The City Commission voted 4-1 to reappoint Amanda Ball to the city-county Board of Health during their Dec. 21 meeting.
The appointment came after at least a half hour of discussion and confusion over the city’s process for making board appointments.
Ball was appointed in 2019 to serve the remainder of a term through Dec. 31, 2021.
She is eligible and interested in serving another term.
Because she expressed interest in remaining on the board, the city did not advertise for the position.
The health board opted not to make a recommendation on whether she should be reappointed “as it is a City Commission decision.”
Though the city didn’t advertise for the position, it received applications from two other citizens for the spot.
City Commissioners passed a resolution in 2018, stating that “in the case of a member eligible for and interested in reappointment, if the member is in good standing and the applicable board or commission recommends that the member be reappointed, his or her application shall be brought before the City Commission for consideration for
reappointment without advertising for other citizen interest.”
Commissioner Rick Tryon raised issues with the process for this particular appointment saying that Ball’s application was not included in the agenda packet and that the health board had not made a recommendation.
Commissioner Owen Robinson, who is the city’s other representative to the health board, said that it has not been their practice to make recommendations because of the composition of the board. The city appoints two members, one of whom is the mayor or a sitting commissioner; the county appoints two, one of whom is a commissioner; the board also includes the superintendent of Great Falls Public Schools; a representative of the local medical association and a representative of the local dentists association.
The board is charged under a 1975 Memorandum of Agreement with the supervision and management of the City-County Health Department, but the city and county are in the process of updating that agreement, in part due to recent state law changes that adjusted the authority of local health boards in emergencies.
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During their Dec. 7 meeting, the commission made reappointments to the city’s board of adjustment without applications from those seeking reappointment and no commissioner raised concern over that as it relates to the 2018 resolution.
In August, the commission also made reappointments to the park board without reviewing their applications and no commissioner raised concern.
In those cases, the board’s did make recommendations for the reappointments.
The 2018 resolution regarding the process for board appointments also states: “Boards and commissions are encouraged to make recommendations to the City Commission regarding appointments to vacant positions on any board or commission, but the City Commission reserves the right to accept or reject those recommendations. The City Commission acknowledges that some board and commissions may have adopted bylaws and/or policies to assist in the management of their affairs, and that some of these same by-laws and/or policies may contain provisions regarding appointments and tenure of board and commission members, and processes for recruitment. The City Commission is not bound by these bylaws and/or policies. Except as provided by federal or state law, the authority of the City Commission in the appointment process is paramount and supersedes any bylaw provisions and/or policies.”
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No commissioner, member of the public or staff mentioned those provisions of the resolution.
One of the applicants for the position, Dr. Katrina Lewis, is a county resident, and while not a requirement for the city’s health board appointment, the city typically requires city residency for appointment to any of its other boards.
Lewis, a local anesthesiologist, came to a school board meeting in November and said that COVID is not a pandemic, masks are not effective and that few children had died of COVID.
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According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 214 children aged 0-4 and 498 children aged 5-18 died of COVID from January 2020 to Nov. 13, 2021.
Lewis said that she belongs to groups such as the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, which has advocated for the use of ivermectin as treatment; and groups that include Peter McCullough, who was fired from Baylor University this year for spreading misinformation about COVID.
The other applicant was Jonathan Martin, a retired pharmaceutical representative.
Robinson, during his last meeting as a city commissioner on Tuesday, said, “I think if we did not choose her, not only would we be going against what our policy has kinda been….I can’t imagine the precedent we would set for this commission to take somebody who has done an admirable job for three years….and also served during probably the hardest time there has ever been for our city county board of health….simply because of the pandemic.”
Tryon voted against the appointment “because I think we have two other applications here that deserve to be considered. This is not about Ball, it’s about the process.”
Robinson added that there was also a vacancy for the county appointments that had been vacant since an April resignation.
He said he spoke to two county commissioners who were previously unaware that their spot was vacant.
Robinson said the two who applied for the city’s appointment could also apply for consideration by the county.
He said that he had Ball come to the commission in November to give the health department update so the commissioners could get to know her.
Commissioner Mary Moe, also in her last meeting as a commissioner, said that it wasn’t unusual for someone seeking reappointment to simple express that interest and not submit a new formal application.
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Moe called for the question at that point, a parliamentary procedure to get to a vote, which proved a stumbling block as Mayor Bob Kelly didn’t know the process and it took staff some time to address the process while debate continued.
Kelly said the 2018 resolution on the process for board appointments was broad and for a variety of boards. He said that this incidence was unique and perhaps they should revisit that resolution to make changes.
If Ball’s term was allowed to expire on Dec. 31, the health board would only have five members, since the county also has a vacancy and they need four members to have a quorum, which would likely be hard to achieve at their Jan. 5 meeting.
The commission meets again Jan. 4, so Kelly said it would be possible to revisit the appointment at that meeting if commissioners wanted more time to review the other applications.
Moe said it wasn’t accurate to say that the other applicants hadn’t been considered as she reviewed them carefully.
During the Dec. 21 meeting, commissioners also approved leases for two areas of parkland. There was no opposition to those leases during the meeting.
