Commissioner Calls Public Comment Debauchery and Foolishness

Commissioner Calls Public Comment Debauchery and Foolishness

by Shari Dovale

The 2 CommissionMen of Bonner County continue to show their disdain for the public, with Chairman Steven Bradshaw going so far as to describe public comment as “Debauchery and Foolishness.”

Not only was the public betrayed, but the entire situation was manipulated for the benefit of the 2 CommissionMen. They played Judas with the Fair board, the public and the sheriff, while the 2 CommissionMen strutted their ‘Indignorance.’

Yes, this seems like something out of Monty Python because the ridiculousness of the entire debacle makes one think they have been punked, but alas, it is true.

There were 3 meetings involved this week. Meeting 1 (Mtg1) took place on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. This was an official business meeting for the Bonner County Commissioners.

Within this first meeting, the commissioners accepted the resolution from the Republican Central Committee and voted to put the question on the May ballot for an advisory vote of how the public felt about the RV park.

It was also decided to hold a workshop to determine the language for the ballot, as this was a time-sensitive issue. Everything had to be submitted to the County Clerk by Monday, March 27, 2023 at 5 o’clock pm.

Watch the full meeting here: https://youtu.be/vTcyxHglIWs

The second meeting (Mtg2) took place on Thursday, March 23, 2023. This was considered a “special Meeting” and “workshop”. The agenda stated “Discussion Regarding Bonner County Republican Central Committee’s request for advisory vote, May 16, 2023 ballot regarding RV park location, Fairgrounds.”

The workshop started off on a downward note when Commissioner Luke Omodt came up with yet another idea to delay the vote, this time by informing everyone that he had already required the fair board to do a parking lot study of their grounds.

Things picked up a bit when Commissioner Bradshaw stated that he would agree to vote for the RV park to be placed on existing Fair grounds property, removing it from the “contentious” land at the sheriff’s complex.

He said, “Whatever it takes to get the project going, move it to another spot on the fairgrounds, that’s fine. I don’t care.”

Bradshaw continued, “Put it in a place that works for everybody, and best serves the community and the fairgrounds.”

This all sounded fine and dandy to the listening public. It was decided to agendize the next meeting (Monday March 27^th) to reflect this vote.

That is when Commissioner Omodt had to throw a wet towel into the mix and suggest that the next public meeting should not be allowed public comment.

Bradshaw agreed saying that the meeting would be mostly an administrative conversation, and in order for things to go smoothly, there would be NO public input. He continued by saying after it was all done, they would present it to the public and have public comment afterwards.

This is reminiscent of statements he made earlier in the year regarding executive session:

Comm. Bradshaw Does Not Grasp Transparency

“Every policy change that has come before the board in the last 4 years has been discussed in executive session,” Bradshaw stated during the public meeting.

“That is the time the 3 commissioners can actually have a conversation on an item that is going to be voted on. And so after that executive session, that policy change or that policy adaptation would either be shot down or moved forward,” he continued.

“When it is moved forward, then it is on the agenda and made public at that point.”

“I am not willing to change that,” Bradshaw said.

This was to reflect that the public had no real say in anything the commissioners decided. They would be informed of the decisions after the fact, then their comments would be ignored because the decisions had already been made.

This is the very definition of opacity, or Lack Of Transparency. It only works for those that love darkness.

Bradshaw has repeatedly said that he does not like public input. He went so far during this meeting (Mtg2) to say, in reference to the public comment during the Tuesday morning business meetings, “Because of the debauchery and foolishness that goes on, and is allowed to continue, it is hard to get anything done.”

What Chairman Bradshaw is not mentioning, of course, is that he alone seems to control these meetings. He and the other CommissionMan get their agenda pushed along just fine, as they ignore the only female elected on that board, with Bradshaw continuing to “step down from the chair” to second the votes that he and Omodt have decided upon.

Though they used to completely ignore Commissioner Williams motions, refusing to “second” therefore refusing to vote on them, it was after a few mentions in this site that all of a sudden these men have taken another angle.

Now, Commissioner Omodt will “second” many of Commissioner Williams motions only to call the question immediately so he can vote against them. Neither man even pretends to want public comment on any subject.

To recap. This meeting ended with the agreement to set a meeting (Mtg3) to vote to put the RV campground on existing fairground land which the fair board would control and not have any further contention within the county.

There would be another meeting to discuss details with the fair board during which the public would not be allowed comment.

Listen to the audio here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ck8L2Z1uKs

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, as the saying goes.

The the third meeting (Mtg3) took place on Monday, March 27, 2023. This was also a “special meeting.”

The agenda had 2 items listed:

1. Action Item: Discussion/Decision Regarding Advisory Ballot language, Fairgrounds RV Park, May 2023
2. Action Item: Discussion/Decision Regarding Placement of RV Park on Current Fairgrounds designated Property

The meeting almost immediately reverted back to the discussion of the “contentious” land on the sheriff’s complex being turned into a campground, which as we noted previously, had been scrapped at the last meeting. It was as if Mtg2 had never taken place. And again, the Fair board had not been invited to this meeting either!

Oh, Wait! It had taken place … just enough to change the agenda items for this meeting!

Public comment did get pushed through this meeting, much to the chagrin of the 2 CommissionMen. It was noted that these 2 men had a personal resentment with the sheriff and the public has to pay for this animosity.

The 2 men tried diligently to stop all public comment, but as Commissioner Williams noted, they cannot change the structure of a meeting after the fact. After a motion and a second, there has always been public comment allowed and she was going to stand up for the public to insure that during this meeting.

The controversy brought belligerency from the Commissioners and the public. One could almost picture the tar and feathers being brought out.

One lady even asked Commissioner Bradshaw, who is also a self-appointed pastor, to “Please stop calling [the people] reprobates in your sermons!” To which Bradshaw responded, “Find a different name for it” and he proceeded to suggest the woman was untruthful.

The conflicts between the 2 CommissionMen and the people continued until they tried to silence everyone, at which time Commissioner Williams schooled them on how meetings were supposed to be handled and how the public was perceiving them.

“It is inappropriate for us not to address the advisory question because there is a deadline,” Williams told them. She explained that it was a request “Of the People” and that “Those who vote in opposition fail to represent the community. We are not leaders, we are not rulers. We are representatives.”

The advisory vote is a non-binding chance for the Commissioners to get a full perspective of how the community feels about this campground. Since the 2 men chose to ignore that vote, they have clearly stated that they do not care what the people think, and they will do what they want to do regardless.

The 2 CommissionMen voted to abandon the advisory vote.

And that is why the Mtg3 agenda was changed.

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0al4nX8ixAw

Conclusion

I will show my curiosity over how the 2 CommissionMen were able to change the narrative, and agree on a new narrative, without any legal way to meet and discuss the issue between Thursday and Monday.

Was there an illegal quorum the public, and the 3^rd commissioner, knew nothing about? Did they close the blinds again, as what was said to be the signal that there were private discussions happening within the BOCC? Did they all of a sudden develop telepathy to talk between themselves? Did someone play messenger between them?

This is another good example of why it is important to divide these people onto different floors of this 3-story building!

Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0al4nX8ixAw