Bigfork board pair dismissed

The Flathead County commissioners have dismissed two members of the Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee for excessive absences.

The suggestion that Tim Calaway and Scott Hollinger be removed from the committee was said by some to be motivated by people frustrated with the way the two viewed planning matters.

But for the commissioners, the decision to remove them came down to the committee's strict bylaws.

The bylaws plainly state that any member who misses three consecutive meetings or five meetings in a year "shall be dismissed and replaced." Both Calaway, a construction contractor, and Hollinger, a Realtor, missed five of last year's 11 meetings.

The word "shall," said Commissioner Gary Hall, "is pretty strong."

He was joined by Commissioner Joe Brenneman in voting to dismiss Calaway and Hollinger, while Bob Watne voted against the motion.

"It was pretty simple for me," Brenneman said. "The first question for me was, are the bylaws legitimate? No one questioned that. The bylaws very clearly say if you are absent five times, you are off the board."

It sounds simple, but the matter was tangled in local politics.

Part of the land-use board, and members of another panel called the Bigfork Steering Committee "didn't like where Calaway and Hollinger came down on things," said Hall, adding that those opinions did not play into his decision.

"That's irrelevant," Brenneman said. "Regardless of how I feel about these individuals or their abilities to serve, there was only one way for this to go."

The land-use committee considered a motion to dismiss the two men at a Dec. 29 meeting, but that motion failed on a 5-2 vote, so the matter was referred to the commissioners.

Bob Keenan, a land-use committee member, said he voted against the dismissals but agrees that the commissioners had little choice.

"They had to what they had to do," Keenan said. "Our bylaws are very specific about absences and they don't mention excused absences."

Calaway and Hollinger had contended that their absences were "excused" under attendance provisions that were approved by the land-use board years ago. But those provisions were never adopted as amendments to the bylaws.

Ultimately, Keenan said, a change in the board's membership will have little practical impact for a panel that has a limited advisory role when it comes to development in the Bigfork area.

"Everybody could vote no on a project and ultimately the decision is with the county commissioners," he said.

Brenneman said the dismissals may turn out to be temporary. The board is required to fill the two vacancies at its next meeting, and it's possible that both Hollinger and Calaway could be reappointed, he said.

If not, Brenneman said, both could successfully run for seats on the board in May elections.