Time, funds complicate Olsen lawsuit

July 25--In a pending suit involving Libby City Council member Allen Olsen, the issue of the cost of the lawsuit has intensified the conversation about Olsen's residency as the Aug. 25 trial date nears.

City Attorney Jim Reintsma said Olsen's residency status has been in question for years, starting in 2011 when Olsen was campaigning for a seat on the City Council. However, the city did not challenge Olsen's residency until last year when he ran for mayor against the incumbent, Doug Roll.

Reintsma said the question about Olsen's residency is key to seeing how accountable elected officials are to the people of Libby.

"He's not impacted by the decisions he's making," Reintsma said. 'Why should he make decisions when he isn't affected by them?"

In the most recent development, Olsen's defense has filed a summary judgment todismiss the case against him. The city must respond by Friday.

The city filed the lawuit against Olsen just prior to the mayoral election, claiming that Olsen was not a resident of Libby because he spends most of his time at a residence at his business address of 33692 Highway 2, which is just outside city limits.

Olsen claims that he lives at a rental property at 703 Louisiana Ave, which is within city limits.

Olsen lost the mayoral election by 14 votes and then filed a counterclaim against the city.

The whole case became bifurcated, meaning there are two parts of it, because of the counter claim. Reintsma represents the city, which is the plaintiff in the original lawsuit, while attorney Stephanie Breck represents the city as the defendant in Olsen's counterclaim.

Olsen said he believes there were bad intentions behind the city's decision to challenge his residency. He said council members isolate him and do not keep the public informed.

"If these people are so devoted to informing the public, why do they keep them in the dark?" Olsen said.

Reintsma said the original declaratory action filed against Olsen was not meant to make him pay, but rather to ask him to prove his residency. He said a declaratory action is an unusual type of lawsuit that is primarily about political issues.

"With this case, you go to the judge and say, 'We have a problem, and it's disrupting the way the city runs," Reintsma said. "It was not meant to be aggressive. Olsen's counterclaim is what was aggressive."

Olsen has claimed that the development of the case has racked up immense costs. Reintsma contested Olsen's claims that it has cost the city large sums of money to go through with the litigation. He said Olsen's claims of attorney's fees are quick to change and he doesn't know where Olsen gets the numbers.

Reintsma, as the city attorney, is paid his set rate as a public employee, and has filed about 15 additional hours at a rate of $60 per hour for additional work on the case. He said he is planning on filing about 15 more hours in the next couple of days. He said he has filed less than $2,000 in additional charges to the city so far.

Reintsma said the city's attorney fees for Stephanie Breck for the counterclaim are covered by the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority (MMIA), the city's insurance company, rather than through the city.

Alan Hulse, CEO of MMIA, said the city pays a $750 deductible for each liability claim like this. Husle said MMIA to date has paid $57,130.02 for the city's counterclaim defense.

Olsen said that the fees he owes to his attorney Doug Scotti are significant, but he did not offer a specific number.

"This issue needs to be decided by a court of law," Councilmember Robin Benson said. "It should not be decided on opinion or emotion. Deciding this is the court's job."

Mayor Doug Roll said he did not want to comment on the ongoing suit until August after the trial. Councilmembers Vicky Lawrence and Bill Bischoff said they did not want to comment on the issue.

Reintsma said the focal point is Olsen's questioned residency. He said it's up to the Aug. 25 trial date, which addresses the original claim and not Olsen's counterclaim, to answer that residency question.

"If he lives in Libby, that's fine," Reintsma said. "If he's not, we'll have to assess the situation and make some new decisions."

Both Reintsma and Olsen said they are confident in their sides of the case. The trial is set for Aug. 25.

___

(c)2014 The Western News (Libby, Mont.)

Visit The Western News (Libby, Mont.) at www.thewesternnews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services