More trouble for Mayor Roll?

More trouble could be on the horizon for Libby’s embattled mayor, Doug Roll, as evidence has come to light showing potentially illegal gifts from new City Attorney Allan Payne to the mayor.

Montana law prohibits public officials from accepting gifts valued at more than $50, if the gift could improperly influence the actions of that official, per Section 2-2-104 of the Montana Code Annotated.

“A public officer, legislator or public employee may not … accept a gift of substantial value or substantial economic benefit tantamount to a gift: That would tend improperly to influence a reasonable person in the person’s position to depart from the faithful and impartial discharge of the person’s public duties; or that the person knows or that a reasonable person in that position should know under the circumstances is primarily for the purpose of rewarding the person for an official action taken.”

Roll accepted free legal advice from Allan Payne, prior to Payne’s appointment as Libby’s city attorney.

In a sworn deposition of May 13, 2014, Roll testified under oath he had received free legal advice from Payne during questions from Allen Olsen’s attorney, Doug Scotti.

Scotti:  So why have you involved Allan Payne in the case?

Roll:  Because Allan has helped me out with other legal matters, personally and otherwise.

Scotti:  Do you pay him for that?

Roll:  No.

Payne’s contract with the city is valued at $70,000 per year, plus an additional $75 per hour for non-standard work. The amount of time Payne spent providing advice to Roll and the nature of the advice given are not known.

Payne was appointed to the post by Roll and approved by the Libby City Council Dec. 1, 2014.

Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices, Jonathan Motl, said legal advice provided to Roll in a personal capacity isn’t necessarily a violation of campaign practice laws, but if the advice was given in Roll’s official capacity as mayor, the situation is different.

“If the gift is personal, it is like the mayor receiving a birthday gift from his mother,” Motl said. “If the gift was in his capacity as mayor, it qualifies as a gift under the statute.”

Beyond Roll’s testimony that Payne advised him “personally and otherwise,” he told Scotti he sought out and received advice from Payne regarding the residency status lawsuit between the City of Libby and Allen Olsen.

Scotti:  Did you seek his advice regarding Allen’s legal residence, Allen Olsen?

Roll:  I sent him an e-mail, I believe on it, an e-mail or two.

Scotti:  When did you first involve him?

Roll:  Just his opinion.

Scotti:  Was it after Mr. Reintsma filed suit?

Roll:  I believe so, yes, yes.

Scotti:  Did you also get an opinion from Mr. Payne regarding Allen Olsen’s request for legal fees?

Roll:  I believe I did, yes.

The suit referenced was filed by the City of Libby against councilman and then-mayoral candidate Allen Olsen, seeking to have him disqualified as a candidate in the 2013 mayoral election and removed from his seat on the Libby City Council.

Neither the suit nor Olsen’s counterclaim involved Roll on a personal level. The parties in the suit were listed only as City of Libby and Allen Olsen.

The suit was dismissed by District Judge James Wheelis Aug. 29, 2014. 

“The evidence revealed that under pertinent authorities on residency, plaintiff had no non-frivolous basis to pursue this action against defendant,” Wheelis wrote in his decision.

Motl said he uncovered evidence of the free legal advice from Payne to Roll during his investigation into a complaint filed against Roll and several members of the 2013 City Council by Libby resident Arlen Magill. Magill alleged the suit against Olsen, using city employees and city resources, violated Montana’s campaign practice laws.

Motl agreed and issued a finding May 12 indicating Roll, along with then-city attorney James Reintsma and former and current councilmembers Robin Benson, Barbara Desch, Peggy Williams, Bill Bischoff and Vicky Lawrence, improperly used public resources to influence the 2013 mayoral election.

Motl said the issue of the legal advice wasn’t included in Magill’s complaint, so he chose to not pursue it at the time.

“I think you’ve got an issue left that’s worth looking at in Allen Payne’s role,” Motl said. “We didn’t look at that issue because we confined our decision to the complaint before us. The issue at hand was so clear and so serious that we didn’t want to clutter it up.”

As of Friday, Motl said no complaint regarding Payne’s alleged gifts to Roll has been received by his office. Should such a complaint be filed, Motl said his office would investigate.

“I think it’s definitely worth talking about,” he said.