Wow, quite the uproar in one of our area newspapers. Seems they believe that I have done all manner of evil deeds. Anything to sell newspapers, I guess.
I don’t respond to news articles or malicious blogs. They are so misleading and patently false, my time is better spent elsewhere. In this case, I am going to make an exception, in order to dispel the confusion that has been generated.
I never appointed Dave Tennant as city attorney, period.
His firm expressed interest in the appointment, but they wanted a three-month trial period to see if it was something they would like to try on a more permanent basis.
The city was in a serious situation of having to dismiss currently scheduled prosecutions because of speedy trial rights of the defendants. I hired their firm temporarily to make sure that didn’t happen. They have recently expressed their desire to accept the appointment and their appointment will be placed on the next meeting of council for their approval as per state code.
Some members of council had expressed a desire for more information, so in order to accomplish better communications with them I asked two of the newest members to lunch. It seems they were confused and shocked. They should have been confused, as they have only been on council a short time, and the depth of the issues we discussed (budget, revenues and how they are generated, water and wastewater department, etc.) are quite daunting. Yes, one other member of council was there along with our city administrator to help answer any questions that I might not have an answer to.
Three members of council do not constitute a quorum to conduct business, by statute, period.
The mayor has no vote on council, by city charter, except to break a tie vote of the members. The two who were shocked by this were mistaken concerning the alleged “illegal meeting,” which is understandable considering their short tenure on council.
I will not, I repeat not, tender my resignation nor be intimidated by a threat of a recall election based on false and inaccurate accusations by a small group of individuals hell-bent on destroying anyone who gets in their way. I will confess that council proceedings have not been a fun time for me, either. There is much stress involved for my family while I have done my best to try to steer the council down a path away from those who only live in controversy. Ultimately, my goal is to see Libby prosper.
I would like to close this statement by saying, “thank you” to everyone who has communicated their support for me. It is much appreciated and helps considerably in our efforts to make Libby a better place.
Doug Roll, mayor
Libby