By eman on 02-17-10
The investigator didn’t seem to look to hard else he would have found lots of stuff the planning office, Harris et al, were up to…very unprofessional behavior. What a joke that investigation was. Just another $10K plus on top of this 3 million dollar fiasco…brought to you courtesy of Brenneman, Lauman and we can’t forget Hall. It doesn’t look like DuPont is doing much to get the train on the right track since he didn’t point out the absurdity of the investigation. They just keep blowing the taxpayer monery with their mismanagement.
By inthemiddle on 02-17-10
Joe Brenneman and Jeff Harris are both very pleasant men as are Gary Hall and Jonathan Smith. If a bad decision was made on this it was not made through malice or illegal activity. As public servants they were attempting to do what was right for the majority of the people of Flathead County. I still agree with the attempt to stop this development as I don’t believe that this is a good location for a housing development. This area was underwater during the flooding of 1964 and 1975, and some of it was pretty well saturated several different years in the 1980’s as well as in 1997. It will flood again sooner or later. Maybe the approach they used to stop this was not within the subdivision rules of Flathead County, but the actions fall short of what would be defined as illegal activity. If it was a violation of law, than as I have stated in another blog, the county attorney or sheriff should be investigating. Nowhere in the three articles I have read has there been any indication of this.Yes three million dollars is a lot of money, but if you start making public servants financially responsible themselves for mistakes no one would ever run for office. Its easy to sit on the outside and judge these men, but until you have been elected, and had to make hard decisions all you are doing is blowing hot air.
By inthemiddle on 02-17-10
I did say they did something wrong, they broke the subdivision rules of Flathead County, but I also said it doesn’t fall under what would be defined as an illegal activity. By this I mean as what would be punishable by fine or imprisonment in the State of Montana. This was not graft or corruption it was just some people trying to do what was right for our county. They screwed up OK.
By emerson on 02-17-10
So if developers have the the right to place subdivisions anywhere they want - no matter how far away and spread out—do the taxpayers have a right not to provide services to those subsdivisions?
I’d say ok - you can develop your subdivision - but the taxpayers aren’t going to provide fire, police and other services because this is too far away and no cost effective.
Why do developers have all the rights and the taxpayers none?
By emerson on 02-17-10
So Taz - you agree with having “rules and regulations, from zoning, subdivision, DEQ, floodplain, lakeshore, building and other regulations?”
By Native on 02-17-10
Taz - you make very good points. Maybe I’m just ignorant but I just can’t get my head around this issue. I think I’m missing something but this sounds like a legal issue so (like inthemiddle hinted on) shouldn’t the county attorney be on the hook for this far before anyone else?
By Native on 02-17-10
I agree with Taz. You can’t leave things open to the opinions of the sitting committee. You can’t deny property rights just because you don’t think it sounds like a good idea. As long as they are following the rules, they should be afforded the right to do as they please.
By emerson on 02-17-10
I’m on board with you Taz if you believe that there should be zoning and regulations.
The problem that has been exhibited by these far flung subdivisions is that they cost the taxpayer much more in providing services than they bring back in revenue.
It seems like some economic analysis (how much will this subdivision cost to provide service to?) as compared to (how much tax revenue will it bring in?) should be part of the mix.
So many of these far flung subdivisions like this one tend to be net losses in terms of service costs to the taxpayer.
By Native on 02-17-10
I would assume the commissioners, if they are smart, should be consulting the attorney on everything so if they are, the finger pointing should go that way.
Emerson - I think you are hinting on a much bigger issue: the county vs. the city planning offices. To my knowlege, this is a long story to how they have battled one another to try to corral sprawl & civil service consolidation. In short, the county has lax regs and the city can’t get their way because the county population by far outweighs the city of Kalispell’s population (which is a rare circumstance). Thats why the city keeps trying to annex out of the way subdivisions in order to implement the more strict city planning requirements. Thats why the city ended up with the bill for city services to the ghost town of Silverbrook for example. I’m no expert but I think thats the gist of it.
