reappointment of LaRue Moorhouse to the planning board. His words, "She has an agenda. I don't like environmentalists." Well, Mr. Thompson, who better than someone who believes in following the six criteria: public health and safety, threats to wildlife, loss of prime agriculture land, etc. LaRue Moorhouse was one of the few who took her job seriously, sitting by the side of the road in the early hours of the morning doing traffic counts.

To further push the pro-development agenda of the Board of Commissioners, Howard Lyons was given a seat on the planning board. Yes, the same Howard Lyons who was elected as Commissioner in November. Howard's career on the planning board can only be described as lackluster. He never took an active role, and had to be prompted by fellow board members. "Now this is what we're voting on Howard, do you agree or not agree?"

Since Howard Lyons has now become the subject of this discourse, and his claim at a candidate forum at the Hamilton Middle School, "I am the Mormon candidate for this office," I make this suggestion to Mr. Lyons: Please have the county attorney research whether the following MCAs are applicable to your situation: 2-2-103, 104, 105, 106, 121, 131, 144. These laws deal with public trust-public duty, ethical requirements, disclosure, rules of conduct and enforcement. It is possible that you may be forced to read a disclosure statement. I think that these laws are applicable to your situation, Mr. Lyons, because your wife, Layna Lyons, is Executive Officer for the Bitterroot Valley Board of Realtors. I'm no legal beagle, but for your own sake, check it out.

Now to the last major disappointment occupying a chair, that being Greg Chilcott. Mr. Chilcott's colors came to light very early on during a meeting concerning allocating funds to redo the entrance to the Ravalli County Fairgrounds, with the architect and the fair manager present. Mr. Chilcott said, "I think that we should sell the fairgrounds and turn it over to development." He has also said, "My job is to help people develop their land," and "I talk to Realtors because they are the only ones making money off the land."

In my opinion none of the three is worthy of re-election. If there is an agenda, they all have it, denying the people a level playing field, not making fair, impartial, objective decisions and having a bias toward development, no matter what the impacts are. The six criteria for subdivision review and the subdivision regulations be damned. It would be so easy to not be seen chit-chatting with developers and Realtors before and after a hearing.

Ultimately, it makes no difference whether there are three or five commissioners, if the word "public" is not restored to public servants.

Abraham Lincoln said it best (a Republican, I believe): "Government of the people, by the people and for the people." We in the Bitterroot now have the opportunity to elect County Commissioners who will serve our interest - the public interest.

Marc Vadheim
Hamilton

News looks good for Commissioner election

Dear Editor,

The news looks good for the County Commissioner election in April. The announced candidate list has real promise. The five commissioner initiative timing is just what is needed. In one voting cycle the people can get rid of the present commission and elect some apparently very well qualified new people selected from the best candidate pool we have seen in decades. The main goal as I see it is to clean out the deadwood now making up the commission. At the same time prevent the travesty of continuing the highest level of influence now enjoyed by the real estate lobby. In the last election we elected the husband of the Executive Officer of the Valley Board of Realtors. This never should have happened, but it did, continuing and actually upping the influence of the Board in the county government. In April the people have a rare second chance to make good our mistake. At the same time we can say goodbye to the most do-nothing commissioner in several decades. I'm referring to the commissioner who stated women should not be in government when he was a candidate and charged another candidate, a woman, with crimes and misdemeanors before she was elected. Here are two indicators of commission performance illustrating my point.

The County Commission has signed off on expansion plans for the County Airport. Back in the mid-nineties the bully Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) told the citizens of the county that the Federal Government would force airport expansion on us whether we liked it or not. This boast and threat turned into a reality even though the FAA doesn't own the airport. The County Commissioners who manage the airport for us the owners, without allowing the voters to have a say, agreed to do the bidding of the "Feds." Some time in the future we will find the taxpayers are stuck with a jetport with two runways, the longer one for corporate jet aircraft and the shorter one for light aircraft. I expect to see a corporate aircraft terminal on the eastern side of the expanded airport and a light aircraft terminal for the little guys who fly for the fun of it on the western side of the field. Although the idea is absurd, land developers are planning to build a residential community bordering the airport south of the runways under the airport traffic pattern and landing approaches for both runways. At the very least this sets the stage for inverse condemnation civil lawsuits that will bankrupt the County.

Lastly, in the mid-nineties I became aware that the Hamilton Trap Club was dumping lead shot on county property at an alarming rate. To date the Club has dumped over 400 tons of lead on county property, none of which can be accounted for. The State DEQ made it crystal clear an investigation was not their responsibility. The County Environmental Health Officer who worked for the County Commission did nothing before she "retired." The County Commissioners never responded to inquiries about the lead pollution realities. I know these cases are just the "tip of the iceberg" but as I wrote in the beginning, these are indicators. Optimistically, with the election of five new commissioners the people can look forward to leadership never experienced in the almost 30 years I have lived here. Reading about the up and coming candidates shows we can do much better and now is the time.

Earl Pollard
Hamilton

What's not to understand?

Dear Editor,

"Supplementary Report to the Ravalli County Board of Commissioners and Citizens of Ravalli County"

Is it possible that this letterhead did not get the Commissioners' attention enough to read it, or to the citizens to read it? This was sent to voters in the Voter Information pamphlet to all registered households to inform them, It was on line at www.bitterroot.org and in various libraries and in the Administration Building.

Quote from Supplementary Report: "Changes would trigger an election in April 07. Present Commissioners and the new elected Commissioner will be required to run for office again in the April election."

That is very plainly worded for even the present Commissioners to read and understand since this was written to them. We in Ravalli County voted to put in office five new people if we choose and the citizens have spoken.

That above statement is also in that same report restated under Concurrent Terms option: "In practice, we rarely vote for an entire new slate of candidates."

So if people missed it the first time it was followed up by the last statement.

In April 07 we in Ravalli County will see some changes that have long been needed.

Is Alan Thompson afraid he won't get reelected? Maybe he has good reason for not wanting to run.

Ruth Thorn
Stevensville

Voters weren't informed

Dear Editor,

After reading week after week concerning the five commissioners and whether all five should run for election in 2007 or not, I must respond. I for one read the information sent out with the sample ballot. There was nothing in the guide about commissioners already elected would have to run for office in 2007. I also attended the meeting in Darby to hear the County Government Review Committee present information on this issue. Never did they mention this part of the process. This is truly an injustice. Please don't accuse me of whining as I'm just stating the facts.

Bruceen (Peanut) Fleenor
Hamilton

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