The time has come for Roll to go

From the Editor:

At Monday’s meeting of the Libby City Council, three council members stood up and walked away from their seats at the council table. They took the podium not as elected officials, but as a higher power, as citizens of the city, to look Mayor Doug Roll in the eyes and ask for him to resign his office.

We all need to stop and think about that action and what it means for the City of Libby.

In today’s political environment hearing elected leaders, talking heads, pundits and activists tear each other down is an every day occurrence. We hear name-calling, personal attacks and even shots at officials’ families on a pretty regular basis. But what we heard Monday night was something entirely different. This wasn’t members of one party mindlessly attacking the other. This wasn’t personal, petty nonsense blown up in a public forum. What we saw was a small group of individuals, people who have devoted a great deal of time and energy to serving the people of Libby, come to a very difficult decision in a very public way.

Libby is operating under a dark cloud, and has been for some time. The constant obstructionism and conflict cast not just the city government, but the entire city and everyone in it, in a negative light.

And Doug Roll is responsible for it. As mayor, Roll has sworn to uphold the law and to faithfully discharge the duties of his office as an employee of the people. Yet his actions tell a much different tale.

He appointed, officially or not, David Tennant to be Libby’s City Attorney in February. He swore him into office - as City Attorney - on Feb. 11, 2016. Tennant himself has said it was a valid appointment and he has a valid contract. Yet at Monday’s meeting Roll said none of that was true, despite all documentation to the contrary and despite Tennant being seated to his left at the council table behind a placard with his name and the title of City Attorney engraved on its face. The mayor sat in front of the council and in front a dozens of Libby residents and lied, not just to them but to all of us. 

Roll’s actions with regard to Tennant are just an extreme case of what he started when he appointed Terry Watson as Chief of Police. Instead of making the appointment at a council meeting and asking the council for consent, he took it upon himself to just do it. The fact that it was the correct decision does not justify the horrific manner in which he subourned the proper process. A process he again undermined when he offered a three-month, automatically-renewing contract to an attorney who had not even met with the council. Two regular council meetings and one working session have passed since Tennant was sworn into office, yet no discussions of his qualifications or his contract have taken place in a public forum. And no vote to confirm or deny his appointment has occurred.

The council has requested additional meetings, but has been told by the mayor that he is the only person authorized under law to call council meetings – and he has refused to call meetings requested by members of council. However, he is certainly willing to hold meetings with council members in local restaurants away from the eyes and ears of the public in flagrant violation of Montana’s open meetings laws, as evidenced by the recent meeting he orchestrated with council members Dejon Raines, Brian Zimmerman and Peggy Williams to discuss water infrastructure and budget. A meeting from which he excluded water and sewer committee chairman Brent Teske.

The days of doing the public’s business in darkened rooms and behind closed doors are behind us. Mayor Doug Roll has had every opportunity to move himself, and in so doing, the City of Libby into the light of day, but has adamantly refused to do so. He was offered the option of stepping down with Councilman Allen Olsen for the good of the city. He refused. He has been asked now by three additional members of council to step aside, for the good of the city. Again he refused.

The time has come for Roll to go, and it appears he’s not going to do it willingly. Are the people of Libby ready to fight for the future of their city?

Bob Henline is editor of The Western News