Letters To The Editor
Dear Editor:
Above the law, I don’t know!
At the Roosevelt County commissioners’ meeting on April 27, 2021, I asked Commissioner Oelkers if they, the commissioners, had violated the Montana Constitution, Article II, Sections 8 and 9. They received a letter from Attorney Meloy of the Montana Freedom of Information Hotline, Inc., stating just that. I repeatedly asked the commissioners if they had violated the Montana Constitution and was told, “I don’t know.”
Article II, Section 8: Right of Participation. The public has the right to expect governmental agencies to afford such reasonable opportunity for citizen participation in the operation of the agencies prior to the final decision as may be provided by law.
Section 9: Right to Know. No person shall be deprived of the right to examine documents or to observe the deliberation of all public bodies or agencies of state government and its subdivisions except in cases in which the demand of the individual property clearly exceeds the merits of public disclosure.
Because this item for discussion only appeared on the agenda the morning of the meeting I asked Commissioner Oelkers how this item got on the agenda and when they decided to put it on. I was told that they had discussed it prior to the meeting. To get a timeline of the events, I asked when they had this discussion. The answer, “I don’t know.”
When I asked how the $1,000 amount was determined for the stipend we were told, “I don’t know.” Later, we were told it was based on what other groups had done. In other words, there were no rational bases for anything related to the county. For public information, it costs us taxpayers to provide salary and benefits for Commissioner Oelkers $100,343 per year, Commissioner Nygard’s $90,041 per year and Commissioner Macdonald $89,441 per year. The extra $1,000 they gave themselves of your money sure must really helped them struggle through the pandemic. The information was provided me by the Clerk and Recorders Office.
We have been repeatedly told that this money is unrestricted so why isn’t it shared with all taxpayers, it is taxpayers” money? I don’t know.
Almost everyone in Roosevelt County has been affected by the pandemic, some a lot more than those receiving this taxpayer gift. As of Friday, April 30, 2021, there were 1,625 reported positive cases of coronavirus and 55 deaths in Roosevelt County.
It would be nice to think that the public can put their trust in the commissioners to do what is best for all citizens/ taxpayers that elected them. What do you think? “I don’t know.”
Bill Juve
