Lawyer scraps suit over board seat appointment

The Daily Inter Lake

Former Whitefish City-County Planning Board member John Wagner has scrapped a lawsuit against the city that asked for his reappointment to the board.

Though Wagner wasn't chosen for a mayoral appointment to the board, he said the lawsuit nevertheless proved his point - to expose a "sloppy" selection process.

"The underlying theme is that if they were sloppy with me, how sloppy are they with doing business for the city?" Wagner said.

Wagner's lawsuit asked a District Court judge to order the city of Whitefish to reappoint him to the Planning Board or hold a hearing to show good cause why the City Council didn't make the appointment.

He was the lone applicant for the position when the council initially interviewed in early November 2006. Wagner met all the qualifications to serve, yet the council chose to leave the seat vacant and seek other applicants.

Wagner, a Whitefish attorney, met with the council a second time in December during another round of interviews, shortly after the council learned of Wagner's lawsuit against the city. Wagner said he was given a chance to comment, but the council had been advised not to address the legal action.

The council initially interviewed Wagner thinking the position was a city appointment, and later learned it was a mayoral appointment. Since the mayor was absent from Wagner's first interview, the city maintained that was the reason Wagner's seat had been left open.

The mayor eventually appointed Steve Qunell to the seat.

"The purpose [of the lawsuit] was to say the basis was wrong for the appointment and to see if they'd have the foresight and courage to fix what was wrong," Wagner said. "That opportunity came and went when they appointed" Qunell.

Wagner said he didn't proceed with the lawsuit because he didn't want to dislodge another citizen from the board.

At Thursday's Planning Board meeting, Wagner and Frank Sweeney were nominated for an open at-large position. Wagner lost to Sweeney on a 5-3 vote.

"I can live with that," Wagner said. "The difference this time is that all the cards were on the table."

Wagner's lawsuit alluded to the city's perceived conflict of interest with other Planning Board members Jack Quatman and Dennis Bee.

Wagner is a self-employed attorney who rents office space at the Quatman & Quatman law firm in Whitefish. His lawsuit said he has never represented Bee in legal matters.

"Apparently the city believes that Bee, Wagner and Quatman have some mysterious agenda and have a nickname for the three as the 'Triage Unit,'" the lawsuit said.

Quatman noted at Thursday's meeting that Wagner works independently, even though they share office space.

Several Planning Board members spoke in support of Wagner.

"It's not right. John is getting the short end of the stick," board member Kerry Crittenden said, but noted that having two lawyers from the same office on the board is "an opportunity for the paranoid to speculate."

Bee, whose term expired at the end of 2006, also lost his bid for reappointment from the county commissioners. He was chairman of the board.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com