By Fair Row on 02-17-10
Gross malfeasance in office ! Politicians need to follow the law and not try to engineer outcomes based on environmental politics.
By BLUSKY on 02-17-10
Taz, I agree with all your statements and admire your stance on the issues. In addition to Harris and Brenneman leaving though, I think their bonds along with Halls need to pay the settlement, not the taxpayers.
By BLUSKY on 02-17-10
Fair Row, your statement is one of the best I’ve seen and sums up exactly what has been happening in the Flathead ever since Harris, Brenneman, and Hall started their road show with Jonathan Smith’s support. This is the biggest disaster ever to hit county government. Too many people have followed their personal bias and not given the law or the consequenses of their actions one scintilla of consideration.
By kalispelling bee on 02-17-10
I have two observations:
1: BLUSKY had his facts right.
2: Once again, the Beacon beat the Inter Lake to an important story.
Kudos to you both.
By BLUSKY on 02-18-10
Kalispelling, thank you. I’m not a jerk. I just want to see the proper proceedures followed and the right thing done. I think everyone should want that, regardless of their political beliefs. The beauty of our system is the right to disagree and rationally argue our position within the confines of the law. When the system is allowed to fester with corruption of any kind (on either side) by those who are given the honor of representing us in official positions we all lose.
By brutus on 02-18-10
Just a couple comments. First we do need to recognize that the planning office told the commissioners that there was no reason to deny this subdivision. So perhaps Harris is not the bad guy here. The other point is we have just witnessed polar opposites agreeing. There have to be rules, but the rules have to be applied fairly. Unfortunately, Commissioner Brenneman seems to feel he can do what he wants not what the law says. Frankly, I have never been as concerned about Harris as I am about his bosses. The political leaders set policy. Brenneman has consistently chosen to ignore law and fair play in favor of his agenda. Perhaps his goals were good or could be seen as good, but I seem to remember something about the ends not justifying the means. Maybe this is an expensive 3 million dollar lessen that will make people wake up and work together.
By inthemiddle on 02-18-10
I’ll throw a point into this dicussion for you to ponder. In Montana and Flathead County in particular, throughout the entire process for approval of a housing development, the local school district has no say. How full a school is has no berring upon wether a development is approved or not. The current state law does not allow for impact fees for building expansion or remodeling. A prime example of this is in West Valley. with 3 or 4 new developments along with 2 major ones that are on hold this school will be packed within the next couple of years. The only way to pay for this is to ask the farmers and current residents to pony up the money for a major expansion. The developers are the ones making the profits on this and they won’t have to pay a dime for the impact to the community.In these bad economic times it will be almost impossible to pass a building bond, so in the end it will be the kids that suffer from this.
By Geezer on 02-18-10
My understanding, from another context about six months back, is that Hall & Brenneman had ‘fired’ the County Attorney as their legal counsel and were getting their legal advice from some outside attorney. Not verified, but it might be an interesting twist to this sorry and expensive mess.
So let’s not roast the County Attorney’s Office until we know if they did indeed play a role in creating this fiasco. It’s possible they got involved only when the stinky stuff hit the fan, and have worked to get the County, meaning we the taxpayers, off as lightly as possible. I agree with the comments that if this matter had gone to trial, it might have gotten really, really expensive.
And it’s obvious from the size of the settlement that the County Attorney’s Office was totally convinced that they could never successfully defend Mr. Hall and Mr. Brenneman in court, or they would not have worked out such a settlement. Until I see something concrete that demonstrates the County Attorney’s Office was party to creating this mess, I don’t think we should be blaming them.
A year and a half ago, again in another context, a friend of mine was told by one of the Commissioners, “We can do anything we want!” What the Commissioners were up to at that time was also legally questionable. So their attitude that they were not accountable to follow the laws seems to have been pervasive, and that prevailing attitude ultimately led to this mess.
Public officials can transgress in two ways - misfeasance, and malfeasance. Misfeasance is, “Ooops! We screwed up! We’re sorry.” Malfeasance is, “Let’s figure out a way to kill this, even if we can’t do it legally.” In other words, they were engaged in intentional skullduggery in violation of the laws.
