(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . ‘She doesn’t have the experience’: Cascade County Commission likely to overhaul leadership – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- November'] Date: 2023-11-14 Although the Cascade County Commission is made up of three Republicans, two voted Tuesday in a first step to change how leadership of the board is selected amid concerns about the current chairperson, Rae Grulkowski, who was elected on a far-right platform. “We have a brand new commissioner who is stepping into the chairmanship. That has not worked well, because she does not have the experience of running the meetings and does not have the leadership experience that most of us garnered through other sources before we ever ran for office,” Commissioner Joe Briggs said of Grulkowski. “Rae didn’t didn’t come in with the benefit of that experience and it has shown in her ability to manage the commission.” The proposed change among the three Republicans is representative of the ideological differences between the old-guard conservatives and far-right conspiracists in the county. This shake-up also comes after differences about how to manage elections in the county after controversy, missteps and resident concerns about newly elected Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant. Merchant is known in the community as an election denier. Grulkowski was elected to the commission last year to serve the final two years of retired commissioner Jane Weber’s term. But the chairperson position, which sets the agenda and runs the county meeting, is rotated with every commissioner taking a turn to serve as chair in the last two years of their 6-year term. Grulkowski was slated to serve as chairperson upon being sworn in and Briggs continued to serve as chairperson for the first few weeks of her term to give her time to adjust. The new ordinance, supported by Briggs and fellow GOP Commissioner James Larson, changes the selection process from a rotation between commissioners, to an election among commissioners to select the chairperson. Grulkowski supporters, including Merchant, spoke in opposition to the proposed ordinance during public comment, saying the move to change the chairperson structure was representative of the “old boys’ club” mentality, and that voters knew what they wanted when they voted her to serve on the commission. Grulkowski is a Merchant ally and was vocal in the movement against the Big Sky National Heritage Area in Cascade County. That issue gained national attention when it was featured in the New York Times story on the spread of misinformation surrounding heritage areas in 2021. Grulkowski voted against the ordinance on first reading Tuesday and said if it were to pass, the representation for the voters in her district would be suppressed. Deputy County Attorney Carey Ann Haight clarified although county commissioners are required to live in one of three districts, once they are elected to the commission, they represent the entire county, meaning there was no legal impact to representation. “There is no special exercise of authority over the county by serving as the commission chair,” Haight said. “It is, as Commissioner Briggs has indicated, a leadership position and you conduct the meetings.” Briggs, an old-school Republican who has served on the commission for nearly two decades, said during Tuesday’s commission meeting Grulkowski didn’t come into the position with the experience necessary to lead the commission, and it was leading to delays in commission business.. “The people’s business has to move forward. And we are not getting that done in a timely fashion,” Briggs said. “We have a problem right now.” Briggs has also previously voiced a desire for the county to absorb the duties of the Election Office in the months after Merchant assumed office, but it is unclear if removing Grulkowski as chairperson would provide a path forward on that issue. The Great Falls Public School District submitted a letter to the county urging them to remove Merchant in September. Briggs has served as chairperson of the commission for eight years during his tenure, something Grulkowski supporters noted in their opposition to the ordinance. “I think it’s the good ol’ boys upset to have a woman in charge of these meetings that are getting together and undermining her authority,” said resident Mark Winters. “The fix was in from the start.” Jasmine Taylor, former Democratic candidate for the state House, said gender wasn’t an issue. “I think that detracts from the issue, which is that the leadership has not been there, the professional behavior has not been there and we do not owe you, or anyone else in a position of leadership, time to develop that,” she said. “That is the expectation walking in the door.” Taylor noted Grulkowski continued to say the representation of her district would be limited after she was corrected by Haight. “For you to continue to dilute the truth and say I’m representing this district when you have been corrected and told that you are representing the county as a whole is one example of why your leadership is not measuring up,” Taylor said. Former Clerk and Recorder Rina Moore, who lost reelection to Merchant by fewer than 40 votes last November, spoke in favor of the ordinance, citing the trust she has in Briggs and Larson. Merchant defended Grulkowski, saying she’s acquired experience in the year she’s been in office, including leadership. “I see no reason, as others have said, to change now,” Merchant said. “Let it finish the term, and see how things are going, then you can always consider changing.” Weber, who also belongs to the Election Protection Committee, a residents group keeping tabs on Merchant’s office, said she found it odd Grulkowski cited how other county commissions handle their chairperson rotation. Grulkowski had pointed to the rotation of chairperson duties in Yellowstone, Missoula, Lewis and Clark and Gallatin Counties. Weber noted Missoula and Yellowstone counties have paid election administrators, and don’t have the clerk and recorder handle elections. “I don’t see Commissioner Grulkowski suggesting that,” Weber said. Grulkowski attempted to table the ordinance “for further discussion” but was overruled. The commission will make the final decision on whether to implement the rule change at its next meeting on Nov. 28. The ordinance would not take effect for 30 days if it passes second reading. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/11/14/she-doesnt-have-the-experience-cascade-county-commission-likely-to-overhaul-leadership/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/