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Commissioners also approved changes to the city’s weapons ordinance, prompted largely by changes in state law, including Legislative Referendum 130 in the November 2020 general election and HB102 in the 2021 legislative session.
LR 130 “significantly restricted” the legal authority of local governments to regulate the possession of firearms and HB102 “extended the right to carry concealed weapons in Montana to individuals without a concealed carry permit, and substantially limited the areas where concealed carry by a valid permit holder can be restricted,” according to the city staff report.
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Staff discussed the ordinance with commissioners during their Aug. 17 work session and the proposed ordinance will update the current city code to comply with the new state laws.
Before the law changes, local governments could prohibit the carrying on both unconcealed and concealed, permit or not, “to a public assembly, publicly owned building, park under its jurisdiction or school,” according to the staff report.
The state law has been changed to now only authorize restrictions on the carrying of unpermitted concealed weapons and unconcealed weapons; and the application of those restrictions only in a publicly owned and occupied building.
The law change means local government can no longer impose carry restrictions at public assemblies, parks or schools.
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There is federal law and local school board policy prohibiting weapons, specifically, firearms in schools, according to Tom Moore, superintendent of Great Falls Public Schools.
The proposed ordinance allows the city to prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons by a valid permit holder in a secure area of a law enforcement facility owned and operated by the city and within a courtroom or an area of a courthouse in use by court personnel.
The proposed ordinance implements the state law language that authorizes the city to prohibit weapons, including permitted concealed carry, in secure areas of law enforcement facilities. The restrictions in a courtroom and courthouse areas must be imposed pursuant to an order of a judge, and Judge Steve Bolstad has already issued a Standing Order to that effect for the Civic Center, according to the staff report.
The proposed ordinance also adds language to authorize the city manager to direct and implement screening measures and authorize the denial of entry to city facilities by those not legally authorized to carry a weapon in city facilities. The new language also includes the former statutory exceptions to concealed carry restrictions in certain
locations by law enforcement officials, according to the staff report.
Tryon had questions about some of the verbiage, to which City Attorney Jeff Hindoien, said that he copied and pasted it from the new state law.
Tryon asked why the city needed to give the city manager authority for screening and Hindoien said the intent was to have that in place for the future, should it be needed.
Hindoien said “really in the modern world,” the city offices are those where the public can walk in and interface with government officials and some of the few remaining that don’t require the public to go through some form of security.
Moe said that because the changes were voted on by the public and the legislature, the city had to comply with those laws.
“I could not disagree with it more profoundly. It was a wrongheaded decision. But I do not have the power to overturn that decision that the people have made or the Legislature has made,” Moe said.
Commissioners approved the changes to the weapons ordinance 4-1 with Moe opposed.
The commission also voted 5-0 to accept the COPS Hiring Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice for $375,000, which will cover 38 percent of the total cost of hiring those three officers, according to the city.
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The grant requires a city match and the federal money is $375,000 or 38 percent of the total cost for the three new officers.
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The match requirements for the city would be $607,645 or 62 percent of the total cost. The grant has a four year timeframe to allocate all funding requirements. The grant further specifies the matching funds are spread over the first three years of the grant, with the fourth year being the responsibility of the City. The four year breakdown includes:
There are associated training and equipment costs, estimated at an additional $13,244 per officer of $39,732 for all three new officers.
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The numbers are estimates and may change as future collective bargaining agreements are ratified, according to city staff.
During the Dec. 7 commission work session, City Manager Greg Doyon told commissioners that the grant is a funding opportunity, but they need to keep in mind that the cost to the city will increase annually and by the fourth year, the city will assume the full cost of the three new officers, or be in a layoff situation.
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The city accepted a COPS grant several years ago and chose to keep all of the officers funded through that program, but the budgets were tight the fourth year, Doyon said during the work session.
The Great Falls Police Department is planning to assign the three officers to the Directed Engagement Team, which is within the Patrol Services Bureau.
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The team is part of the department’s community policing strategy and partners with the Great Falls Mental Health Treatment Court, North Central Montana Crisis Intervention Collaborative, Great Falls Downtown Safety Alliance, Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce and Indian Family Health Services “in order to find more effective ways to serve these stakeholders and partners. The DET is also attached to the Violent Crime Prevention Task Force to support the mission of removing the most violent offenders and illegal firearms from our community,” according to GFPD.
With the grant, DET officer will be directly assigned to work with the city’s mental health treatment court and the North Central Montana Crisis Intervention Collaborative to support those with addiction and mental health needs.
Tryon said that it was a “win-win-win” for the city.
He asked Doyon, the city manager, to review the funding options for the city’s match and taking over the full cost in the fourth year.
Doyon said that for years, the police chiefs have asked for additional staff, but funding wasn’t available and the commission hasn’t approved much of what the police, or fire department has asked for over the last decade.
“This is something they are continually frustrated with. I think they’ve done everything they can do. Now they need more resources,” Doyon said.
He said that the city will carve out funds from the budget over the next few years to be ready for the fourth year, but will have to estimate since there will be changes to the collective bargaining agreements, and it will require the city to take the full inflationary factor every year to meet those cost obligations in the future. The city will also have newly taxable property revenue over the coming years to be factored into the mix.
Doyon said that the city won’t ask for a public safety levy to pay for the new cops.
