The mayor of Libby and five current and former city councilors have filed a petition for judicial review against the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices nearly a year after Jonathan Motl accused them of violating election laws.
The lawsuit, filed in Lincoln County District Court last week, alleges that Motl misinterpreted state laws and unfairly targeted Mayor Doug Roll and five councilors when he accused them of supporting a lawsuit against then-mayoral candidate Allen Olsen in 2013. Vicky Lawrence, Bill Bischoff, Barb Desch, Peggy Williams and Robin Benson are named as petitioners along with Roll.
In 2013, just weeks before the November election, then-city attorney James Reintsma filed a lawsuit against councilmen Olsen who was running against Roll at the time. In the lawsuit, Reintsma alleged that Olsen did not live in the city of Libby and thus could not run for mayor. The election went forward anyway and Roll beat Olsen by just 13 votes.
During a trial in 2014, a Lincoln County judge determined that Olsen did indeed live in the city at the time of the election. Less than a month after the decision, former council candidate Arlen Magill filed a political practices complaint against the city attorney, arguing that Reintsma broke election laws.
In May 2015, Motl issued his ruling that stated that not only had Reintsma violated the law but so to had Roll and five members of the council. According to the lawsuit filed last week, Motl offered to settle the accusations for $5,000 from each person named in the decision.
In the petitioners’ lawsuit, they insist that they never directed Reintsma (who has since moved on to another job) to sue Olsen prior to the election. They also note that the lawsuit is the only way for them to responsd since there is no appeals process for decisions made by the Commissioner of Political Practices.