Guest column: County Commission violating its public trust

By Roger Koopman

In observance of Constitution Week (Sept. 19-23), I spoke to 30 or so public school classes, sharing with them, just how special our freedoms and form of government truly are. "We the people," I pointed out, establishes government as the servant, not the master.

We understand these principles on the national level, but shouldn't "we the people" apply to local government, too? Shouldn't I be able to take these school kids to a meeting of our county or city government and proudly proclaim that this is the democratic process at work? Yes, I should. But I wouldn't dare.

Anyone who has paid attention to our Gallatin County Commission lately, knows that something is seriously wrong. The concept of public service has been tortured beyond recognition, and a "we know best" mentality has taken its place. Over the past six months, commissioners have locked arms and violated their public trust in the most fundamental way. They have flouted the public's right to know and erected a wall of separation between their official actions and democracy's demand for truth.

It saddens me that when a concerned citizen appeals to these men to let in the light, he or she can expect to be ridiculed and attacked for their effort, while the substance of their concerns is summarily dismissed. In my case, unwilling to address my grievances, commissioners disparage me as "politically motivated" - whatever that means. Apparently in the commissioners' view, the mere fact that one of them has launched a campaign to unseat me from the Legislature obligates me to remain passive and silent. Don't count on it.

Here are some examples of things I am not supposed to talk about:

In May, Commissioner Vincent showed such slanderous disrespect for a developer appearing before the commission that local lawyers hit the roof, describing his antics as "McCarthyism" and demanded his apology. Vincent, with zero proof, asserted that the developer had given false information to the commission. No apology was given, and his fellow commissioners sat silently by.

In June, county commissioners unanimously decided to pay county employee Randy Kuyath $120,000 for the right to not rehire him. Taxpayers footed the entire bill, because the county's irresponsible actions took the insurance carrier off the hook. Not wanting the public to know what outrages were committed, commissioners then crafted a legal agreement that swore all parties to absolute secrecy. As one commissioner told me, "we didn't want anyone talking to the Chronicle."

In July, the commission issued an official directive to all department heads, threatening to fire any employee who went public with information about the Kuyath payoff. Commissioners have since stonewalled all requests for a simple public explanation of what happened, claiming concern for "Kuyath's privacy" -- while at the same time unwilling to ask Kuyath to waive his privacy so at least some of these facts could be made public.

In August, the County Commission conducted a special meeting to approve pay raises for themselves and other elected officials. Rather than invite public participation through customary newspaper notices, they merely put the meeting on the county Web site calendar, where it was seen by almost no one. The commissioners then justified their pay hikes on the basis of a "2005 salary survey" which the county is now forced to admit never existed.

Election to public office carries with it a public trust, and the responsibility to fully disclose all public business. If you have a problem with that, you shouldn't run for office. Yet as evidenced by the Kuyath affair, all three of our county commissioners have a problem with admitting their mistakes, or even allowing local citizens to know what happened.

By handling the $120,000 payoff in secrecy and signing an order that gags county employees and forbids public disclosure, commissioners are sending the message that they consider themselves above public scrutiny.

The key to effective local government is public participation and an informed citizenry. Elected officials cannot be held accountable if they hide what they do.

If county commissioners want "privacy," they should return to private life. My personal suggestion to them is this. Over the next two weeks, call for a vote of confidence by Gallatin County residents by asking registered voters to write Clerk and Recorder Shelly Vance, expressing their desire that present commissioners either remain on the job or resign. If they receive less that 50 percent support, they should resign, and a special election can be held for their replacements.

What do you say, Bill, John and Joe?

Roger Koopman is a Republican state representative from Bozeman.

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