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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!” – Established 1985 – Locally Owned & Independent
’ ! l a c o L t a t s e B ‘The
Volume XXXVI, Number 44
www.bitterrootstar.com
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Petitions to A new day for Bitterroot College recall Stevi mayor denied by Victoria Howell Two petitions filed by Leanna Rodabaugh to recall Stevensville Mayor Brandon Dewey have been deemed deficient by the county attorney’s office. Rodabaugh is the Stevensville woman who got a recall petition on the ballot last year which ultimately failed in the November election. The reasons for these new recall petitions are similar to last year’s in that they have to do with two agreements between the Town of Stevensville and service providers, one for utility billing services and one for an online platform. Rodabaugh alleges that Mayor Dewey violated his oath of office by signing a three-year contract for services with MySidewalk, Inc. that had not been authorized by the Stevensville Town Council in accordance with Section 7-3203(7), MCA. The petition alleges that Dewey circumvented the Town of Stevensville Purchasing Policy and that signing this contract for services without Town Council approval precluded the public’s right to know and participate. The petition did not note whether the purchases are contained in the department’s current fiscal year budget or the Town’s current Capital Improvement budget and did not say how much the contract was for. The actual signed contract does provide the amount as $23,000 for an annual subscription fee. The other recall petition makes the same allegations, only for a three-year contract for services with Billing Document Services, Inc. No amount is specified. With both petitions, the County Attorney’s office determined that the form requirement that the petition sets out a general statement of the reasons for the recall had been met. The office added a note on both of the petition memorandums: “In accordance with Montana law, our Office is reviewing this petition only for legal sufficiency of its form, based on the statements that Ms. Rodabaugh has sworn are true. If the validity of the statements are challenged prior to the election, then the accuracy of Ms. Rodabaugh’s statements supporting the petition will be a question for the District Court.” However, the petitions were deemed deficient for three reasons. First, the previous expenses related to last year’s recall election have not been reimbursed by the petitioner. They amount to $2,385.55 and include 49.25 hours of attorney’s time and two hours of staff time, ballot stock costs, printing costs, and the cost of publishing notice of the recall election. Secondly, the petitions must be accompanied by a written statement containing the reasons for the desired recall in no more than 200 words. And thirdly, the petitioner must swear before a person authorized to administer oaths that the written statements are true. Because Rodabaugh failed to meet these requirements, Deputy County Attorney Clay Leland deemed the recall petitions “deficient.”
Local and state officials and county commissioners attended a swearing in ceremonylast week for the trustees of the new Bitterroot Valley Community College District. Members of the current board are Linda Doughty, Don Gardner, Ran Pigman, Janet Woodburn, Sue Smith, Gary Carlson and Marci Smith.
Bitterroot Valley Community College District trustees sworn in by Michael Howell The Montana legislature passed a joint resolution in March creating the Bitterroot Valley Community College District. On Wednesday, May 12, the first Trustees were sworn in by Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntsen. Montana Commissioner of Higher Education Clay Christian was also present and welcomed the new trustees, saying the new community college will be a great addition to the state’s educational institutions in its new capacity. Operating as the Bitterroot College University of Montana, the school was
Rodabaugh ejected from Stevi council meeting by Victoria Howell The Stevensville Town Council had a full agenda at its May 13 meeting. One of the items that the council discussed was a reflooring and sealing of the baby portion of the town swimming pool. The council did not vote on the pool issue, so there was no public comment on that agenda item. However, citizen Leanna Rodabaugh attempted to comment on the pool and ended up being forced to leave the meeting. The work on the pool has already been completed but Mayor Brandon Dewey said he had placed the item on the agenda to discuss with the council how this $17,500 project would be funded. Dewey said the Town had budgeted about $10,000 of the repair in the current fiscal year’s capital improvement budget. The Town has also applied for a grant from the Stevensville Community Foundation for approximately $6-7000. The mayor said that some money could come from the Parks and Recreation budget. Dewey said the cost of the project would potentially be covered through these sources and the Town would not be over budget on this project. He said he felt the repairs were important to complete before the opening of the pool on June 7th. See STEVI, page 12
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essentially an outreach extension of the University of Montana with no local control over its operation or program offerings. Montana has a few independent college districts in Dillon, Miles City and the Flathead Velley. In March of 2020, the voters approved establishing an independent two-year college district in the Bitterroot, but at the same time they rejected a levy designed to support the district. Finding the funds to support the independent school district will be the first of several herculean tasks set for the new board of trustees. The new board of trustees will meet for the first time on Monday, June 7, at 5:30
p.m. in the County Commissioners’ room in the County Administration building in Hamilton. They plan to meet on the first Monday of every month thereafter. “There is no playbook for this,” said Linda Doughty, Chairman of the new board. ”It hasn’t been done in 52 years.” But she was undaunted by the immensity of the task ahead and eager to get on with the mission. According to Doughty, one of the first considerations will be whether to hire a President of the College or appoint an Interim President to serve immediately See COLLEGE, page 12
Star owners purchase Idaho paper Jesse and Sasha Mullen, owners of the Bitterroot Star, have announced their purchase of the St. Maries Gazette Record newspaper in St. Maries, Idaho. The Mullens also own the Silver State Post and the Philipsburg Mail, as well as Browsing Bison bookstore with locations in Deer Lodge and Philipsburg and coming soon to Stevensville. The Mullens partnered with People’s Bank of Deer Lodge to finance the purchase. “We’re grateful Dan and Cindy Hammes entrusted us to be the new caretakers of the Gazette Record,” Jesse Mullen said. The Gazette Record was founded in 1906 and has been operated by the Hammes family since 1958. In addition to publishing the Gazette Record, Dan Hammes wrote a regular conservative column for the Spokesman Review in Spokane. The Hammes say they look forward to retirement. “We can all agree that scales lie. Mirrors, however, are beacons of truth,” Dan Hammes said in his farewell column. “The fact is we’re getting old and it’s time to do something else.” “The decision to sell and retire did not come easy,” he added. “We think this is a great fit for Benewah County (Idaho) and neighboring communities. Jesse and Sasha know the community newspaper business very well and that, combined with our great staff, ensures they will continue to produce a quality product.” The Gazette Record reaches nearly 8,000 readers near Lake Coeur d’Alene in the Idaho panhandle. It can be found online at www.gazetterecord.com.
Get motivated to be a winner with Coach Dave Daubenmire Saturday, May 22 • 6 pm NO COST! Fort Own Inn, 3854 US Hwy 93 Sponsored by: Stevensville For more information call Alan at 505-603-8499 coachdavelive.com