by Jay Stevens
Some time ago, I praised the work that Moorcat was doing over at Pragmatic Revolt for blogging up local politics – which, obviously, has served as a model for what we’re trying to do over here at 4&20 blackbirds.
Moorcat must be doing something right, because the mayor of Dillon, Marty Malesich, of whom Moorcat is a vocal critic, and city council member, Nils “Swede” Troedsson, recently had him arrested. Moorcat’s arrest was the lead story in the Dillion Tribune today (reprinted in its entirety below).
What’s clear – and Malesich doesn’t deny this – is that Moorcat (a.k.a., Ken Kailey) was investigated, found to have a suspended driver’s license, then targeted for arrest after Troedsson saw him driving, and subsequently relayed the information to Malesich:
In an interview Monday night, Dillon Police Chief John Gutcheck confirmed that Malesich had called him sometime prior to Oct. 6 and asked him to check on the status of Kailey’s driver’s license. Gutcheck reported to the Mayor that Kailey’s license was suspended in Washington.
Gutcheck confirmed that on Oct. 6 Malesich called him at home and told him that an unlicensed driver was at the Post Office. Malesich gave a description of the vehicle and the license plate number.
Gutcheck called dispatch and relayed the message to the patrolman. According to police records, Kailey was arrested Saturday, Oct. 6, at 10:08 a.m. He was taken into custody and bond was posted. He was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Asked Tuesday morning if he had run a check on Kailey’s driving status, Malesich responded that he was verifying “common knowledge.”
If that’s not bad enough, consider that Moorcat’s wife – Brittney Kailey – is running against Troedsson for city council, and it’s pretty obvious that Malesich and Troedsson were not acting purely out of civic duty.
Meanwhile, Moorcat is plowing on with his coverage of Dillon city politics. He’s also asking for a little help to cover the costs of his defense. Drop a sawbuck on Moorcat, and drop him a line of support. Let him know he’s doing the right thing…
(Full article below the fold…)
Blogger alleges misuse of mayoral power
By J.P. Plutt
Dillon Tribune staffKen Kailey, whose blogsite Pragmatic Revolt has been highly critical of Dillon Mayor Martin “Marty” Malesich and the city government, feels Malesich abused the power of his office when the mayor played a role in Kailey receiving a ticket from the Dillon Police Department. Malesich defended his actions as an obligation of his office.
On Oct. 6, Kailey was dropping off packages at the Post Office. He noticed City Councilman Nils “Swede” Troedsson observing him from outside the building and later making a call on his cell phone. After driving off, Kailey was pulled over by Dillon Police Officer Ed Jones and cited for driving on a suspended license.
“Let me make one thing very clear,” said Kailey. “I was driving on a suspended license.”
Kailey feels the fact that the mayor doesn’t like him should not allow his civil rights to be disregarded.
“In my opinion, this arrest was politically motivated,” said Kailey Monday night. “For somebody to pull you over, they have to have a probable cause. I was pulled over on a complaint issued by Mayor Malesich. The problem with that is, the only way Mayor Malesich would have known that my license was suspended was if he abused the powers of his office to research my background.“Since there was no probable cause for him to do that, this would suggest at least to me, that this was politcally motivated.”
Malesich contends he was doing his job. “I am the chief law enforcement officer of the city,” said the Mayor. “If there’s something wrong with that, oh well. As far as a background check, if I could have legally done it I would have. I didn’t do a background check but there’s nothing wrong with running a check to see if a guy has a driver’s license.
“It still comes down to, he’s the one that doesn’t have a driver’s license.”
In an interview Monday night, Dillon Police Chief John Gutcheck confirmed that Malesich had called him sometime prior to Oct. 6 and asked him to check on the status of Kailey’s driver’s license. Gutcheck reported to the Mayor that Kailey’s license was suspended in Washington.
Gutcheck confirmed that on Oct. 6 Malesich called him at home and told him that an unlicensed driver was at the Post Office. Malesich gave a description of the vehicle and the license plate number.
