City council appoints Roll to mayor's post
Brad Fuqua/The Western News Still wearing his work clothes because of a long day at his automotive shop, Doug Roll takes the oath of office from city judge Lucille Briggs on Thursday night during his swearing-in as Libby's new mayor.
When Libby City Council member Bill Bischoff asked mayoral candidate Doug Roll what decision he would change during his public service to the community, the 53-year-old automotive shop owner quipped, “Probably running for mayor.”
The response – an example of Roll’s quick sense of humor – drew laughter from onlookers during Thursday evening’s special meeting to select a successor to former mayor Tony Berget. Following a question-and-answer session that featured eight questions for both Roll and Charlene Leckrone, the city council selected Roll for the position on a 4-2 vote.
“I wasn’t sure how the vote was going to go,” Roll said afterward when asked how it felt to be mayor. “Charlene is a great person and she could’ve filled the position just as easily. I’ll see how I feel about it tomorrow.”
Filling the shoes of mayor is no easy assignment. Besides the well-publicized and ongoing asbestos issues that exist in the northwestern Montana community, Roll steps into a position that could be challenging considering what appears to be a difficult economic forecast.
Besides filling the now-vacant city council seat, one of the primary projects on the horizon is moving forward with the Cabinet Heights water and sewer project.
“That’s the one we’ve been talking about for quite a while,” Roll said. “There’s quite a bit of funding for it … I have to sit down with Tony and go over it again. … We need to figure out how much money we’ve got and how much more money we need but it is something we did promise folks in Cabinet Heights that we’d get done.”
The meeting opened with both Leckrone and Roll issuing prepared opening statements on their reasons for seeking the mayoral assignment, which became vacant when Berget moved over into his elected position on the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners.
Leckrone stressed that she would be able to give the position her full attention and make sure the city takes the time to make good decisions. In addition, she said that she has no personal agenda and sees the chance at mayor as an opportunity for herself as well as the community.
Roll followed and quickly went over his qualifications while telling the audience that he cares about the City of Libby and its future. Roll also said that he would not micromanage with a “light touch on the controls” and that he wanted to continue Berget’s vision but with his own style that differs from the former mayor.
Following opening statements, Roll went down the hallway and into a back room while other council members asked Leckrone various questions. Later, the two switched spots.
• Peggy Williams asked about their vision for the future as well as the importance of a transparent government.
• Lee Bothman asked about whether or not they expect budget cuts.
• Walter McElmurry asked about what they expect when the city supervisor retires and asked if they would seek advice on decisions.
• Bischoff asked them to list two major accomplishments as city council members, what experience they have with budgets and what would be one decision that they would change.
Out of those responses, Roll’s answer to Bothman’s query on budget cuts was one of the more interesting.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” he said. “It depends on how things go. Personally, I had to lay off my help this week.”
Roll followed up by saying that the “frills” would go first.
“Day-to-day operations are the priority, and serving the folks,” he added.
Leckrone said she does not see any budget cuts on the horizon but added, “You can never say never because we don’t know what’s happening with rural areas.”
Roll, who has owned DP Automotive since 1994, was born in Havre and lived in several Montana communities while growing up.
“My dad followed construction. We were all over the state of Montana, we went to Idaho for a little while,” he said. “We came to Libby because of Libby Dam in 1968.”
Roll graduated from Libby High School in 1968 and progressed over the years as a local auto mechanic.
The city council will now get into the process of selecting a community member to take Roll’s place.
“I would invite folks to come down and put in their application, maybe drop it off at the city clerk’s office,” he said. “We’d like to have a pool of names by the first meeting of next month.”
Roll said the council would likely determine final details of the process during the Dec. 1 regular meeting. At that time, community members interested in the job will be able to learn exactly what needs to be done to receive consideration.
As for Roll, he will serve as mayor at least until next year’s November election.