We tend to excuse misfeasance up to a reasonable point, because it results from ignorance, lapses, or stupidity. Malfeasance, on the other hand, is an inexcusable, willful violation of the law. It should never be tolerated, and such allegations should be aggressively investigated, and the offenders should be held accountable to the full extent of the law if indeed malfeasance can be demonstrated.
It has been amazing to see the participants in this discussion gel into a common position - we need to have laws and rules and regulations, and while we will always have our differences, bottom line is we want those laws and rules and regulations followed—by everyone. And we should particularly expect our elected officials to be the first to follow those laws and rules and regulations, some of which they have voted to implement. Government officials and employees are never above the law, nor exempt from it.
By BLUSKY on 02-18-10
Oh Harris is definately a bad guy. Read that disk of county emails you can get at insty prints. I did. Hall, Brenneman and Harris are three peas in a very rotton little pod.
By Fair Row on 02-18-10
We can do all the “demanding” we want regarding Brenneman resigning, but I doubt he has the honor to do so.
Dupont may not be culpable in this issue as he was elected too late to muck it up further. Actually, you’ll not catch his involvement in much as he is quite invisible except to the good old boys who got him elected. I think he’s just adding to his retirement pension while strutting about the county after being unable to bear the loneliness of being a nobody after leaving the sheriff’s office.
Jonathan Smith is forever infamous for ignoring three years of DEQ warnings about county failure to deal with air pollution problems (dust). When asked about the DEQ letters he stated “we just threw the letters into a file draw.” It took the imminent threat of a $28,000 fine to get the county’s attention.
The county is littered with incompetents in high positions. Write a letter to the county commissioners and see how long it takes to get answer IF YOU GET ONE.
The only service these clowns should be placed in charge of is death. Then we would never have to worry about dying as they couldn’t deliver !
By inthemiddle on 02-18-10
All of you people demanding Brennemans resignation only have to wait till the end of the year. Then Pam Holmquist will be in there and then 2/3’s of the county government will be run by ADM. The other third will be asleep at the switch. So don’t get your panties all in a bunch over this, its only a few short months. God help us all then.
By Franklin on 02-18-10
Middle,Perhaps you would have preferred a different Pam, like your candidate Kennedy? Citizens For A Better Flathead would LOVE that and Bill Goodman and Co., would be thrilled! Maybe then we could have FlatheadScape or lease out the Old Court House (or would that be a mortgage?), or drain our county reserves of 17 million down to about $246K. Yeah, that’s sounds about right.
By mitch on 02-18-10
Actually that’s true. I’ve heard a lot say they wish Pam was back.
By BLUSKY on 02-18-10
Oh Taz you’re so mean, all you do is interject your silly comments.
By BLUSKY on 02-18-10
Sorry Taz, I was just poking fun at Mitch because he’s disgruntled.
By BLUSKY on 02-18-10
Taz, look up MCA 2-16-603 Officers subject to recall. That will lead you to how to do a recall petition. I’ve been mulling it over myself. With the swampgate fiasco, I don’t think it will be difficult to get the signatures. We should ask ADM to do it. I’ll bet their game and they have hundreds of members who can circulate the petitions for us. They already practically run this county you know. Do you know anyone whos a member?
By BLUSKY on 02-18-10
You’re right, insurance will not cover a deliberate illegal act. To quote the Northshore attorneys in their complaint when speaking of the Flathead County Commissioners it states:
“DEFENDANT’S CONDUCT REFLECTS AN ABUSE OF GOVERNMENTAL POWER WHICH SHOCKS THE CONSCIENCE.”
I might add it also shocks the taxpayers pocket book!!!!
By inthemiddle on 02-18-10
Franklin, I don’t live in Kalispell so I don’t have a say on elections there. But as an outside observer it appears to me that Pam Kennedy did a pretty good job her first 4 or 5 years, then kind of turned some people off after that.She never should of run for another term. Kalispell will be wishing in a little while that a moderate would have been elect as mayor though. Having Tammi Fisher (ADM’s attorney) as mayior isn’t going to be a very good fit.
