Page 23 - Flathead Beacon // 4.1.15

FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS APRIL 1, 2015 | 23 The Roundup
From Beacon wire and news services
FLATHEAD
COUNTY SEARCHING FOR NEW PLANNING DIRECTOR
Flathead County is searching for a new planning director, now that cur- rent director BJ Grieve is stepping down from the position to take on a new role within the department.
According to the Flathead County Human Resources Department, applica- tions for the planning director job must have been in by March 27. The position was officially open on March 3. Starting pay is $67,103 per year.
Grieve said in an email to the Bea- con that he will fill the vacant Planner III-Senior Planner position with the de- partment. The decision to change jobs is largely based on Grieve wanting to spend more time with his young chil- dren, he said.
“I’ve been in the Planning Direc- tor position for 4-1/2 years and I feel like my tenure has simply run its natu- ral course,” Grieve wrote. “I went into it with eyes wide open that the position isn’t necessarily a sustainable, career- length gig, but I love this office and this community too much to resign.”
Grieve was tapped as the county’s planning and zoning director after for- mer director Jeff Harris’ contract was not renewed in 2010. He began work in the county planning department in 2004, during the real estate develop- ment boom.
Under his tenure as planning direc- tor, the county has gone through signifi- cant changes, including taking control of the jurisdictional area surrounding Whitefish known as the doughnut, a large update of the county’s zoning reg- ulations, and new floodplain maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Staying with the department will al- low him to use the knowledge he’s gained in the last decade, Grieve said, and he will provide as much help as possible to the new director.
MOTHER OF LIBBY SHOOTING VICTIM CRITICAL OF COUNTY ATTORNEY’S DECISION
The mother of a Kalispell man who was shot and killed in December claims the Lincoln County Attorney did a “slop- py job” investigating the incident.
Ferrial Roloff expressed frustration in Lincoln County Attorney Bernard Cassidy’s decision not to press charges against Lois Olbekson, the Libby woman who shot and killed, Michael Roloff, the husband of Olbekson’s daughter.
In a letter to Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe, Cassidy wrote last month that his investigation found Olbekson
had acted in self-defense when she shot Michael Roloff in her driveway.
“The County Attorney is overloaded and he didn’t do his job and so he’s try- ing to push this under the rug,” Ferrial Roloff told the Beacon. “He’s pretending that this did not happen, but it did. My son is still dead.”
On Dec. 26, the Lincoln County Sher- iff’s Office received a report of a shooting on Glendora Avenue in Libby. When po- lice arrived, officers found Michael Rol- off lying unresponsive in the driveway. According to Cassidy, the investigation found that Roloff was threatening Ol- bekson, his wife, Meagan Cody, and oth- ers in the home in the hours before the shooting.
Cody and Roloff were married for six years but were in the process of getting separated. The couple had a troubled re- lationship and Roloff was abusive and vi- olent in the past, according to Cassidy’s letter and documents in the Flathead County District Court.
Evidence at the scene of the shooting suggested that Roloff had lunged toward Olbekson moments before he was shot and killed. Montana Code Annotated states that someone is justified to use force “likely to cause death or serious bodily harm” if the person reasonably believes their life is in danger.
The county attorney sent the case in early March to the Montana Attorney General’s Prosecution Services Bureau for review. Cassidy wrote that after con- sulting with Assistant Attorney General Brent Light, he decided against charging Olbekson with homicide.
“Although this is not an easy decision to make, a prosecutor’s duty is to follow the law and seek the truth. A prosecutor is also ethically forbidden from charging an offense when he or she does not be- lieve beyond a reasonable doubt that the evidence and the law will support a con- viction,” Cassidy wrote. “While I under- stand that the loss of a loved one is never easy on anyone and many will not agree or be happy with this decision, I will not file charges against Lois Olbekson.”
Ferrial Roloff said she plans to take legal action following the decision.
VIRGINIA MAN FOUND DEAD IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK
The body of a 40-year-old man from Virginia Beach, Virginia was discovered March 24 in a vehicle parked along the Going-to-the-Sun Road about one mile from the foot of Lake McDonald in Gla- cier National Park.
According to Denise Germann, man- agement assistant at Glacier National Park, said an initial investigation in- dicates the man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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