The Canyon Creek Rural Fire District board of trustees held a special meeting to reaffirm votes from a June meeting appointing members to their positions, but faced criticism for a “conflict of interest.”
During the roughly 20-minute Zoom-only meeting Tuesday, board chair Richard Grady was a man of few words when he replied to public comments.
Members of the public were worried about a possible conflict of interest due to husband and wife Max and Ellen Eskildsen serving on the board.
Ellen serves as the board secretary, while Max is a trustee.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Kai Bauer, a former trustee who resigned said he believed that either Max or Ellen should resign due to a conflict of interest in board processes.
Another member of the public agreed with that, saying that there does not seem to be an independently thought-out vote coming from the two in previous voting scenarios.
People are also reading…
Dale Hudec, a community member, asked why Grady’s video was turned off during the meeting, but the other trustees had their cameras on.
Grady replied saying “Because I choose to do that per my attorney’s direction, OK thank you.”
As the board chair asked if there was anymore public comment, Hudec said “Yes, you need to step down.”
Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton viewed the meeting through his phone and commented, citing that he is not an overseer of the board, but will keep the peace.
He said he was asked by Canyon Creek community members to attend the meetings.
“I’ll be following along and it seems like there is some tumultuous issues going on here,” Dutton said.
One of the “tumultuous” events that was not directly referenced during the meeting was a donated quick-response unit vehicle.
The Canyon Creek Rural Fire District station’s new quick-response unit truck, a 2024 Dodge Ram 2500HD Tradesman, sits in the garage at the station on June 25.
On June 22, roughly $55,000 for a Quick Response Unit vehicle was donated to the Canyon Creek Rural Fire District Auxiliary, but according to Jonathan Cunningham, fire chief, Jim Thomas, vice chair and Wendy Smith-Adamson, board treasurer some of those on the five-member board were hesitant to accept the vehicle.
“It’s very confusing as to why there could be an issue,” Smith-Adamson said.
She said the board’s hesitation does not have to do with logic, it has to do with a power play.
“I have no idea why anybody could look a gift horse in the mouth and say ‘No.’ We’re not costing the taxpayers any money,” Cunningham said.
Grady and Max Eskildsen initially declined to comment on the matter, with Max claiming he could not comment since it has to be voted on at the next board meeting, which is July 15.
On Wednesday, Max said there is not one board member that does not want to accept the truck.
He said he has plans to tell the board about a special meeting he wants held before the July 15 meeting to approve the truck.
Sonny Tapia is a criminal justice and education reporter for the Helena Independent Record.