By inthemiddle on 02-18-10
It was Gary Halls failing not the politics of moderation and compromise. Wiith all of the problems our nation faces the last thing we need are more politics of division. What good can come out of politics of personal distruction. Good people will refrane from running for office and we will end up with more commisioners like Hall. If Gipe is once again elected we will have three old men with no vision or ideas running this county, is that what you want? In times like this you need people that are innovative and courageous not timid and bland. I’ll still take Brenneman over the lot of them.
By inthemiddle on 02-19-10
Taz, do you even know what a marxist is. It is an outdated term that was used in the 1950’s to destroy a lot of good people. Is that what you want for this country, another era where people are afraid to express political views. That sounds a lot like the old Soviet Union , or present day China to me. So its seems that you have a lot more in common with marxists than Joe Brenneman or Barrack Obama ever would. They both support free speech and a diverse political system versus a system made up of old white men with a single mindset. So before you start throwing stones you should look at the type of house that you live in.
By inthemiddle on 02-19-10
Taz, why would I believe that we should abolish private property, when I have spent my life working to attain it. Virtually everything I own is tied up in the 2 pieces of property that I own. All we want is for all property owners to be treated fairly with no regard for how rich and powerful they are, or which politicians they own. The people of the Flathead had better pull their heads out of their asses before we small property owners are run over by the large ones like you and your croonies in ADM.
By inthemiddle on 02-19-10
I will agree the rules were not followed, the dollar amount is subjective. It may be 3 million, it may be 10 million, or it may be a couple hundred thousand. It should have been decided either in court or by an arbitrator. I think they were foolish to just settle it. It may have cost us more, but then we would truly know how big of a screwup it really was. You say it was generous for the developer to settle, I don’t believe for a second that it was. I think they jumped at it. I don’t think their position was a good as you say it was, if it was they would have wanted a lot more. If the county would of fought this, Brenneman would of stood a chance to get reelected, now he doesn’t have a snowballs cance in hell.
By riverrunner on 02-19-10
It is sort of a scam that is being run. If Brenneman or whoever screws up and cost 3 million then they get to keep their job. In any normal business the consequences would be job loss, unless of course you own the business. It sure looks like these people think they own county government. Anyone who accepts this financial loss without expecting heads to roll is not looking at the big picture. Or perhaps anyone who thinks this is okay works for government. That’s why we have a problem. No accountibility = poor government. That’s what happened poor excuse for an investigation that Eisentraut delivered. Nothing but a window-dressed report that left out the real damning information regarding the planning department. At a minimum Brenneman & Harris should resign or be removed.
By Franklin on 02-19-10
Middle,Although you might think you’re clever by giving Ms. Fisher credit, she is not ADM’s attorney. If you want to give someone credit for being ADM’s attorney, it’s Rich DeJana (look at the pleadings).
Secondly, I see in many of your posts where you say some pretty unflattering things about developers/builders. Isn’t that a little hypocritical considering your line of work?
Mitch:
Apparently, 2/3 of Kalispell voters disagree with you about wanting Kennedy back. They showed her the door, and expect her to stay gone. Outside of Goodman and Co., I haven’t spoken to anyone who wants the woman back. She had her chance to do something (anything) for the city, it’s time for someone else to take a turn.
By inthemiddle on 02-19-10
I could not really tell you if Tammi Fisher is ADM’s attorney for a fact, on that point you are right. Because that would mean that ADM let a little info out. They are one of the most secretive organizations that I have ever seen. The pentagon could learn a leason or two from them.I have never worked for a developer in my life, and like all businesses in the valley I do have a couple customers that are builders, but it would be a strech to say that I am reliant upon them. I’ve never said anything bad about builders anyway, its unincumbered development that I oppose.
By Geezer on 02-20-10
The rant against property developers is getting old. Every resident of Flathead County is living on land that was subdivided by a developer, big and small. Sometimes it was done by a big, rich, obnoxious developer, and sometimes it was done by Mom & Dad who just wanted to give their kids a place to live. No one subdivides land to lose money, big or small. They subdivide to create wealth - make money, save money, survive.
