Do the right thing, Cal

Six months ago, the Daily Inter Lake editorial board wrote that we were disappointed in businessman Cal Scott for his lack of candor in applying for the interim county commissioner job without revealing his 2009 bankruptcy case.

At that time, however, just a week before the primary election, we said that it would be up to the voters to make a determination of whether Scott had disqualified himself for the office he already held by appointment.

Since Scott won the Republican primary and looked likely to win the November election in GOP-dominated Flathead County, we along with other voters decided to accept the will of the people and put aside our concerns about Scott’s fitness to manage a $75 million county budget.

Unfortunately, in the last month, it has become apparent that Scott’s lack of candor in the appointment process was just the tip of the iceberg.

As reported in the Daily Inter Lake on Oct. 4 and Oct. 21, Scott had also embellished his resume with a fake college degree in civil engineering and had even gone so far as to perjure himself in a court of law by claiming that he had a degree from the University of Nevada when testifying as an expert witness in a lawsuit trial.

This goes beyond a lack of candor and can only be characterized as a lack of honesty — or outright lying.

Now, those of us who have met or talked to Cal find him to be personable, serious and thoughtful, but those traits by themselves cannot trump the sine qua non of public life — integrity.

If Cal could testify under oath to that which is demonstrably false, then what trust can we put in his oath of office? How could we ever be sure that he isn’t lying to us again? And how could we possibly overlook those concerns just because we like Cal?

This isn’t an endorsement of Scott’s opponent in the District 1 county commissioner race. Democrat Gil Jordan is also a likable, energetic, hard-working candidate, but he doesn’t inspire our confidence either that he is the right person to manage a $75 million budget. Frankly, the choice in this election leaves us convinced that it will be up to the county’s residents and voters to maintain the highest vigilance over the next two years to make sure that county business is being attended to properly.

If Jordan is elected, then the voters will have passed judgment on Scott — and the two commissioners who appointed him. All three commissioners will be on notice that the public is watching, and has a long memory.

But if Scott is elected, then he will be the only one left who can set the matter straight.

Given the seriousness of the complaints against him, and the helplessness of the county to remove him from office, it will then be up to Scott to do the right thing and resign.

We began this process back in April when the Republican Central Committee and the other two county commissioners screened candidates and appointed Cal without doing their due diligence. If Scott is elected Nov. 6, he should surrender his seat and let the appointment process begin again — this time done correctly, with a thorough vetting of the candidates.

Nothing personal, Cal. This is just business — the people’s business.