The debate over the residency of a Libby city councilor – and whether he can serve in city government – is heading for a courtroom.
Last October, just days before the mayoral election between incumbent Doug Roll and councilor Allen Olsen, the city of Libby filed a lawsuit alleging the councilor did not live in the city and thus could not run for mayor or serve on the council. City Attorney James Reintsma filed an injunction in hopes of stopping the election but the request was overruled and the election went forward. Roll won by just 13 votes. Now, 10 months later, the case is heading for court on Aug. 26, when city officials hope that a judge will determine Olsen’s residency status once and for all.
Reintsma said Olsen’s residency issue is a legal matter and that “no one should be able to make policy if they are not impacted by it.” But Olsen believes the lawsuit is politically motivated.
“A blind man can see that Doug Roll set this all up,” Olsen said. “That’s what happens when you’re dealing with a bunch of drunken liars and crooks.”
Olsen’s harsh words for Libby’s mayor are nothing new. The two men have had a troubled relationship ever since Olsen was elected to the city council in November 2011.
In 2012, Roll refused to formally put Olsen on any committees because he alleged the councilor did not live within city limits. Then, in 2013, Olsen blasted Roll for fixing a city-owned truck at his garage. Roll said no other garage was able to make the repair quickly but later reimbursed the city. A few months later, Olsen and Roll butted heads again over the lease of a city-owned asphalt zipper. Then in September 2013, City Attorney Reintsma threatened Olsen with censure after he continued to criticize the work of a local water irrigation company during city council meetings. Olsen owns a tree nursery that also does water work. And finally, Reintsma filed an injunction again Olsen and his candidacy for mayor, alleging he did not live in the city. All the while, city council meetings in Libby have been filled with bickering and outbursts between Olsen and the other councilors.
The lawsuit, filed in October of last year, states that on June 29, 2011, Olsen changed his residential address on his voter registration from 33692 U.S. Highway 2, which is the location of Olsen’s Antler Tree Nursery just a few hundred feet from the Libby city limits, to 703 Louisiana Ave. On the same day, Olsen filed to run for city council. He was elected to the council that November.
Olsen says he rents a home on Louisiana Avenue and lives in it most of the year, except during the summer, when he is busy at his nursery just outside of town. Reintsma said evidence shows Olsen does not live at his rental and that he only pays $1 a month to its landlord.
According to court documents, Olsen said on at least two occasions that he lived at his house just outside of town and on one occasion, at a child custody hearing, he said it had been his home “for life.” And in October 2013, Jamie Britton, Olsen’s former campaign treasurer and ex-girlfriend with whom he has a 2-year-old son, filed an affidavit claiming that the councilman had “continually lied about his Libby city residence to qualify for both city council and mayoral elections and that he has never lived at the Louisiana property.”
Olsen disputes the city’s evidence and said an affidavit from an “angry ex-girlfriend” doesn’t mean anything. He called Britton a “compulsive liar.” Olsen is counter suing to have the city pay for his attorney and legal fees.
Although Olsen said the lawsuit is politically motivated, Reintsma said he has received numerous complaints from citizens concerning Olsen’s residency status.
“We just want an answer of whether or not Olsen lives in the city, that’s it,” Reintsma said. “If the court decides that he is a resident then that’s the end of it.”