Gutcheck called dispatch and relayed the message to the patrolman. According to police records, Kailey was arrested Saturday, Oct. 6, at 10:08 a.m. He was taken into custody and bond was posted. He was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Asked Tuesday morning if he had run a check on Kailey’s driving status, Malesich responded that he was verifying “common knowledge.”
“Brittany (Kailey’s wife) had worked up to the Forest Service and was talking to some individuals and she’s the one that said he didn’t have a driver’s license,” recalled Malesich. “That’s how I heard it and several other people asked me about it so I asked John, ‘Does he have a driver’s license?’”
Adding further intrigue to the story is the fact that Kailey’s wife is running against Troedsson on the upcoming ballot for city council.
“Mayor Malesich has made it very clear that he does not like me,” said Kailey. “He does not like what I post about him and the city government on my blog. More distressing to me, not only did he research my background, he shared the information with Councilman Troedsson.”
Asked if he shared the information with Troedsson, Malesich replied that it was common knowledge. Asked if Troedsson called Malesich on Oct. 6 to report Kailey, the mayor would not identify the caller.
“I received a call that said he (Kailey) was at the Post Office so I called John (Gutcheck) and said I don’t think he has a license, and I think you should check on it.”Asked again if Troedsson made the initial call, Malesich said, “I”m not going to say who called me.”
Moments later Troedsson acknowledged that he did make the call to Malesich on Oct. 6. “That’s a fact,” said Troedsson. “I had knowledge of the fact that he was driving illegally and called Marty and told him that he was there, and Marty took it from there.”
Asked how he gained the knowledge that Kailey did not have a valid drivers license Troedsson replied, “The mayor.”
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Pingback on Oct 22nd, 2007 at 12:27 am
[...] most interesting story of the week is certainly the arrest of Dillon’s own Moorcat, covered in depth by Jay Stevens and Moorcat himself. Dave Budge uses the arrest and discussion to argue [...]
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October 17, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Thank you, Jay for the callout. I have received multiple phone calls today about the article and my blog stats have gone through the roof. I can only hope that the spotlight shown on this situation has some effect in curbing the excesses of the Administration. I am also hoping that the big hit in site viewing means that a bunch of people will show up tonight at the Budget hearing.
Moorcat
October 17, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Malesich contends he was doing his job. “I am the chief law enforcement officer of the city,” said the Mayor. “If there’s something wrong with that, oh well.
As the “chief law enforcement officer”, how many other private citizens does Malesich personally go out of his way to check on just to make sure they’re complying with all laws?
Precious few, I’ll bet.
October 17, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Actually, based on the information I received today and the stories I have heard from citizens and business people alike, this is NOT an isolated incidence. As I said in a post over on Pragmatic Revolt, I would not be surprised if a class action suit comes out of this.
The problem is that people have been afraid to come forward when this kind of crap occurs. By being up front and VERY public about this situation, there are at least a few of the other people hurt by this administration that are now willing to at least talk about coming forward. Where this will go is anyone’s guess.
More importantly, the credibility of both Malesich and Troeddson have been hurt by thier actions in having me arrested. They have publicly demonstrated that they are more than willing to attack critics with any tactic – ethical or unethical – to silence those that speak out. I know that Montana has changed somewhat in the time I was away, but I doubt that even in today’s world, Montanans will put up with this. Malesich is through. He may not know it, but the fact remains that he would have a hard time getting elected dog catcher at this point. Even if we are not able to remove him from office, there is no way he would survive another election. It is the primary reason he fought against a recall so hard.
Moorcat
October 17, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Chief Law Enforcement Officer?! Who in the hell does he think he his, Mayor-as-Commander-in-Chief? (I can really digress off here at this point, but I’ll try and refrain)
I seriously do not think that the Mayor – a Mayor – has that kind of authority – and I’m not trying to say that what he did was right – what I’m trying to say is that if his mentality (which we already know is warped) is such that he says that kind of stuff out loud and he seriously believes it, he certifiably loony.
I’d be asking him to explain that statement – or I’d be looking into the City Charter and see if the Mayor has been granted that type of authority.
