Page 11 - Flathead Beacon // 9.14.16

NEWS
Doug Roll recently resigned as mayor of Libby after eight years. BEACON FILE PHOTO
Locally
Owned,
Locally Serviced
Embattled Libby Mayor Resigns
After years of turmoil, Libby Mayor Doug Roll steps down; Councilwoman Barb Desch also leaves council
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
Libby Mayor Doug Roll announced on Sept. 7 he will resign after eight years as that town’s highest-ranking elected o cial.
The mayor’s decision to step down comes after a tumultuous summer, when a group of local citizens and city coun- cil members tried to recall Roll, alleging that he had abused his power and vio- lated his oath of o ce. A judge dismissed that e ort earlier this month, ruling the mayor had never violated the law.
Despite that legal victory, Roll said that he had had enough and that he did not see a way for him to work with the current city council.
“These people don’t have a clue of how government works,” Roll told the Beacon. “This was a hard decision for me to make because I don’t like to quit things, but I just don’t see any hope for this council.”
In an email to other city councilors and local media, Roll said he was proud of what the city has accomplished in the eight years he was in o ce.
“I want to thank the employees of the city, past and present, who made my job much easier by providing advice, coop- eration and hard work,” Roll wrote. “Our nances are strong. Our city infrastruc- ture is in the best shape it has been in years.”
One of Roll’s most vocal opponents, city councilor Allen Olsen, said the resig- nation o ered the community a chance to move forward.
“This is the best thing that’s hap- pened to Libby in 20 years,” Olsen said. Tammy Brown, one of the organiz-
ers of the recall e ort, thanked Roll for stepping down and urged local resi- dents to step up and take control of city government.
“I want to thank Mayor Roll for tak- ing this course. He opened the door for the people of this city to make real and lasting change, now it’s up to us to do it,” she wrote. “As a community, we need to come together and work to make this city a place we can all be proud of.”
With Roll’s resignation, council presi- dent Brent Teske becomes acting mayor. Teske said the council is now accepting applications for mayor and anyone who wants to be considered should bring a letter of interest to Libby City Hall before Sept. 23. Soon after, the city coun- cil will hold a special meeting to select a new leader.
Teske told the Beacon on Sept. 8 that he plans on submitting his name for consideration.
Libby City Councilor Barb Desch also announced her resignation last week. When reached by the Beacon, Desch said that she and her husband were retired now and that she planned on traveling more. She said she was unable to dedi- cate more time to serving on the council.
Desch is the second council member to step down in a month. Dejon Raines announced her resignation in August after nding out she will become a mother next year. Last week, the Libby City Council appointed Gary Beach to
serve out the remainder of Dejon’s term. Roll was rst appointed to the Libby City Council in 2003 and later appointed mayor in 2008. He was rst elected
mayor in 2009.
Roll has long butted heads with
other city council members, speci cally Olsen, who was elected in 2011. In 2013, Olsen ran against Roll for the city’s top spot but lost by 13 votes. A year later, the Montana Commissioner of Politi- cal Practices alleged that Roll, former City Attorney James Reintsma and the Libby City Council possibly in uenced the 2013 mayoral election when the city led a lawsuit against Olsen alleging he was not a resident and thus could not run for mayor.
In 2015, Roll announced that he was running for city council as a “spoiler” in an e ort to unseat Olsen and make sure DC Orr and Arlen Magill, longtime crit- ics of the mayor, didn’t get a seat on the council.
The saga came to a head earlier this year when local resident Tammy Brown began collecting signatures to force a recall election against Roll. Brown and others alleged that Roll violated the Con- stitution and his oath of o ce when he unilaterally appointed a temporary city attorney earlier this year and refused to put an item on the meeting agenda. Roll challenged the recall in court and a Lin- coln County District Court judge agreed last week that there was no reason for a recall.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
www.ThreeRiversBankMontana.com
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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