Interim commissioner has lost trust

In the recent Inter Lake investigation into the financial pasts of Flathead County commissioner candidates, two numbers stand out, according to reader feedback.

Those numbers are 22 and $173,663 — as in the 22 credit cards and $173,663 in credit card debt accrued by interim Commissioner Cal Scott, a candidate for the permanent District 1 commissioner job.

Those shocking numbers are listed in Scott’s recent bankruptcy filing (filed in 2009 and resolved in 2011).

Those numbers and others from his bankruptcy case have particular relevance now that Scott has, in effect, been handed the taxpayers’ credit card for a county budget of $76 million.

Managing the people’s money is serious business and there has been plenty of concern over whether someone who racked up incredible personal credit-card debt should control the purse strings of our county.

As disturbing as we find Scott’s financial history, it’s just as worrisome that he did not disclose it during deliberations for a replacement for the late Jim Dupont.  

In a sense, Scott violated the public trust before he even got it. In matters of basic honesty and transparency, he has fallen short of standards we expect our public leaders to uphold.

Neither the Flathead County Republican Central Committee (which nominated Scott and two others to fill the vacant commission seat) nor the two other county commissioners (who chose Scott for the job) seem to care about the financial background of a commissioner candidate.

Those are major mistakes on everyone’s part.

Scott should have been forthcoming about the bankruptcy, the Republicans should have done their homework and the commissioners should have applied more due diligence to their choice.

Even now, Commissioners Pam Holmquist and Dale Laumann think it’s no big deal that Scott had financial troubles. And they say that finding out about the bankruptcy wouldn’t change their minds about appointing him.

They might want to reconsider such a cavalier attitude. Perhaps they can even take the lead in changing the process so that it doesn’t happen again.

Scott, to be sure, is not alone among commissioner candidates who have sought bankruptcy protection.

Two candidates for the District 3 commissioner position — Democrat Clara Mears-LaChapelle and Republican Gary Krueger — also went the bankruptcy route.

Krueger filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1992, three years after his wife, Julie, died of cancer and he became a single father of three young boys. Overwhelming medical debt forced the move.

LaChappelle, on the other hand, filed for bankrupcty in April after she lost her job.

Both Krueger and LaChappelle were willing to talk about the bankruptcies and the family crises that led to them.

Scott, on the other hand, refused to answer questions about his bankruptcy. Instead, he preferred to provide a statement, which didn’t answer all of our questions, nor those of the public.

There may be more to the story than we know now, but Scott has forgotten that as someone who works directly for the public, he owes the public full accountability.

In and of itself, filing a bankruptcy does not disqualify a citizen from running for any particular office. However, the skill set that is necessary for a candidate to successfully carry out the duties of an office, where fiduciary responsibilities are a major cornerstone, must be able to be properly evaluated. If a candidate deliberately hides from public view a major impediment involving this skill set, then we necessarily must wonder what else is being hidden from view, and thus, the integrity of the candidate becomes a central issue.

Given all this, we would demand Cal Scott’s resignation if it weren’t for the fact that his is just an interim appointment, as well as the fact that voters on Tuesday can make sure it remains interim and temporary.

One lesson in all this is that, particularly with the groundswell of candidates — 14 for two county commissioner jobs alone — voters really need to do their homework before they make their decisions.