Residency complaint against council member rejected
The state Commissioner of Political Practices has rejected a false residency complaint against a Libby city council member alleging false residency.
Libby resident Susan Rice submitted the false complaint on May 4, alleging council member Allen Olsen had relocated residences since declaring candidacy for city council on June 30, 2015. On May 11, Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl rejected the complaint, which he said laid out no facts proving Olsen’s intent to abandon residency in Libby.
“Moving in itself does not destroy residency,” Motl said on Friday. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that residency is to be measured generously.”
Motl said the state law for candidacy requires a person running for office to be connected to the district, enough so to understand the issues the district faces. Motl said in order to prove the complaint against Olsen, the issue would have to come with proof that Olsen had an intention to abandon the area when he filed for candidacy. Even if Olsen moved over the Idaho state line, Motl said it would be hard to pursue the complaint without proving the forethought of leaving the area at the time he declared candidacy.
“What the Supreme Court has said is you don’t lose your residency unless you intend to abandon your contact and he clearly doesn’t,” Motl said. “He’s resisting this, he obviously wants to stay on as a public official.”
Olsen said the issue of residency within Libby city limits has been a point of public contention for about three years. In September of 2014, a District Judge James Wheelis dismissed a complaint alleging false residency when he declared candidacy for his current city council position.
“This should have been over two years ago,” Olsen said.
Olsen did not release his current address, citing the need for son’s privacy, but said he always has been a city resident and “always will.”
“I would be a fool not to, at this point, the way people are watching me,” Olsen said.
Rice’s complaint states that an investigation by a local newspaper found Olsen did not reside at the city address listed on his Declaration for Candidacy within 60 days of the election, as outlined in the Montana Code Annotated 7-4-4401. Motl’s response said there’s no way to prove exactly where Olsen lived during this time period.
“It sounds like Mr. Olsen is living in the city. He may be moving from address to address but he is living in the city,” Motl said. “They’ve alrady litigated this thing in front of the judge, who found for the purpose of serving he found he was a resident.”
Rice is still able to refile a complaint alleging false residency against Olsen. But in Motl’s rejection letter to Rice, he states “given the extent to which this same issue has been unsuccessfully pursued… the (Commissioner of Political Practices) will not address this issue unless a complaint states sufficient allegations to show a potential violation worth of investigation and decision.”
Rice said she does not plan to refile the complaint. She said she now wants to see the city simply proceed with city business.
“There’s no way that anyone can prove where he lived in that interim time period,” Rice said. “Everything is stuck at this point. I think all of us are tired of showing up at city council for entertainment. We need to get on with city business.”
Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.