County's lack of transparency hurting residents

At their weekly meeting on Feb. 8, 2023, two Bonner County commissioners voted to terminate the future use of Zoom as part of their meetings. After discussing this issue in executive session (the use of which was questionable), Commissioner Luke Omodt made a motion to end the use of Zoom. Commissioner Asia Williams declined to second the motion, so Commissioner Steve Bradshaw momentarily stepped down from his role as chairman to second the motion. 

During the ensuing public comment phase of the motion, 100% of the comments (both in the room and from those participating via Zoom) were against the motion. Their comments fell on the deaf ears of two of the commissioners, as their minds appeared to have already been made up. 

According to Commissioner Omodt, the reason for the motion was based on a statement from an unnamed member of the community, who has a reputation for litigation, that the county could possibly be sued if someone missed a portion of the meeting because they didn't hear something due to a technical glitch. Commissioner Williams attempted to amend the motion to include only suspending the practice until county attorneys could draft a disclaimer that would be posted at the beginning of each meeting. Commission Chair Bradshaw refused to entertain that request. 

In the end, Commissioner Omodt voted yes to his own motion, Commissioner Williams (the only one with a logical thought process on this issue) voted no, and Commission Chair Bradshaw voted yes, thus the motion carried.

Commissioner meetings are held every Tuesday of the month, usually in the commission meeting room near the end of the hallway on the third floor of the county government building. They do not hold meetings during evening hours (as many local city councils do) or on weekends. 

Therefore, if you live in the far reaches of our vast county and can't afford the fuel, if you are too elderly, disabled, don't have transportation, have to work during these times, are out of the county, are caring for children, are a primary caregiver for an ill or elderly loved one, can't get out of your property due to snow or other weather conditions, this vote means that you will NOT be able to watch or participate in a real-time county commissioner meeting, nor will you be able to watch a recording of a commissioner meeting at a later time. 

If the two commissioners are indeed afraid of a lawsuit, I have a few suggestions. 1) Post a disclaimer for each meeting that advises the possibility of interruption due to technical difficulties. 2) Apart from Zoom, have an audio recording of the meeting. 3) After each meeting, create a transcript. If someone complains (or threatens to sue) about missing part of the meeting, allow them to come into the commissioners' office to listen to that portion of the meeting or provide them with a transcript of that part of the meeting.

The Bonner County Commissioners Office already has a questionable reputation regarding transparency and the use of executive sessions. The motion and votes to pass the ending of the use of Zoom for public meetings further exacerbates this reputation and erodes public confidence in two of our elected leaders. 

JIM KELLY

Laclede