City pays mayor for truck repairs

Libby Mayor Doug Roll is being criticized by City Councilman Allen Olsen for mechanic work performed on a city-owned truck.

Roll is owner of DP Automotive, and his business repaired a 1996 Chevrolet pickup assigned to the Libby Wastewater Treatment  Plant.

“It’s just wrong,” Olsen said. “The mayor should have known better. I voted against it because it clearly violates state law. The others (council members) just looked the other way.”

The vote was 5-1 to pay city bills, which included payment to DP Automotive, with Olsen dissenting.

Olsen alleges having the mayor’s business repair a city-owned vehicle is a conflict of interest, citing Montana Code Annotated (MCA 7-3-4256) that clearly forbids the practice of officials doing business with the city. 

The code states: “No officer or employee elected or appointed in any such city shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract or job for work or materials or the profits thereof or materials, supplies, or services to be furnished or performed for the city.”

Roll’s business submitted a bill for $289.20 for repairs to the 1996 blue Chevrolet half-ton pickup truck, which was approved for payment during the Feb. 4 City Council meeting.

The bill stipulated $196.20 for parts — an ignition switch — and $93 for about an hour-and-a-half labor.

“The truck came in, and we determined it had a bad ignition. We ordered the part, and the part was here the next day and then (the truck) was out that morning,” Roll said.

Explaining the process of how the vehicle came to DP Automotive, Roll said Street Department Supervisor Corky Pape referred the vehicle to Roll’s business.

Pape was contacted at the city’s Wastewater Plant on Friday.

Pape said the Street Department usually repairs city vehicles, however, mechanics there were stumped.

“We had the truck, about a week-and-a-half,” Pape said. “We tried this and then we tried that. We couldn’t figure it out. We were chasing our tails with this thing, so we got help.”

Wastewater Treatment Plant Supervisor Mike Voorhies said he was anxious to get the truck back into operation.

“Hey, it’s our best truck,” Voorhies said. “We’d already been without it more than a week. We needed it.”

Treatment Plant worker Jayson Weber, who was sitting with Voorhies when asked about the truck, offered an explanation.

“Hey, the truck needed to have a diagnostic done. The mayor didn’t make any money on this,” Weber said.

Roll admitted the diagnostic test revealed the flaw in the ignition system, and he then ordered the part.

“I make no bones about it,” Roll said. “If you were to go and purchase this part, you could get it for $168. However, I mark up the cost a little because I guarantee the part. If it’s flawed, I replace it, at my cost.”

Roll said he did not do the repair, one of his mechanics did. And, that mechanic must be paid.

“(The mechanic) had to take the steering column apart to get it repaired. It came in one afternoon. We figured out what was wrong with it, ordered the part, and it was out the next morning,” Roll said.

All of that is fine, Olsen said. However, he said the law is clear.

“If the mayor wanted to help get the city truck fixed, he should charge for the part only and take the hit for the labor,” Olsen said. “Then instead of looking like a conflict of interest, he comes off like a hero. Is it worth this for 93 bucks (labor)?”

Pape said it was he who recommended DP Automotive for the repair. It’s Olsen’s contention the mayor should have found someone else to do the work, and one such person could have been Ray Weitzel, who owns RayCin Automotive.

“I don’t get any of the city’s business,” Weitzel said Friday afternoon. “Sure, I could have done it, but I wasn’t asked.”

Shortly before noon Friday, Weitzel’s two work bays were empty as a mechanic was pulling in a Subaru next for service. 

“We had four vehicles in and out of here this morning,” Weitzel said. “We got this one next.”

For Olsen, he understands Pape’s wish to get the vehicle repaired. He just thinks there should be a policy for city vehicle repairs that cannot be handled by mechanics at the city garage.

“It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law,” Olsen said. “The mayor should abide by the law like everyone else.”

For his part, Roll said he would address the issue during Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. The meeting is to be held Tuesday because of Presidents Day on Monday.