History may be the best indication of where things go from here.
Property rights groups opposed Flathead County Commissioner Gary Hall in the 2008 Republican primary, and he lost to Jim Dupont by more than a 2-to-1 margin. Some of those same groups campaigned against Kalispell Mayor Pam Kennedy in 2009, and she lost to Tammi Fisher by more than 25 percentage points. While these results can’t be wholly contributed to discontent among local conservatives, they shouldn’t be discounted either.
I wonder who may be targeted next now that a third-party investigation of the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office released last week cleared its office and its personnel of wrongdoing. Since the findings were made public, many of those same people who pressured the commission to the launch the probe are dismissing the results as a consequence of a “rigged” system.
The obvious question: Who to blame for the rigging?
Flathead County commissioners hired a private investigator in July to look into allegations of illegal activity within the county’s planning and zoning department. At the time, Republican Commissioner Dale Lauman said, “I think it adds credibility to hire someone from outside our system do it.” Fellow Republican Jim Dupont agreed and Moonlighting Detective Agency was hired to get to the bottom of the matter.
But after a six-month investigation, the agency concluded: “The bottom line is my belief at this point is that the county of Flathead is very fortunate to have the professionals it does in the Planning Office, and that includes their director, Mr. Jeff Harris.”
The findings have done little to appease those – specifically at American Dream Montana – who allege that county officials, from commissioners to attorneys, chronically break land-use laws.
“Such a conclusion regarding Mr. Harris and his office can only be based on political considerations, not the preponderance of evidence presented to the county commission that led to the county’s undertaking of the investigation in the first place,” American Dream Chairman Russell Crowder said.
In other words, this is far from over.
It’s clear that property-rights groups will oppose the lone Democratic Commissioner Joe Brenneman – that is, if he decides to run for reelection this year – who said after the report was released last week, “Only someone who is asleep would believe what’s being said by American Dream Montana.” But will they also lose faith in Lauman and Dupont, who both expressed confidence in the investigation?
Lauman, whose term ends in 2012, is already falling out of favor with American Dream Montana, according to some of the group’s literature. And since Dupont hatched the plan to hire the detective agency to investigate Harris’ office, could he follow two years later? There have also been grumblings from the right over Republican Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan, who has been accused of providing cover for Harris and and is also up for reelection this year.
To be sure, American Dream Montana is not alone in criticizing the findings of Moonlighting Detective Agency. Mayor Fisher called it “incomprehensible that any person reviewing Mr. Harris’ course of dealings in Flathead County could conclude he is a ‘professional.’” She plans on filing lawsuits against the county backing up her assertions. When she is not presiding over city council meetings, Fisher works as a private attorney, often representing plaintiffs in land complaints.
Republicans hold nearly every elected position in Flathead County. That means many of them will be blamed for, and must respond to, the inevitable litigation. It may not matter. But when property-rights groups have joined forces in the past – taking aim at local candidates (regardless of party affiliation) blamed for overreaching planning policies, it certainly has mattered.