Watne fails to meet public standard

Prosecutor Dusty Deschamps had it right Thursday when he said that Flathead County Commissioner Bob Watne "lives in a glass house."

There's nothing wrong with scrutinizing the behavior of the people we elect to represent us. We expect our public officials to represent us fairly and honestly, and also not to embarrass us.

Watne has embarrassed us. First, with a DUI and careless driving conviction in 2001. Then, even before he was sentenced for that, he racked up another DUI in 2002. This year, it was a confrontation with a sheriff's deputy on Panoramic Drive on April 5, when a barn belonging to Watne's fiance burned. Last week, Watne was convicted of obstructing a police officer for that.

In the past two years, our county commissioner has been sentenced to house arrest, to four days of jail time, to three suspended six-month sentences, and to more than $1,000 in fines. This doesn't make us proud.

Justice of the Peace David Ortley said when he sentenced Watne Thursday that public officials such as he and Watne "have to be beyond reproach." Like it or not, Watne certainly needs to understand that simple fact.

While no one expects perfection, we do have a right to expect more than Watne is giving us.

He was most recently charged with assault or, in the alternative, obstructing an officer. Watne entered a no-contest plea to obstructing. He said he "touched" the deputy; Deschamps characterized it as a push. Maybe he grabbed the deputy's arm. Whatever it was, it was illegal and it should be the last straw for residents of Flathead County.

In addition to his deplorable record in the court system, he has also gotten a reputation for being lackadaisical about attendance at official functions and he has shifted much of the work of county government to the other two commissioners.

Watne is by all accounts, a personable, pleasant man. It's easy to see why he was elected as a kind of Everyman, a regular guy, and not a politician.

But regular guys don't behave as Watne has - challenging law enforcement, threatening to sue the city over one arrest and referring to the breath test as a "Communist test."

State law provides for a recall of elected officials for "physical or mental lack of fitness, incompetence, violation of his oath of office, official misconduct or conviction for a felony offense."

Watne's behavior probably doesn't meet any of those standards. But it doesn't meet the community's standards, either.

"Mr. Watne is a public official. Mr. Watne is someone the community looks up to as setting an example," Deschamps said. That's how it should be. That's not how it is.

We think Commissioner Watne can now set an example by examining the record - his own legal record and his commitment to the job he was elected to do - and doing the right thing.