One more way to point out what a damned fool he is. A damned dangerous fool.
Using city and police resources – people and technology – like that is a serious affront to civil liberties. Whatever cop ran that background check on you, at his request, violated some sort of law – especially if the Mayor truly has no authority as the Chief Law Enforcement Officer. Cops just can’t go running background checks on people just because they feel like it.
Reasonable cause. They have to have reasonable cause, or they’ve violated major stuff.
October 17, 2007 at 6:41 pm
On the internet, credibility, well, it’s not an easy thing to gain. You can believe the noodly on that one!
FWIW, I do think that the law restricting access to motor vehicle records was broken and that should be a state attorney general issue at this point.
October 17, 2007 at 7:22 pm
And I sent moorcat the law I thought was violated. I don’t think he believes much I tell him, though. :-)
But the law really does mean that nobody, not even a public official, can just ask for motor vehicle records and information without a valid reason. Political expediency isn’t a valid reason.
October 17, 2007 at 7:36 pm
It’s just so…incredibly sleazy.
It’s so incredible, it reminds me of a newspaper story I read, from back in the nineties The Park county sheriff thought is was funny when he warmed his cold hands under his secretary’s blouse. Hah, hah, pretty funny, eh? NOT
And what was incredible, was ole Charley was even quoted saying this! Just like the Dillon Mayor and his “I’m the chief law enforcement officer” nonsense. I’m the emperor, don’tcha like my new clothes?
It really pisses me off because smears all Montana city governments just by association. (Much like the Missoula email bad behavior) Can we raise our standards just a little over this crap, please?
October 17, 2007 at 8:11 pm
thank you noodly.
Sounds to me that if the Town of Dillon thought they had problems before, they could be in for a real rude awakening.
And maybe moorecat can then take care of his other problems (hint, hint).
October 17, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Noodly – I did read your post on the law about obtaining driver’s license records. I didn’t respond because there were parts of this situation that I was unaware of or needed more information about before I commented.
I have since gained some VERY interesting information on this situation and at this point, that is all I will say about it.
Be aware that I do NOT simply dismiss you out of hand. You and I disagree on a lot of things, but I am always willing to listen to someone’s arguments as long as they stay on the subject rather than the person.
As to the rest – Yes, I have issues with the Mayor’s statements about being “the chief law enforcement person” because he is mayor. I haven’t said anything because – as anyone that knows will attest to – I like to have the facts to back up statements and I have been researching the facts. I did manage to get some of those tonight.
Malesich went even further tonight in the Mongolian Cluster F*** that was the City Council meeting tonight. First, be aware that Malesich claims that Blogs are NOT media and therefore he does not have to add my email to the City email list. Second, he said once again that he is the chief enforcement officer of the city, and third he went so far as to say that he doesn’t have to follow the policies and direction of the City Council. The last could easily land him a misconduct charge but I will go into that more on my own blog.
Be aware that the City Council did vote on the Budget and that vote ended in a tie – meaning that the Citizens of Dillon are being screwed by the Budget based on Malesich’s Tie Breaking Vote. The nice thing about it is that, by voting, Malesich now has to defend the various violations of law done by this budget and the special tax resolutions. Good Luck….
More later –
Moorcat
October 18, 2007 at 8:44 am
I think Noodly’s right (It must be your lucky day, Noodly!): it sounds like you guys have the stuff of a class action lawsuit.
And since when does an elected official get to decide which constitutents will and will not receive publically-available taxpayer-funded official city communication?
October 18, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Ever since he was crowned “King”?
Moorcat
October 18, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Oh Rebecca, you say the sweetist things!
It’s not luck. Twice a day, I’m right.
October 18, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Not to go off topic here, or get too mushy, but I think that it should be pointed out that I think Noodly is to be trusted.
October 18, 2007 at 11:14 pm
In this instance – definitely. As I said above, I have not ignored either his advice, or his input. I simply haven’t commented on it. I have, though, spoken to him through private email.
Thanks,
Moorcat