Letter to the Editor: Citizens should voice concern over commissioner seat

George Bernard Shaw once said, “If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must man be of learning from experience.”

These wise words would seem to resonate with the situation Lincoln County now faces with the appointment of a new county commissioner.

Lincoln County is facing a variety of challenges, which cannot be solved by anyone who has a history of using their elected position for their own benefit.

The county commissioners have an excellent opportunity in this time of transition to appoint a new commissioner, someone with new ideas, business sense, strong leadership skills and a belief in the restoration and preservation of Lincoln County. There are candidates that fulfill these fundamental ideals, and several that fall short. The commissioners have reduced the application pool and are down to the final four in the selection process.

One candidate in particular has a past that raises cause for concern. He has made it to the final four in the interview process, a process that cannot be taken lightly. If we look back just 16 years in the history of Lincoln County, Larry Dolezal was under much scrutiny as a Lincoln County commissioner. 

At the time, he was charged with four alleged felony counts by the Montana Attorney General’s Office; two alleged of felony theft, each with an alternate count of making false claims to government authorities. District Judge C.B. McNeil later dismissed the case against Dolezal, citing lack of evidence.

Court documents display a wide variety of shenanigans by Dolezal as an elected official.  He claimed to have been on official county business on Sundays while traveling to the Yaak to attend church services. These Sunday outings for Dolezal and family were at the expense of Lincoln County taxpayers in the form of mileage reimbursements. Dolezal did not include a description of his daily mileage until August of 1997. 

Between August 1997 and April 1998, Dolezal claimed reimbursement for 23 Sunday drives to the Yaak, which included descriptions of monitoring road conditions and similar activities. Twenty-three trips times the approximate 86 miles round trip equals approximately 1,978 miles. Multiplying that number by the lower reimbursement rate of 28 cents per mile would equal $553.84 in drives just to and from his church. It should also be noted that the majority of the Sunday reimbursement claims were for more than 86 miles.

Prior to the investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Coral Cummings (then Lincoln County clerk and recorder) specifically questioned Dolezal’s mileage reimbursements. One particular month caused Cummings concern about the amount of mileage Dolezal claimed, as he documented only beginning-of-the-month and end-of-the-month odometer readings. She was confused as to why there were no personal miles deducted from the mileage claim. Dolezal assured her that his personal vehicle was used only for official county business during the entire month.  Cummings did specifically ask about attending church services in the Yaak with regards to his mileage, and Dolezal replied with, “I inspect roads and take care of other county business while I’m up there on Sundays;” according to Cummings.

In addition to an account of other mileage reimbursement anomalies, Dolezal also enjoyed another questionable benefit as county commissioner for meal reimbursements. In initial court documents, prosecutors noted that Dolezal purposely or knowingly and as part of a common scheme, obtained by deception, control over property, namely money of Lincoln County, by filing claims of meal reimbursement to which he was not entitled.

The value of the property exceeded $500. Dolezal’s response to the charge was essentially that everybody was doing it. Initially, it appears that all the county commissioners at the time received lunch reimbursements for virtually every day they worked, regardless if that work was preformed at the courthouse or in another site.  Dolezal’s reimbursements were higher than other commissioners; his total meal reimbursements in 1997 came in at $1,584. 

Dolezal allegedly submitted a claim for lunch for every day he was present at the county courthouse. At the time, policy was in place that appeared to allow reimbursement for meals during official meetings. Dolezal claimed $875 worth of meal reimbursements for time simply spent in the courthouse. 

After being asked about the excess of meal reimbursements, Dolezal said the policy allowing reimbursements for such meals had been in effect for a long time.  Although, according to court documents, former Commissioner Noel Willimans told an investigator there was no policy for reimbursing meals on non-travel, non-official meeting days

As residents of Lincoln County, we should be excited to see change coming to our communities, but only if the change is for the better. The opportunity has presented itself to move in a new and positive direction under new leadership. The decision to appoint a new county commissioner is a heavy decision, and shouldn’t be made without serious thought, deliberation and research. Everyone has a past, but do we want the opportunity for the past to repeat itself?

It is with much urgency that you voice your opinions as to which applicant you, as a citizen, voter and taxpayer of Lincoln County want appointed to this vacancy. Call our county commissioners, write them letters, express your concerns, talk to them in public, arrange a meeting; but do it today and make your voice heard. We are the people that make these communities a beautiful place to live, and we have the opportunity for change to begin Aug. 1, 2014.

-Luke Marchant is advertising director at The Western News.