Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 11.5.14

12 | NOVEMBER 5, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM Closed Meetings Cause Stir on Libby City Council
Councilor says Libby mayor broke the law when he held a closed executive session
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
A pair of closed Libby City Council meetings this fall has again pitted councilor Allen Olsen against mayor Doug Roll.
On two occasions in recent months, Roll has mo- tioned for a closed executive session of the Libby City Council to discuss an ongoing lawsuit between the city and councilman Olsen. The councilor called the meetings “disgusting,” but Roll said it is absurd to think the council would let Olsen, the defendant in the lawsuit, sit in on a strategy session with city attorney James Reintsma.
Olsen and the city have been in a legal battle over the councilor’s residence for more than a year. Last Oc- tober, Reintsma filed a lawsuit on the city’s behalf al- leging that Olsen did not live within the city limits of Libby and thus could not hold a seat on the council or run for mayor. At the time, Olsen was running against Roll for mayor. Reintsma wanted to halt the election so the court could determine Olsen’s residency. The court, however, allowed the election to proceed and Roll bested Olsen by just 13 votes.
Earlier this year, District Court Judge James Wheelis ruled that Olsen did in fact live in Libby. How- ever, there is an ongoing matter of who will pay for Ol- sen’s legal fees that, according to him, were more than
Doug Roll. BEACON FILE PHOTO
$57,000 as of Oct. 1.
On Sept. 14 and Oct. 9, Reintsma, Roll and the city
council, without Olsen, held closed-door meetings to discuss the lawsuit. On Oct. 9, Olsen, two of his sup- porters and a reporter for the Western News tried to sit in on the meeting but were asked to leave by Roll. Olsen says that violated Montana state law, which requires that all meetings be open to the public.
“I should have been able to sit in on that meeting,” Olsen said.
Roll and Reintsma say they were able to have a closed-door meeting because of an exception in that law, Montana Code Annotated 2-3-203, that states a government meeting can be closed if it is discussing on- going litigation. But Olsen notes that another section of that law states a litigation meeting cannot be closed if it
involves a lawsuit with two public entities. Olsen says he is a public body, but Roll says he is not.
“Allen Olsen is not a public body, he is an individ- ual councilor,” Roll said. “I guarantee you that Allen Olsen wouldn’t let us sit in on his litigation meetings with his attorney.”
Reintsma said Olsen’s position was hypocritical because the councilor has sat in on other closed-door litigation meetings. Olsen disagrees and said this situ- ation was different.
What will come from this recent dispute between Olsen and Roll is unknown. Both sides are sched- uled for a mediation meeting later this month, but it seems that both are cemented in their positions; Olsen thinks the city should pay his legal fees, whereas the city disagrees.
Roll and Olsen have had a troubled relationship ever since Olsen was elected to the city council in No- vember 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 he 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, Reintsma threatened Ol- sen 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.
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