Developers are just like every other business - creating a commodity that’s put on the market, and if other people buy that commodity, the developer makes some money. But if the marketplace doesn’t like the development, or its location, or if the economy collapses, guess who goes into red ink big time.
Developers are no more greedy than any other business person. And they wouldn’t develop any land if other people wouldn’t buy it.
The County Planning Office decades ago gave up trying to protect farm land from development, because the public demonstrated they liked buying building lots on former farm land. If the demand is there, someone will supply it.
Yes, there are bad developers, just as there are bad used car dealers, bad haircuts, and bad plumbers. But because one is bad or pushy or obnoxious or greedy, that doesn’t mean the entire universe is bad. Most people are good, hard working folks, struggling through every day just like the rest of us.
The American Revolution was fought against the British more about private ownership of land and property rights than it was about excessive tax on tea. The colonists got sick and tired of the King of England and his henchmen dictating the use of land, and arbitrarily giving some folks rights to property that were denied to others. If the King or his stooges wanted your land, they just took it. Property rights were written into our Constitution to prevent that from happening in America.
I hear lots of bashing of ADM for being property rights kooks - if they are kooks because they believe in property rights, then so were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and a whole slew of other people who fought the Revolution and drafted the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. ADM’s approach might be annoying and a bit extreme at times, but that doesn’t necessarily make them wrong.
And no, I’m not a member of ADM or any other group.
I passionately love my country and believe in the principles that founded this country. I also believe there are moderate land use regulations that must be in place. But I also believe we’ve lost our collective minds in how far we’ve drifted from the intent of those who wrote the Constitution and adopted the Bill of Rights.
Sorry for getting on my soapbox again, but I couldn’t stay silent any longer on some of the issues being brought up repeatedly in this discussion.
By BLUSKY on 02-20-10
Geezer, WOW!!! Very very well stated.
By kalispelling bee on 02-20-10
Excellent, Geezer.
By CoffeeJunkie on 02-20-10
nice post, thank you….
By Franklin on 02-20-10
Very good, Geezer! Very good indeed.
By riverrunner on 02-23-10
Yes, the public should demand Brenneman’s resignation as part of this settlement. His agenda and blunders are far too costly for the taxpayers.
By brutus on 02-23-10
I love to hear all these “facts” about ADM. Fisher is there attorney—opps she doen’t appear on any cases. De Jana is their lawyer—opps the record shows him representing ADM on a suit that says Harris and Brennamen adopted a number of regulations improperly—wouldn"t that be different. DeJana also chewed out the Cournty for giving out mailing lists of taxpayers when state law said they were not allowed to do so. Issues sound radical to me. Geezer was wonderful, but alot of us would do better to look before we leap or actually no the facts before we shoot off our mouths. Sorry, I am just tired of people thinking they can say what they want just because of thier biasis and then think they are good if they retract it after they are shown to be wrong.You want a shock. I voted the president and I am proud of it. I opposed justice roberts and I am a democrate who loves Jeffrerson—- you might remember him he said that one of the reasons for government was to protect the private property rights of citizens. I think ADM—though sometimes a bit excessive in attacks—is right on with anyone who belives in not only the bill or rights, but Montana’s declaration of rights.
By Franklin on 02-24-10
Brutus.Ms. Fisher is not ADM’s attorney, Rich DeJana is. All you have to do is read the pleadings to know that’s true.
If Ms. Fisher was guilty of everything she gets credit for, the woman could influence to stock market. Sheesh.
By mitch on 02-24-10
Taken from previous Beacon article. Sounds to me as if she’s their attorney? Link below…......
“But where Harris sees closure, others see fertile ground for more legal action against his office. According to attorney and Kalispell Mayor Tammi Fisher, the report bolsters her clients’ belief that Harris has committed costly transgressions against residents of Flathead County. Fisher has previously represented multiple clients suing his office.”
http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/closure_uncertain_in_planning_investigation_aftermath/15770/
By mongo on 02-24-10
Fisher represents the Thorntons, which is plenty to make me wonder about Kalispell’s future. Money’s money, honey, but, wow….really?
