Council votes to sue the county

City attorney's letter does not sway commissioners

By RICHARD HANNERS / Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish City Council voted 5-1 Monday to sue Flathead County after the county commissioners voted last week to rescind the interlocal agreement that establishes Whitefish's two-mile planning and zoning jurisdiction — the so-called "doughnut" area.

Councilor Ryan Friel cast the lone nay vote. He said he would like to improve dialogue with the commissioners.

Mayor Mike Jenson said he would try to meet with commissioner Gary Hall, who proposed the resolution to rescind the agreement.

Jenson said he's known Hall for a long time, but "we are so far apart on this, I'm not sure if we can talk," he said.

City manager Gary Marks said he was surprised that commissioner Dale Lauman voted with Hall, citing Lauman's campaign promises to work closely with the cities.

City staff and councilors said they were surprised by statements by both commissioners that rescinding the agreement would kick-start talks between Whitefish and the county. City staff and councilors thought the city's attempt to set up meetings with "doughnut" residents and to create some kind of representative government for "doughnut" residents was the first movement in that direction.

Councilor John Muhlfeld said the decision was "cut and dry" because the interlocal agreement clearly states that both sides must agree to terminate it.

"Nothing important seems to get resolved in Whitefish unless it goes to court," councilor Shirley Jacobson said. "So OK, go ahead and file a suit so we can get working again.

The city had wanted to discuss its decision to sue the county behind closed doors, but the council agenda was changed after city attorney John Phelps discovered that meetings cannot be closed when one public agency sues another.

Phelps had harshly criticized the commissioners' resolution in a letter he sent to the Flathead County commissioners on March 12, one day before the commissioners voted 2-1 to rescind the agreement.

Phelps said he was expressing his own views with his own words, but "I believe they represent the views of the majority of the Whitefish City Council."

Recapping city-county politics leading up to the 2005 interlocal agreement, Phelps noted that he "carried a lawsuit in my briefcase, ready to file" if former county commissioner Dale Williams succeeded in persuading former commissioners Howard Gipe and Bob Watne to dissolve the agreement.

"That era was characterized by hostility, divisiveness, bullying and threats," Phelps said. "It was a miserable time to be involved in local government."

Relations improved immediately after Hall succeeded Williams as county commissioner, Phelps said. Hall "expressed repeatedly that Whitefish was entitled 'to control its own destiny,'" Phelps said.

Once the interlocal went into effect, the city took a number of steps to implement planning and zoning in the two-mile jurisdiction, beginning with leasing office space and increasing planning staff.

Other work undertaken by the city included annexing Whitefish Lake, extending city zoning to hundreds of acres of unzoned land, rezoning large areas such as Big Mountain, and drafting and adopting a new growth policy.

But now, Phelps said, Hall, wants to rescind the agreement "because, in controlling its destiny, Whitefish did not do it the way he would have." Phelps pegged Hall as the "father of the interlocal agreement."

"It is sad and bitter irony that the man who replaced Dale Williams is guilty of the same shenanigans that he so frequently practiced," Phelps said. "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Phelps advised the commissioners to consult with deputy county attorney Jonathan Smith before voting on the resolution.

Smith worked with Phelps to draft the 2005 interlocal agreement, and both Hall and commissioner Joe Brenneman have noted publicly that Smith had advised against approving the resolution.

But Phelps had issues beyond the purely legal.

"An effective working relationship between the city and the county depends on forthrightness, honor and fair dealing between their elected officials," Phelps said. "If the Flathead County commissioners cannot be relied upon to honor an agreement of this stature, what credibility do they retain? What do they stand for?"