Our state seems full of elected officeholders who appear to view Montana law as a buffet — picking and choosing laws worthy of following and those to ignore. The Montana Legislature issued legally flawed subpoenas directing the Montana Supreme Court justices to turn over emails. When the court placed a pause on the subpoenas to examine their legitimacy, the attorney general informed the court that the Legislature would not acknowledge the court’s orders. Rather than following the process for requesting public records such as emails, the Legislature made up its own process — and predictably, that process failed because it failed to follow Montana law.
The Legislature set aside $200,000 of taxpayer dollars to purchase new chairs for the House and Senate. The old chairs are a part of Montana history. The Montana Historical Society reports: “These desks and chairs now used by House members are original not only to the current House Chamber which dates to 1912, most if not all of them were purchased as part of the furniture commissioned for the original building in 1902.” The chairs have affixed plaques signifying their historical significance. Montana law mandates all state property must be publicly auctioned. But the Legislature — both Democrats and Republicans — decided to auction off the historical chairs to themselves via a private, legislator-only auction. And they did so in blatant violation of Montana law: “An employee of the disposing agency directly involved with the disposal may not purchase supplies sold by the employee’s agency.” The media called attention to legislators selling Montana historical furniture to themselves. And in response, not a single legislator returned the historical chairs.
The antics of the Public Service Commission are highlighted by a recent audit report revealing misappropriation of ratepayer dollars and violations of Montana law and policy by commissioners and staff. And when called out for their shenanigans, neither of the two sitting Public Service Commissioners involved — Brad Johnson and Randy Pinocci — expressed shame, remorse, or endeavored to return the money.
Short-term self-interest of elected officials has become commonplace in Montana. And it’s our fault. As the voting public, we are now experiencing the consequences of having no standards for the folks who seek public office. Criminal record? No problem. Ethical lapses? Fine by us. Lack of integrity? Sure. No actual qualifications for the job? Okey dokey. Indeed, we now have a Legislature that has violated Montana law by retaining public property unto itself tasked with exercising oversight of the Public Service Commission that has basically done the same thing. Blatant disregard for the rule of law has revived the Copper King corruption that took Montanans years to purge from state government. Until we choose critical thinking over red meat political sound bites, we will continue to reap what we have sown.
Tammi Fisher is an attorney and former mayor of Kalispell.