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Irrigation election ballots to be unsealed

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ST. IGNATIUS — Election ballots that weren’t sent out during the Flathead Joint Board of Control May mail-in election are soon to be unsealed to see why they didn’t go out. According to Lake County Election Administrator Kathie Newgard 754 ballots were held due to a new requirement that one voter is designated to vote for land with multiple owners. A ballot wasn’t released if the paperwork wasn’t filled out. Although, some folks that weren’t required to fill out the paperwork didn’t get a ballot, including board member Dick Erb. In total, 2,392 election ballots were sent out. The joint board voted to cancel the May election in a 9-2 vote before those ballots were sent out because they said there wasn’t enough time to notify voters of the new requirement. County representatives said there was time due to a February notification, so the election was held. The majority of the board decided to uphold the decision to cancel the election and not seat the elected candidates. During the board meeting on Tuesday, board member Erb again asked that David Lake and Janette Rosman be able to take seats on the board after winning the majority vote. The request was denied as the board is waiting to hold a special election. Jennifer Kaplan filed unopposed for a seat on the Jocko District during the May election. She won by acclimation and is also not seated. Ray Swensen won the vote in the Mission District, and he was not able to take a seat as well. Board member Jerry Laskody said the problem wasn’t with the outcome of the election but the fact that not everyone received a ballot. The board voted to hold a special election in the hopes that everyone gets a ballot. Candidates Lake and Kaplan separately stood up to say that they understood that the board wanted to make sure that everyone gets a ballot, but they asked the board to consider the people that did get to vote. A public nonprofit group called the Mission Valley Irrigators United, Inc. filed a lawsuit to have those candidates seated. It also asserts that the reformation of the FJBC in 2014 wasn’t done properly as it didn’t hold an election or petition concerning the matter. Board member Erb said he was also pursuing the objective of having the elected candidates seated, although he said he wasn’t a plaintiff in the lawsuit. He said he hoped to take the issue to a judge without the need for legal representation. The majority of the board maintains their position that a new election needs to be held so everyone gets a chance to vote before elected candidates are seated. In other news, board member Paul Guenzler reported that he isn’t receiving notice concerning board meeting dates and times. “My rights as a commissioner have been violated,” he said. Guenzler wanted to know why he wasn’t being notified about the meetings as per the bylaws. Other members of the public said meeting information was difficult to find. Clerk Johanna Clark said it was her intention to notify everyone. She said technical problems might be to blame and that she also needs more time to notify people about rescheduled meetings. The board passed a motion to pay the 2016 O/M irrigation tax charges collected from irrigators and paid to the Flathead Indian Irrigation Project for operations. The Bureau of Indian Affairs oversees the project and they’ve requested a $7.50 increase in those charges for 2017, which totals about $1 million. The board wants the BIA to create a detailed list of expenditures before they will consider the increase. Board member Erb reported that FIIP Manager Pete Plant was at a Flathead District meeting. Erb said that Plant reported needing an increase in fees to pay for additional personnel including ditch riders and office personnel. He also said funding was needed for increased costs associated with water pumping, weed management, and a reserve fund.

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