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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
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Volume XXXIV, Number 13
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Established 1985 - Locally owned & independent
Stevi clerk files complaint against council president
By Michael Howell
The African Children’s Choir is coming to the Bitterroot Valley to perform at the Hamilton High School Performing Arts Center on Thursday, November 1 at 7 p.m. In the last 35 years, over a thousand vulnerable children have been through the African Children’s Choir program and the funds they have generated have provided the opportunity of education and hope for many thousands like them in some of the most desperate and needy areas of Africa.
Popular African Children’s Choir coming to Hamilton In 1984, in the midst of Uganda’s bloody civil war, human rights activist Ray Barnett was called on to help the many thousands of orphaned and starving children, abandoned and helpless to feed and protect themselves. Realizing the enormity of the task Barnett and his team came up with a unique approach. Struck by one little boy’s joy and resiliency and inspired by his singing, an idea was born to form the African Children’s Choir. The first choir was formed in 1984 from orphaned and vulnerable children in the Kampala and Luwero areas of Uganda. After the Choir was trained to perform and readied for living in new and different cultures, the
A winner!
children travelled from Uganda to tour amongst the North American Church communities. They immediately impressed audiences with their vibrancy and outstanding musical talent. They quickly became a mouthpiece for the plight of the many thousands of vulnerable children like them in Uganda. The funds they earned through donations provided for their own support and education and more. The African Children’s Choir program promotes the beauty, dignity and unlimited ability of the African child around the world, being a voice for the millions of suffering children who cannot speak for themselves. The program provides for the children’s well being and qual-
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
ity education, utilizing the transformative power of music. We install Christian principles through teaching and leading by example and bring relief and development to African nations in crisis. The proceeds of the first African Children’s Choir tour also funded the building of an orphanage back in Kampala from which a second African Children’s Choir was selected. In the early years, they would tour principally in United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The proceeds of their tours, and the sponsorship support they would attract, funded a growing program of establishing See CHOIR, page 3
Stevensville Town Clerk Audree Tribbensee has filed a notice of complaint alleging workplace bullying and harassment primarily against Council President Bob Michalson. However, several incidents described in the complaint include the entire Town Council and former mayor Jim Crews. She states that “the staff in the office all agree, to some degree or another, that the environment is unbearable, toxic, hostile, harassing and unhealthy.” “The conduct of Mr. Michalson, Council and former Mayor Crews is severe and pervasive enough that I, being a reasonable person, consider the work environment to be intimidating, hostile and/or abusive. I have worked successfully for municipal governments for over 30 years, working with many Mayors and councilmembers; many of whom are good friends to this day, many who were difficult to work with; many of whom I did not agree with. In all these years, I have never
encountered a Council as hostile to the Mayor and staff members as the Town of Stevensville Town Council,” wrote Tribbensee. While many of the incidents in the claim involve her personally, she states that several of the bullying tactics and harassment activities are also directed at Mayor Brandon Dewey and calls them “deliberately harsh.” She calls the bullying tactics and harassment activities “deliberately harsh… relentless verbal and nonverbal attacks and overt and covert actions against the mayor. “I witness these actions and attacks on a frequent basis,” she writes. Her complaint also includes “unwelcome comments that are based on race/nationality and sexual in nature.” She states that this claim “does not include petty slights, annoyances, and isolated incidents, but does include incidents that are unwelcome, intimidating, hostile and/or offensive.” Tribbensee states that the abusive nature and on-going hostile working environment are one
reason the previous clerk, Stacy Bartlett, left. “Prior to reporting to duty, Ms. Bartlett tried to warn me about the hostile nature of the work; however, I brushed it off as I have successfully dealt with difficult councils in the past, never imagining how bad it really is in Stevensville,” she wrote. The next 17 pages of the complaint include a list of incidents beginning on July 9, 2018, Tribbensee’s first day on the job, up through October 4, 2018 when she filed the complaint. In conclusion, Tribbensee states that these activities, events, behaviors, etc. are having a detrimental impact on her health, both physically and emotionally and adversely affecting her ability to do her job. “The fact the Town Council acted with full knowledge that a hostile work place exists directly related to them, and reversed the Mayor’s attempts to prevent further unwarranted, unwelcome See COMPLAINT, page 3