By riverrunner on 02-24-10
When I read this it simply points out that there are admitted transgressions and screw ups by Harris, Brenneman, etc. and that their questionable and potentially illegal actions are cause for additional lawsuits. Just because someone, even an attorney, recognizes and agrees that the behavior and actions of the county create cause for more lawsuits does not make them part of the group that sued or their attorney. Further, the actual attorney representing the plaintiff is the legal representative of the party involved. The county is going to be accountable for some 3 million bucks because of these screw ups. What about this is so hard to understand? It’s the law. The county negotiated a settlement because Brenneman and Hall were in the wrong. Really, Brenneman and Hall should have to pay for this not the taxpayer. Brenneman’s resignation should be a condition of the settlement.
By mitch on 02-24-10
on the recovery website it shows DALLAS THORNTON TRUCKING $84,000.00 Loan 7A RURAL LENDER ADVANTAGE Small Business Administration 4/09/2009 . Same Thornton do you suppose, Mongo?
By riverrunner on 02-24-10
Why are you so worried about someone making money but you give the county a “pass” on blowing 3 million? It’s likely the making the money will have some economic benefit to the valley. The 3 million blown by Brenneman and company doesn’t product a thing. It’s just taxpayer money vaporized.
By kalispelling bee on 02-24-10
Wait a tick. Fisher represents the Thorntons? Can you verify that?
By riverrunner on 02-24-10
Recovery website? The money is courtesy of the stimulus plan? Courtesy of Mr. Obama and company? Well darn. Who would have thought a small business would have taken advantage of money made available to small businesses? Quit complaining.
By riverrunner on 02-24-10
Again, how can anyone support the vaporizing of 3 million dollars of taxpayer money without accountability of those responsible? Brenneman’s resignation should be demanded as part of this settlement.
By mongo on 02-24-10
I’m not trying to stir up anything, just pointing out that Fisher represents the Thorntons. Sorry if I see this as troubling for the city of Kalispell, but I DO. Sorry if I think some people in this mess have conducted themselves in a very ugly way, but I DO. As for the recovery website and Dallas Thornton, I’m sorry I don’t know what the recovery website is and I have no idea if Dallas is any relation or if they were awarded recovery money, but no matter, that’s their right just like anyone. Taz, just because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I am just here to cause trouble. The question was raised if Fisher is representing any of the players, and she is. So I pointed it out.
By mitch on 02-24-10
Agreed, Mongo. I’m sure he is entitled, I’m sure there are plenty of qualifications to be met.
This is an interesting site, if you’re interested
http://projects.propublica.org/recovery/locale/montana/flathead
By riverrunner on 02-24-10
Mongo: I agree that some people in the mess have conducted themselves in a very ugly way. Specifically Mr. Harris. If a school kid was outwardly calling other students “fringe thinkers”, or put a poster of a mexican on a donkey on the wall with another student’s name on it, or emailed someones friends requesting they keep an eye on someone and report back..would we accept this out of the kid? I don’t think so. But this is the exact behavior on which Harris and his department have relied. So why would this be acceptable from a county official? And then to find out this whole mentality in the county government, Brenneman, (Hall..gone) and Harris, et al is costing the taxpayers 3 million dollars and we should just ignore it? C’mon, these people should be out the door and we should demand it. We should demand better from our government. The money is too hard to come by these days to ignore this. Mongo, you said you are not trying to stir things up but it is obvious you are. Basically you admit that in the next sentence. Ms. Fisher is an attorney. It’s her job to handle cases for clients. I think Kalispell will be better for it. I have seen her in the meetings on the television and she looks to me to be a professional. Do I think she believes in accountability to following the law? Yes. And that’s what we want. It looks like it is the county that has attempted to skirt the law and got caught at it.
By riverrunner on 02-24-10
Brenneman cost us 3 million bucks. He and Hall should pay this 3 million. It is too costly to have people like this on the county payroll.
The views expressed in the comments section do not reflect those of the Beacon.