BOCC discusses potential settlements in trespass dispute

SANDPOINT — Discussions were held yesterday behind closed doors about what Bonner County commissioners’ next steps will be regarding a pair of county residents who were trespassed from the Bonner County Administration Building late last month.

Rick Cramer and Dave Bowman were trespassed from the building, and subsequently placed under citizen’s arrest by Commissioner Luke Omodt, after refusing to leave the property over concerns over what some claim was disruptive behavior and alleged threats. While they were arrested by Sandpoint Police, it is unclear why neither was booked into the jail.

During the regularly scheduled Tuesday commissioners’ meeting, Commissioner Asia Williams placed multiple executive session items on the agenda regarding the situation at hand, as many are claiming Omodt’s actions against the men were illegal.

Two of Williams’s items on Tuesday’s agenda regarded discussions over settlements with the men — something that Omodt said he had questions regarding.

“Why is the board of county commissioners considering using public funds and taxpayer dollars for a settlement with Dave Bowman and Rick Cramer when there has yet to be a tort filed?” he asked.

Omodt said he found it hard to understand why the board would discuss providing public funds to two citizens who were political supporters of Williams. To that, the District 2 commissioner responded that Omodt, of his own accord, decided to place the two men under citizen’s arrest — something that she believes opened up the county to multiple avenues of potential litigation.

“We have two members of our community who have been meaningfully participating in Bonner County business, that you are denying access to,” she said. “The errors on your part are significant. You’re the one who’s actually risking our money. I’m trying to mitigate the problem that has been created.”

While legal counsel had advised Omodt how he should go about trespassing someone from the meetings should he choose to do so, Williams said Omodt chose to ignore that advice and do things his way, which is why the discussion regarding settlements needs to be had.

The settlement, she said, does not have to involve money. It could simply be an apology letter on behalf of the board — or just Omodt and Bradshaw — for voting to trespass the men and having them arrested.

Because of Omodt’s insinuation that she wanted to pay her political supporters, Williams said she would be opting out of that portion of the executive session so as not to seem malicious.

“What’s more accurate and evident by your actions is that you are attacking people that stand up and speak out against you,” she said.

Williams also pointed out that Omodt has opted to not have every county meeting streamed, yet told the two men that they could only participate via Zoom. That limits their ability to participate and stay in the know, she said, as only a handful of the meetings are made available online. This puts them at an even greater risk of litigation, she said.

By placing the discussion on the agenda, Williams said she was simply trying to mitigate the issue before it is blown even further out of proportion, likely resulting in higher lawsuit costs and attorneys fees than a settlement would require. 

“It should have been you or Bradshaw that brought this up since you’re the ones who trespassed in one meeting, and you’re the one who civilly arrested two members of Bonner County because you didn’t like what they had to say,” she said to Omodt. “In the absence of that, even if I don’t believe that the outcome is going to be that the board resolves it, I have an obligation to recognize the issue, try to mitigate it and put it in the hands of the people to address your elected officials who put your tax money in front of this issue.”

Williams said she does not agree with how the situation has played out in any step of the process and is hoping to settle things before an even bigger issue arises. On top of that, she listed a few other reasons why she is frustrated with Omodt’s handling of the issue.

“Place the responsibility for these decisions squarely where they belong, which is on a unilateral decision, a decision that unilaterally, you choose to make, because you treat Bonner County as if you are in charge and not that it is a board,” she said.

Williams stood by her decision to place the items on the agenda and said that every item should be discussed immediately so the county can figure out how to disentangle itself from what she referred to as a mess. Whether a decision is reached during the meeting, she said she cares more about shining light on the issue at hand than reaching a speedy resolution.

“We have no grounds to stand [on] at this time,” she said.

However, Omodt said that none of that answered his original question.

“I absolutely will stand by protecting the safety of the employees of Bonner County,” he said.

Omodt then asked Williams how she knew the county was getting sued before anything had even been filed.

“Literally as you had people drug out, they said they were going to sue you, and they said that,” she said. “You can look at the body cam.”

Williams told Omodt she was tired of playing word games with him and that if he had not decided to ignore legal counsel’s advice and go after the pair, the county wouldn't be at potential risk for lawsuits.

To that, Omodt responded that he would take that as a “yes,” that Williams is OK with paying out her political supporters with taxpayer dollars.

A roll call vote was taken and the order of agenda was adopted, including the executive sessions.