Proposed petition to recall Stevi mayor gets initial review
By Michael Howell
According to Ravalli County Clerk and Recorder Regina Plettenberg, Mark Adams of Stevensville filed a preliminary recall petition on Friday, October 12, requesting an election be held on the question of whether Stevensville Mayor Brandon Dewey should be recalled for Official Misconduct. The reasons given to recall Dewey were: First, that he “knowingly performed an act in his official capacity which he knew was forbidden by law by accessing individuals’ emails on the Town of Stevensville’s server without permission from the individuals and without following the procedure outlined in the Town of Stevensville Policy Manual.” [MCA 45-7-401] Secondly, that “when he was the administrative assistant to the
Town of Stevensville, he set up both the Town’s website and the email system. He never followed the rules set forth in this section.” [MCA 2-17-552] Third, “The Montana Constitution, Article II, Section 10 states that an individual’s right to privacy shall not be infringed except when the state has an interest. Brandon Dewey accessed the Town Council members’ emails for purely personal reasons. This is a violation of the Montana Constitution. As such it is a breach of the Mayor’s Oath of Office.” Plettenberg said that the County Attorney’s office was reviewing the legal grounds, the content and the form of the petition to be sure it meets the state’s criteria for a valid petition. “They will either approve the petition for circulation and gathering of signatures, or they will return it with comments and recommendations related to the
deficiencies. The petition applicant may then re-submit the petition for further review.” She expects to hear back from the attorney in a short time. If approved, it will be too late to place the petition on the November ballot and a special election would have to be held. Adams could not be reached on Monday for comment in time for the newspaper deadline. Mayor Dewey said that statements from the Town’s Attorney Brian West have made it “pretty clear that Council has no expectation of privacy in the emails that I accessed. They were not privileged by any stretch of the imagination. So I guess, to me, after reading the petition, I don’t see how a constitutional right to privacy has been infringed. They are public officials using a public email server, conducting public business.”
budget there was a $120,000 deficit and then we found the money, but yet we are fighting just to get decent computers for the Council to conduct their business like they need to. I don’t know what’s going on, where the money is coming from, where it was. I just feel like we need to just look into it.” Asked by Councilmember Raymond Smith if the employees were given a pay raise, Mayor Brandon Dewey said that no wages and salaries had yet been adopted. “We adopted a budget but without any wages and salaries? I don’t understand that,” said Smith. Dewey explained that the Council approved the budget which gives “spending authority” for the wages and salaries, but Montana Code requires that actual wages and salaries be adopted in a separate resolution. “There is a confusion amongst the Council between the
budget and the cash on hand and the authority to spend that cash,” said Dewey. Dewey said he didn’t know who they proposed to have do the audit but that a budget update meeting might be more appropriate and they could get into any questions they may have about any particular budget items and any questions about the cash on hand. Barker said that Michalson, who was absent, has all the documentation about their concerns so she could not elaborate. “Maybe we should discuss it at a different meeting,” she said. Holcomb said, “It’s best to table this until we have all four of us here.” She withdrew her motion to do a special audit and moved to table the issue until October 22. In public comment, Vicki Motley requested that the Council
Stevi Council wants ‘special audit’ of 2018-19 FY budget Editor’s Note: This story ran last week but the bulk of it was inadvertently omitted so here it is in its entirety. By Michael Howell
Scarlett Gard of Stevensville was the judges’ first place selection in the Grades 4-6 category in the Pumpkin Contest held during the Scarecrow Festival. Victoria Howell photo.
At the request of Council President Bob Michalson and Councilmember Stacie Barker, the Stevensville Town Council considered conducting a “special audit” regarding the Town’s 201819 FY budget at its September 24. Michalson was not in attendance. Barker stated that after the budget was first brought forward, “We obviously came up with money for an employee pay raise of about $11,000. We feel like maybe some things need to be looked at and some questions answered. We need to have a special audit done.” Councilmember Robin Holcomb said, “I’m in agreement because when we first started the
See STEVI, page 3