Councilman says he has tried to be steward for city

A while ago you elected me to serve on the Libby City Council, and I was honored by your show of faith in me. Shortly after the election I took an oath of office and swore to serve your interests as well as serve as steward of the hard-earned taxes you dole out every year in support of local government.

The oath I took, I considered to be my guide for the future as a councilman. I take it very seriously and feel I do my best to serve. However, almost every step of the way, during my time on the council, I have faced almost unbelievable barriers, which have to a large degree lessened my effectiveness.

At first, Mayor Doug Roll wouldn’t assign me to committees, and along with other council members, challenged my right to serve by questioning my residency.

In my opinion, those who have constantly placed the barriers in front of me over the years are the very individuals who stagnate local government, cause taxes and water-use fees to go up, write off legitimate accounts that will further burden taxpayers and are willing to make costly decisions without a public vote of the council, which is required by law.

They are the same individuals who make major and costly mistakes on huge contracts, and constantly hand contracts to the highest bidder.

Another barrier is the high cost of the irrigation contract at Riverfront Park, which was $25,000 and in one year time has had at least $8,000 in repairs. I felt as your representative, an obligation to make sure we got exactly what we paid for. It’s only right.

So, over the months I continued to question the contractor openly in several council meetings. My questions were on work quality, warranty and billing. I have requested from the city itemized billing so you, the public, and I, would know how our money was spent. I don’t  feel we were getting what we paid for.

I never once made a personal attack, and I am not competition to anyone on city jobs. I cannot and will not bid on city jobs.

For my efforts, in July, Bill Bischoff along with three “unidentified” council members asked the city attorney to look into my ability as an elected official to challenge the contractor and his billing. They made this request behind closed doors, behind the public’s back and the council as a whole. This is how things are handled in the city government. Only the mayor can request an action from the attorney without a council vote.

Rather than presenting a fully itemized bill, the contractor sent a threatening letter to the council mentioning suit of defamation of character.

 As a result of that letter, the city attorney now seeks to censure me and publicly dishonor me for doing what I believe is my elected duty. All of this has been handled behind close doors until now just weeks before the election. I am well within my rights to request a “full” accounting of public funds.

Are these the types of people you want to continually run Libby into the ground, in these hard times that we face?

I refuse to be intimidated by either the high-bid contractor, or by the sly dealings of fellow councilmembers or their attorney.

(Allen Olsen is a Libby City Councilman running for mayor.)