City councilor's eligibility questioned

Council gives Martin McGrew two weeks to prove his case in court

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish City Council followed city attorney John Phelps' advice about how to deal with a newly-elected councilor's eligibility on Monday.

To avoid a lawsuit against the city, the council approved a motion stating that councilor Martin McGrew was not validly elected last fall, but that he could remain on the council until 5 p.m., Feb. 19, when the council is scheduled to meet again.

Phelps said that might provide McGrew enough time to get a decision in court about whether he is a resident in Whitefish. Councilors Shirley Jacobson, Ryan Friel and Nancy Woodruff voted for the motion. Councilor Nick Palmer was opposed, councilor John Muhlfeld was absent, and McGrew abstained.

Phelps said the council should "look for a safe path," especially with a vote on the proposed critical areas ordinance coming up on Feb. 19.

"I believe it's likely that if the status quo remains, someone will challenge us in court," Phelps said, noting that Whitefish has become a "litigious community."

McGrew, however, warned the council later that removing him from the council would certainly lead to a lawsuit. He said he will not "roll over" and will sue the city to stay on the council.

This is the second time in a month that a Whitefish city councilor's eligibility is being questioned because of where he lives.

According to Phelps, a public works department employee looking at water records discovered that part of councilor Martin McGrew's property at 545 Ramsey Avenue is not inside the city limits.

The northern half of the property had been annexed into the city but is vacant. The southern half, where McGrew's home is located, has never been annexed but is wholly surrounded by the city.

McGrew said he bought his property in 1996 and made a boundary-line adjustment two years later.

"It's one legally recorded lot with two tax assessor numbers," McGrew said. "How can one lot of record have two tax assessor numbers?"

He said he pays city taxes, city water and sewer, and is on the city election rolls — he received the mail-in ballot last fall for the City Beach bond issue.

He also noted that last fall the city required him to upgrade his water connection to a city main after the older private line servicing his house sprung a leak.

"The city treated me like a city resident," he said.

McGrew's tax bills from the Flathead County Treasurer's Office, however, indicate that the two properties were taxed differently in 2006 and 2007.

The bill for the northern portion of the property included taxes for the city and city fees for stormwater, greenway and streets and for School District 74, which is in the city. The bill for the southern portion included taxes for the rural fire service area and School District 44, which is outside the city.

Phelps told the council on Monday that McGrew's property on Ramsey was one of 37 lots the city had considered for annexation in 1987. Fourteen of those lots were eventually withdrawn from the annexation proposal, including McGrew's property.

McGrew served on the Whitefish City-County Planning Board from 2005 through 2007. He was a member-at-large and later a city appointee. McGrew was serving as the planning board chairman when he ran for election to the city council last fall.

In the city's first-ever mail-in election, McGrew narrowly defeated Turner Askew for third place in a recount held the day after the election. Askew then asked for another recount, and two weeks after election day, the two were found tied at 696-696.

On Jan. 7, the city council appointed McGrew to fill the empty seat caused by the tied election. But one day earlier, councilor John Muhlfeld, who won the most votes of any candidate in the city election, won a court case where his eligibility in the election had been questioned. The issue was whether Muhlfeld resided inside the city limits.

Rick Blake, who brought the lawsuit against Muhlfeld, testified in court that he was concerned about how residents who lived outside the city limits but inside the city's two-mile planning and zoning jurisdiction, the so-called "doughnut" area, could be regulated without representation.

That issue has gained steam lately as the city's new mayor, Mike Jenson, brought to the table ideas about giving "doughnut" residents a voice at the council. Jenson is particularly concerned about enacting a critical areas ordinance before the representation issue is resolved.