Commissioners apologize for surreptitious meeting

A pair of county commissioners have apologized for violating state law by holding a meeting outside of the public eye last month and released minutes of the gathering.

Commissioners Mark Peck (D-1) and Jerry Bennett (D-2) met with Troy Mayor Dallas Carr and members of the Troy Area Dispatch Board at the Silver Spur on March 9. Over breakfast, the group discussed the future of the Troy Area Dispatch District and other emergency service issues in the county.

The meeting violated state law and the Montana Constitution since two commissioners — who represent a quorum of the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners — were present without advertising the gathering. Bennett said that the group did not make any decisions during the gathering but acknowledged that it broke state code.

“That’s on us. We own that,” he said during a March 31 commissioners’ meeting.

Peck agreed and accepted blame for the breakfast gathering. While there was no clandestine intent behind the meeting, he said commissioners should have notified the public in advance.

“I’ll personally apologize to primarily the citizens of the Troy Dispatch District, because I know how that appears, but also to the citizens of Lincoln County, because it’s not appropriate,” Peck said.

During a March 31 interview, Peck said that the details of The Western News article that broke the story were accurate.

While he agreed that the public had a right to know where the gathering occurred as officials should have advertised the meeting, Peck objected to subsequent references to the local restaurant in the article and a photograph of the eatery that ran with the article. He said neither the name of the establishment nor the restaurant staff should be associated with the gathering.

Carr also objected to the references to the restaurant in the article.

“The Silver Spur had absolutely nothing to do with the meeting between the commissioners and the Troy dispatch and myself,” said Carr. “They provided a very good breakfast and that was all.”

At no point in the article were restaurant staff or ownership said to be complicit in the meeting beyond serving food. But Carr took to Facebook this week via the municipality’s official account to apologize to the restaurant on behalf of the city.

“Regarding the article in The Western News and Daily Inter Lake referencing the meeting at the Silver Spur, we here at the City of Troy would like to set the record straight — we value our local businesses and feel that the article wrongfully involved them,” wrote Carr.

The mayor did not use the public platform to apologize for his participation in the gathering, which violated his constituents’ rights under the Montana Constitution. In an earlier interview regarding the get-together, the mayor admitted ignorance of state open meeting laws.

Residents who have expressed interest in the future of the dispatch service were upset by the news of the closed-door gathering.

“I would have gone to that meeting, I would like to have heard what was said,” said Kim Mole, a resident who spoke about the Troy Area Dispatch District at a prior public meeting.

According to minutes of the breakfast meeting taken by Bennett, Peck opened discussions by bringing up lag time issues on 911 calls made within the Troy Area Dispatch District.

The dispatch service has come under scrutiny in recent months for a delay that occurs when county residents living in the Troy area request law enforcement. While dispatchers in Troy can send fire and emergency service crews to county residents, they cannot dispatch police to properties outside of city limits. To provide county residents with assistance from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Troy dispatchers must transfer callers to the dispatch center in Libby.

Jim Ward, member of the Troy Area Dispatch Board, said the transfer issue would be resolved within approximately 30 days thanks to the installation of a new server, according to Bennett’s minutes.

The breakfast conversation then broadened into a discussion on the three dispatch centers in the county.

During a December Troy City Council meeting, Peck pointed out that Lincoln County is the only such jurisdiction in the state with three dispatch centers.

Sandi Sullivan, dispatch board secretary, raised concerns during the restaurant talks that county officials were seeking to sever the interlocal agreement between the county and city, which established the area dispatch district and board, as soon as possible. Peck and Bennett reassured Sullivan that they were looking for a strategic solution.

Bennett said the county had overarching public safety issues that commissioners needed to address such as financing a new jail and bolstering emergency medical services.

During the December city council meeting, Peck acknowledged that local first responder units were struggling to bring on volunteers and might have to consider paying staff. He noted that the county was also looking to build a new, multimillion-dollar law enforcement center.

“Where’s that [money] going to come from?” said Peck during the council meeting. “I wish we had the ability to print our own money … but we don’t so where are we going to get all this money?”

During the 2020-2021 fiscal year, Troy Area Dispatch levied 29 mills at $6,912.82 a mill, according to the breakfast meeting minutes. Eureka Area Dispatch levied 11 mills at $16,869.32 a mill. Combined, the levies represent $386,034.30 in taxes that year.

“Recognizing redundancy in government is costly to the taxpayer, the budget is our major responsibility,” Bennett’s minutes read.

Both Sullivan and Ward said they understood the county’s needs and seemed to be onboard with consolidating dispatch centers, according to the minutes. The group also noted that the sheriff’s office was establishing a task force to look into financing a new detention and law enforcement center.

Before adjourning the meeting, the group also discussed the issue of having a backup dispatch system. The week before the March 9 meeting, Troy dispatch had to cover for the Libby center when it went down.