The unions representing Flathead County Sheriff’s Office employees held a debate for three candidates for sheriff on May 5. But a last-minute decision by incumbent Sheriff Mike Meehan to opt out has added another dimension to a race that will be determined by the Republican primary election on June 8.
The debate was scheduled to include all three candidates for office – Meehan, Chuck Curry and Lance Norman – at the Red Lion Inn in Kalispell. Representing the non-sworn sheriff’s employee union at the debate, Mike McGilvary read a statement from Meehan that said he would not be attending.
Before proceeding, McGilvary said he had been called into Meehan’s office at 3:15 p.m. that day and was asked to present the statement to the union members.
According to McGilvary, the sheriff’s request put him in an “awkward situation” and Meehan’s words did not reflect his union’s beliefs.
In the statement, Meehan wrote that he had already attended a non-public candidate debate held by the unions in March.
“Thereafter, the union leadership chose to engage in a pattern of conduct unbecoming any political campaign – a pattern of conduct I neither support nor condone. Because of their antics, integrity would have it that I decline participation in any event associated with political tactics that undermine our political system, slander fellow colleagues, and otherwise seek to falsely inflame the public for political gain,” Meehan wrote. “I have not ever engaged in such tactics, and I will not support the same by attending the May 5, 2010 ‘debate.’”
Meehan added that the public is welcome to contact his office directly.
Flathead County Deputies Union President Dave Kauffman said he was disappointed and confused by Meehan’s decision not to attend.
“We had originally scheduled that venue around Meehan’s schedule,” Kauffman said after the debate.
The sheriff and his deputies have been publicly at odds as of late, with the release of a vote of “no confidence” from 74 percent of the sworn employees who responded and 80 percent of unsworn employees. Anonymous letters connected with the vote claim Meehan uses uneven discipline and that his leadership style lacks transparency.
Meehan has refuted many of those accusations and questioned the timing of the no confidence vote, saying it was politically motivated. The sheriff also said he would not comment further on the situation because he does not wish to “further the controversy.”
“That’s why I wrote the statement and I stand by it,” Meehan said in an interview after the forum. “It’s my goal to move on and do the job that Flathead County taxpayers elected me to do.”
Curry and Norman also expressed disappointment that Meehan chose not to attend the forum, which drew an audience of roughly 100 people. Curry, a former undersheriff, said the audience would have benefited from Meehan’s presence.
“It was great that we had a good turnout,” Curry said after the debate. “I think people came to hear all the candidates speak. I’m sad that they didn’t get the opportunity.”
Norman, a patrol sergeant from Whitefish, said he too had hoped the public could hear from all three candidates and that it could have been an opportunity for people to ask questions about recent events.
“I think that just kind of reaffirms what’s going on in the office,” Norman said. “I don’t think it was the wisest decision.”
Questions in the debate ranged from the possible centralized agency to track sex offenders in the Flathead to the state of deputy morale to the office’s budget. Kauffman said he believes the questions were fairly balanced and that none would have made the sheriff uncomfortable.
Kauffman added that he was not offended that the sheriff did not show up, but echoed Norman’s stance that it gives the public an accurate picture of the sheriff’s office. He also asserted that the vote of no confidence was not a political ploy.
“We just want the public to be informed and it’s so important because this election is going to be decided by the primary,” Kauffman said, adding that Meehan would receive a copy of the forum’s questions as well as video of the candidates’ answers.
Absentee ballots for the primary election are available from May 10 to noon on June 7. The elections take place on June 8.