County rejects petition to require election

MISSOULA – The Missoula County Elections Office received a sample petition July 19 for a citizen’s initiative that would repeal a Seeley Lake Sewer District resolution approving special assessments and require the District to go through an election before assessing levies for repaying bonded indebtedness.

The Elections Office had 21 days to approve or disapprove the form of the petition before it could be circulated for signatures. They responded in a little over a week.

Based on advice from the Office of Missoula County Attorney, Elections Administrator Dayna Causby rejected the petition because the matter of the petition is not subject to the initiative or referendum process.

In the rejection letter Causby explained that Montana Code Annotated 7-5-131, which lays out the right of initiative and referendum, specifically prohibits initiatives to repeal the levy of special assessments pledged for the payment of principal and interest on bonds.

Additionally, the initiative processes can only deal with legislative issues not administrative. The rejection letter states that the resolution levying special assessments for the repayment of special assessment bonds is an administrative act.

The petition was filed by Colleen Dowdall, the attorney who currently represents Seeley Lake resident Don Larson and several dozen other residents and landowners in a suit against the Sewer District.

In an email to the Pathfinder, Larson explained that the purpose of the petition was to put the decision of incurring indebtedness back in the hands of the citizens. He stated that he feels the Sewer Board has been and continues to be unresponsive to the citizens it purports to represent.

“Citizens for Sensible Wastewater Solutions strongly believes the people paying for this proposal should have the final say,” wrote Larson.

Board President Pat Goodover declined to comment on the issue stating that it would be inappropriate for the Board to comment without first discussing it at a Board meeting and running it by the District’s attorney.