THOMPSON FALLS — Neighbors in Thompson Falls are petitioning to recall the mayor and three City Council members, citing concerns about transparency and financial management.
"We want a City Council that will actually listen to the people and not just, kind of just blow us off as if we say something, and it goes in one ear and out the other, you know, we don't even get looked at, they're just looking down," said Kristen Wing, a Thompson Falls neighbor and petition organizer.
Wing said she has lived in Thompson Falls for more than five years and has seen growing division within the community.
"The division I feel is like it comes from people who know what's going on and people who really don't that they don't care to know," Wing said.
Wing and other neighbors said they are pushing for recalls because of concerns about financial mismanagement and a lack of transparency within city government.
She said those concerns intensified after former city clerk Chelsea Peterson was charged in Sanders County with attempted appointment of a relative to an office of trust or emolument, solicitation of agreements to appoint a relative to office, and official misconduct.
"The ex-city clerk, that is an issue for us. If I go to rob a house and you're in my car with me, you're charged as an accessory. So, in my opinion, and I think in a lot of other people's opinions, that a lot of them don't think about it like that, but these people are responsible for what happened," Wing said.
Wing said another concern involves the annexation of part of her property into the city.
She said she was not notified of the city’s intent to annex the property and only learned about it from another neighbor who reviewed a City Council agenda.
"I had heard that my property was going to be on the agenda even though my name was not on there. It just set a resolution of intent to annex. I had no idea that the city was going to be annexing my property. There was no notice to the public in the paper. I, of course, protested it, and they did it anyway. They annexed, they used the excuse that they wholly surrounded my property, and so they told all my neighbors that if they didn't annex, they would shut off their water, which you saw is in their sewer regulations, which I don't know how you can possibly cut somebody's water off," Wing said.
Wing said she later received notice of the annexation after the meeting, giving her 10 days to protest under city regulations.
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MTN News reviewed the city's policy regarding water service and found the city may annex a property if it receives city water service, with written notice provided to the property owner.
If consent is not granted, the city may discontinue water service.
MTN News reached out to the officials named in the recall petition: Raoul Ribeiro, Katherine Maudrone, Rosslyn "Rusti" Leivestad and Mayor Gussie O'Connor.
O'Connor directed MTN News to a response published in the Sanders County Ledger, where she wrote that she is "being judged and crucified by social media" and said the claims against her are not true.
She added that she consults with the Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority, state law and the city attorney before taking action.
Leivestad also referred MTN News to the Sanders County Ledger, though her letter was not published at the time of reporting.
Maudrone said she is unable to comment.
Ribeiro did not respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.
