Letter writer had facts wrong in attack on county commissioner

I feel compelled to respond to charges Kim Lewis made regarding me in the April 29 Chronicle (letter to the editor).

1) ... "he (John Vincent) spends at least half of his time these days politicking around the halls of the Legislature." Not true. As authorized by the Gallatin County Commission, I spent portions of 12 days at the Legislature during the 86-day session. That's about 7 percent of my time, given that I averaged right around four hours at the Legislature on the days I was lobbying.

2) ..."the county ... hired a professional lobbyist (Mike Harris) ..." Not true. Mike Harris is a Gallatin County employee, not a professional lobbyist.

As reported in the Chronicle last week, having myself and Mike (one Democrat and one Republican) lobby the 2005 Legislature was not only effective, it saved Gallatin County taxpayers about $30,000 dollars, the amount we spent on a professional lobbyist during the 2003 legislative session. This can hardly be construed as "... frittering away our tax dollars" as Kim Lewis has charged.

3) "He gets a check as a retired teacher ..." True. I earned it. I taught 30 years in Bozeman and I think I did a pretty darned good job. I'm sorry you hold that against me. I'm saddened you would use it against me.

4) "He gets a check" ... "as an adjunct professor at Montana State University..." Not true. During the fall semester I taught one government class at MSU as an adjunct instructor. I was paid to do it. The class, my pay, and my status as an adjunct ended before the legislative session began. My teaching and the salary I earned were authorized by the Commissioner of Political Practices as required by state law.

5) In regard to other salary issues, Kim also wrote, "When he was a legislator, it was no different. He drew his teacher salary and his legislator's salary all the time he was in Helena." Not true. I never drew my teaching salary when I was a legislator receiving my legislative salary. I was on unpaid leave. In addition, because legislative salaries were so low when I served, I earned far less as a legislator than I would have had I been teaching. On top of that, local taxpayers actually saved money when I was at the Legislature, because the district paid my replacements far less than the salary I would have received.

Those of us in public life expect to be criticized. It's part of politics. It can be a healthy and positive aspect of our two-party system when used properly and when it's based on the facts and the truth. Unfortunately, as in this instance, that's not always the case.

All the records I've used to write this reply are on file with Bozeman School District No. 7, Gallatin County, Montana State University or the Commissioner of Political Practices. As far as I know, all are accessible to the public. If for some reason any record involving the issues raised by Kim Lewis' letter to the editor are not publicly available, I will be glad to waive any right to privacy I have to those records and release them to the press.

John Vincent is a Gallatin County commissioner.

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