Commissioner Slapped with 1 Year Restraining Order
by Shari Dovale and Casey Whalen
Bonner County, Idaho has made history in this country with a Restraining Order (RO) successfully placed upon a sitting elected commissioner by another sitting elected commissioner.
A temporary RO was issued in this case about 10 days ago, which held that Chairman Steve Bradshaw could not come in contact with Commissioner Williams until a hearing on the issue was held. The hearing was held today in Magistrate Judge Justin W. Julian’s court.
Commissioner Asia Williams, representing herself, presented concise documented evidence demonstrating a growing threat to her by Commission Chair Steve Bradshaw.
Bradshaw was represented by the Sullivan Law Office from Coeur d’Alene. While Williams presented evidence, including recordings and affidavits, the Bradshaw team did not call any witnesses, nor did Bradshaw make any statement in his own defense.
Attorney Sullivan tried to get the court to believe that it was all just political theater, including introducing an affidavit written by Clerk Mike Rosedale stating that he saw Williams escalate the situation in January when she had an allergic reaction. This statement was rejected by the court.
Williams called several witnesses including Sheriff Wheeler who testified that he witnessed the growing hostilities from Bradshaw.
It was also introduced that Bradshaw made threatening statements while attending a gun show, stating that he was “gunning” for Williams.
Judge Julian did have some concern for the safety of the victim, though he seemed reluctant to remove the politics from the situation. Citing the voters expectations, Julian has allowed Bradshaw to return for commissioner meetings only, and he is not to carry any firearm while on county property.
Bradshaw is also subject to law enforcement searches for concealed weapons, being subject to arrest if he should be found in violation of the order.
Keeping in mind that this judge regularly handles domestic violence cases, there does not seem to be any other case in this county in which a victim of violent threats would not be granted a full RO. Anyone else would have been given the full protection of the courts.
However, Commissioner Williams is only given partial protection. The judge conceded that if Bradshaw were to beat the snot out of her, there wasn’t much he could do about it, but since the weapons were the issue he could remove that part of the threat.
Would any other battered woman be told that there was nothing the courts could do to keep a perpetrator like this away from her? They could only remove the firearms in question?
It has been shown over the last 2 weeks that Bradshaw could conduct his business for the county via electronic presence. The judge did acknowledge this, yet still refused to keep him completely from Williams vicinity.
What will the county do to help keep her safe, as they also have an obligation to protect the people that work in the building, and all over the county? There is no policy in place as is demonstrated by the email sent out on Aug 21st by the Human Resources department, which stated (emphasis added):
Good afternoon!
Human Resources has been given confirmation that Commissioner Steven Bradshaw was served with a temporary order of protection from Commissioner Williams. At this time, Commissioner Bradshaw is not permitted on county property. He is to conduct business electronically and is not to come within 1000ft of Commissioner Williams.
The matter is still pending further resolution. Please direct any questions to HR.
Thank you!
Alissa Clark
Related: BREAKING: Commissioner Served With TRO and Cannot Enter County Building
Bradshaw: “My commitment to, and care for people, is one of my core values. I believe listening and building common ground builds strong lasting communities. My faith and beliefs hold me to a higher accountability which I strive to achieve daily.”
Beautiful words but it appears Mr. Bradshaw has fallen a bit short of his own standards. Does he continue to collect a paycheck until the next election or perform a community service and resign?
Seventy two-hour psych hold for “Yosemite Sam” for a start!
A few weeks ago Bradshaw lamented how he was forgiven for his past bad behavior. The message left for the county prosecutor demonstrates he has not truly repented. He needs to resign but his ego will not give up the fat paycheck funded by the reprobate taxpayers of the county.
It should be obvious now that the Democrats control
the Republican Party. One can see this in the anti-democratic
recall effort in the public schools and the effort to intimidate
Asia Williams to resign which failed and who was not selected
to win her district.
Conservatives are not permitted to hold public office.