County threatened with new lawsuit
SANDPOINT — Bonner County is being threatened with a lawsuit by a local resident who claims Commissioner Luke Omodt has caused her physical and emotional harm by looking at her when he said lies will not be tolerated during a meeting.
On Dec. 19, Dian Welle sent an email to the county prosecutor demanding that Omodt publicly apologize for looking at her during a meeting as he reiterated the rules of the public comment section of the meeting.
Welle claimed all she had done was ask Commissioner Asia Williams a question, which she said she was allowed to do during that portion of the meeting.
“My query was simple — were past commissioners considered to be normal members of the public?” she said in the email to the prosecutor.
Welle claimed that she had seen two former commissioners in and around the commissioners’ offices while the board was in executive session, which prompted her to ask if they were also allowed to enter executive sessions even after their time on the board had ended.
“[After Williams’s answer], I thanked her for her clarification and took my seat,” she said.
However, Welle said the problems started after another county resident began speaking. That member, who asked a similar question of the board, called the answer to the question “slimy.”
Welle claimed that at that point, Omodt interrupted the individual’s comments. However, he waited until after the individual had finished commenting and Williams had responded to those comments to speak.
“This had nothing to do with your report,” Omodt told Williams regarding the rule that states comments can be made only pertaining to the topics specifically discussed in a commissioner’s report.
Omodt then said that lies will not be tolerated in the meeting, scanning the room while he spoke. Omodt again said comments being entertained during commissioner reports must be prevalent to the report itself, rather than personal attacks on current or former commissioners.
During this time, Welle claims Omodt locked eyes with her, continuing to stare at her while he verbalized his definition of a lie.
“...Staring straight at me, [he stated] ‘The lies being propagated by some people are completely disrespectful to the members of the public,’ and, ‘What will not be tolerated by the board is straight up lying.’ This is when he deliberately locked eyes with me, accusing me specifically.”
Of the five times Welle claimed that Omodt called her a liar, she felt that during three of those instances, he was staring directly at her to make his words a personal attack.
“This has had a sickening effect on me,” Welle claimed. “While others may find his accusation trite, each count of being called a liar is a full attack on my very being, causing me grave emotional harm and physical effects. One may call me many things, but a liar is absolutely not one of them.”
Welle demanded that Omodt make both a verbal and written retraction of his statements, as well as issue an apology to her on the record. She also demanded a written statement be signed by all three commissioners and published in the newspaper, retracting Omodt’s alleged accusations against her.
“Should these conditions not be met within 20 days of this letter, I will request that my attorney begin a lawsuit against the county Jan. 9,” Welle stated in her email.
This is not the first time Welle has verbalized complaints against the commissioners. In the past few months, she has sent complaint emails to not only the county prosecutor, but also the state Attorney General, Idaho Gov. Brad Little, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division.
However, Omodt said he wishes Welle would have spoken to him first about the issue.
“I prefer that people have a conversation with me before assigning motive,” he said. “I have a long history of public service, all without the vile accusations that have accompanied becoming a county commissioner. My commitment to Bonner County remains steadfast and loyal.”