Tri-Cities meeting erupts into shouting matches over paying for a damaged county vehicle
A debate over who was responsible for paying for damage to a county vehicle caused a Franklin County Commission meeting to devolve into intense arguments and shouting matches.
Officials at the commission meeting clashed over how meetings should be conducted and when elected officials are responsible for damages.
By the end of the nearly three-hour meeting, almost every elected Franklin County official was pulled into the confrontation.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, several members of the public laid into different members of the commission accusing them of being “uncivil” and “unprofessional” at the session.
The meeting got heated early on after a discussion about changes to a position in the appraiser’s office. Commission Chairman Clint Didier accused Commissioner Brad Peck of interrupting him, and asked him to acknowledge the chairman when joining into the conversation.
That prompted a short back and forth over whether or not the board was required to follow Robert’s Rules of Order, which are a widely used set of procedures that public and private boards typically adhere to.
The argument escalated when they moved onto a discussion about whether an elected official driving a personal car should be responsible for damages to a county vehicle that he hit.
Damage claim
County Auditor Matt Beaton appeared before the board to dispute a $5,400 bill he received for damage to a Franklin County Coroner’s Office vehicle that he hit last September in the Franklin County Courthouse parking lot.
Beaton argued that he should not be responsible for the bill as an elected official involved in an accident on county property. He claimed the repair bill was politically motivated and then began airing disputes about previous county investigations dating more than a decade.
He claimed County Prosecutor Shawn Sant had an ax to grind over those past incidents.
He also accused Sheriff Jim Raymond of helping Sant, and at one point at the Tuesday meeting, Coroner Curtis McGary snapped at Beaton to stop interrupting him.
Beaton said he was leaving the courthouse complex one day in the rain, when he hit the coroner’s office vehicle that was parked in an odd spot.
He stopped short of saying he was on county business at the time of the accident, but said he was shook up afterward and went home.
Case of indemnity
On Tuesday, Didier and Commissioner Rocky Mullen were in agreement that it was in the county’s best interest to pay the bill and move on, rather than engage in a protracted legal battle that could potentially cost much more.
However they ran into a problem when they wanted to classify it as a case of indemnity, meaning Beaton would be considered immune from damages in his role as an elected official. The prosecutor’s office contended he had been leaving for the day and was not on county business at the time.
Peck, Sant and the county’s Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Johnson argued that granting indemnity was setting a dangerous precedent for the county.
Johnson, who had investigated the initial claim, said that granting indemnity in a situation like this would mean that the county could potentially be held liable for any accidents caused by elected officials or employees on-call 24 hours.
Johnson also revealed that Beaton had in fact told her he was going home when it happened. Johnson said Beaton contacted her after the accident to discuss applicable laws and regulations, and whether any might apply in his case, and that Beaton was discussing the matter with his wife who is an attorney.
“Then he asked me, ‘Would it make a difference if I was working at the time?’ I said, ‘Yes, absolutely. Were you working?’’ Johnson told the commissioners.
“He said, ‘I would like to say yes, but to be honest I was leaving for the day.’ Which is why we didn’t go down the whole indemnification route,” she said.
Johnson said she told Beaton that in her opinion, the accident was caused by an employee after work, so should not be covered under his capacity as an elected official, but she told him he could address it with the commissioners because they would be responsible for voting on whether or not to cover the damage.
Beaton said he remembers the conversation differently.
Playing politics
At one point when Beaton was talking about why he believes Sant was targeting him, Peck called for a point of order, which began another shouting match. Didier responded by telling him he was out of order and banging the gavel.
“The gentleman giving testimony is disparaging the prosecutor in a manner that’s not welcome,” Peck said. “You can’t be out of order when there’s no Robert’s Rules of Order in place. Put your gavel down.”
“Quiet, quiet Mr. Peck,” Didier responded. “I am the chairman, you are out of order. I am running the meeting, quiet.”
Later as Didier was again trying to tell Peck to be quiet, Peck responded with, “You love that (gavel), don’t you? Makes you feel important.”
‘Personal vendetta’
Didier also got into a shouting match with Sant after Mullen called for a vote to approve paying for the bill out of the county’s General Fund.
Sant also believed that paying for the bill under the umbrella of indemnity could set the county up for conflict in the future.
He said he was fine if commissioners wanted to discuss paying the bill or splitting it 50-50, but urged them not to consider it indemnity.
Didier argued that because Beaton was in his personal vehicle it should be treated the same as if an elected official had been in an accident in a vehicle paid for by the county. Beaton said he does not use a rented vehicle as part of a pledge to voters to be fiscally responsible.
As Didier pressed Sant, trying to get him to answer yes or no questions rather than allowing him to explain why this matter needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis, they began talking over each other, then shouting.
It came to a head after Didier did not allow Sant to respond to Beaton’s allegations that the issue was politically motivated retaliation.
“So I can be personally attacked and not be given an opportunity to (respond)?” Sant asked.
“No, you brought it up,” Didier said.
“No! We had a discussion on vehicles on the agenda, and you brought up all this litany on somehow the prosecuting attorney has a personal vendetta against you, the auditor, and every other elected official here and that’s just absurd,” Sant said.
“If I’m going to be accused of anything here, it’s following the state constitution and the U.S. constitution, and if you guys don’t want to follow that or do that, that’s on you,” he said.
“Believe me we’re following it,” Didier responded.
The argument then erupted into each accusing the other of not following the constitution.
After debate over what fund a payment should be made out of, an amendment to the motion to use the county’s Equipment Rental and Revolving Fund failed. It was followed by a 2-1 vote, with Peck against, to pay the cost of the repair bill from the General Fund.
This story was originally published April 12, 2022 at 6:13 PM.
