Ethics complaint disputed by senator
Barkus says aid for firm based on fairness, not self-interest
The Flathead County Democratic Party is seeking an ethics inquiry into a recent appropriation secured by Sen. Greg Barkus, R-Kalispell, but Barkus insists his actions were entirely appropriate.
At issue is a $600,000 funding request that Barkus put in the state's general fund budget bill to pay for an environmental cleanup liability owed by the Kalispell contracting firm, Swank Enterprises.
"There has been sufficient media and public concern about the propriety of this use of taxpayer dollars by the senator to warrant a closer examination of his relationship with the corporation that will benefit from this questionable use of state financial resources," wrote Mark Holston, chairman of the Flathead County Democratic Party.
Holston has formally asked the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, the Senate Rules Committee and two Montana county attorneys to look into the matter. He questions whether Barkus, a former vice president with D.A. Davidson and Co., has business ties with Swank Enterprises.
Barkus said the appropriation is justified because Swank Enterprises has been wronged by the state.
In 1995, Swank paid $5,000 for a small parcel of land in an area on the east side of Kalispell that was contaminated decades ago by the now-defunct Kalispell Pole and Timber Co., the Reliant Refinery and the Yale Oil Corp. At the time of the purchase, the state was estimating cleanup costs would be less than $10 million, and Swank agreed to pay a 2 percent share of those costs, which would come to no more than $200,000.
However, the Legislature appropriated $500,000 in 2005, and another $750,000 in 2007, for additional studies into the extent of contamination in the area.
Those studies "have resulted in a proposed rehabilitation at the site at a cost of $32 million," increasing Swank's share of the cleanup bill to $640,000, Barkus wrote in a letter to Senate colleagues explaining his position.
"There is no financial gain here," Barkus said. "I'm simply trying to right a wrong. I don't think that somebody who buys a property for $5,000 and doesn't do anything to pollute the property should be required to pay $640,000 in remediation."
Barkus points out that the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, which has owned another parcel in the contaminated area for more than 75 years, will receive $9 million from the state's "orphan fund" to cover its share of the cleanup costs.
Sen. Jim Peterson, the Republican chairman of Senate Rules Committee, has rejected Holston's request for the committee to review the matter.
In a letter to Holston, Peterson noted that Barkus has "never failed" to disclose past situations when the Legislature was considering financial matters involving D.A. Davidson.
The letter goes on to provide Barkus's responses to Holston's allegations.
Barkus stresses that he retired from D.A. Davidson on Dec. 31, 2008, and he refuses to disclose any business relationship with Swank prior to that time because of D.A. Davidson client-privacy policies.
He said he has received no fee, no contract for services and no economic benefit as a result of any legislation he has been involved with.
Holston is not satisfied with the response from Peterson and Barkus.
"I would say that the response was certainly cordial and done in a very timely manner, but other than that, it really fails to get to the heart of what we are raising to this committee and the Commissioner of Political Practices," Holston said Thursday.
Holston said Barkus's refusal to disclose prior relationships with Swank because of privacy policies is "a dodge" and he hopes the Commissoner of Political Practices will look into the matter.
Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com