Letter to the Editor
My comments in the January 23, 2024 meeting were not disruptive. Chairman Omodt just doesn’t like what I have to say. Mr. Omodt should be humble enough to listen to the public’s viewpoints before making his decisions.
On January 26, 2024, I had not spoken a single word, and was respectfully seated when he trespassed me. I was shocked. I was peaceful both before and after he asked me to leave.
When I watched his press conference on January 30, 2024, I was appalled when Mr. Omodt implied that I made threats and posed a safety risk to staff. I never made a threat of any kind to him or to staff. Mr. Bowman wrote an email to the commissioners, which Mr. Omodt misinterpreted as violent. I was never consulted by Mr. Bowman before he sent that email. Mr. Omodt unfairly lumps me in with Mr. Bowman.
It is ironic that Mr. Omodt excludes non-violent members of the public from commissioner meetings, when Commissioner Bradshaw has been adjudicated in a court of law of making threats of violence, and the court issued a civil protection order for one year against him. Mr. Omodt doesn’t require Mr. Bradshaw to appear via Zoom. He ignores Mr. Bradshaw’s violent threats because Mr. Bradshaw agrees with him.
The Chair needs to hear public comment, even when he disagrees with their views. Commissioner Williams represents us too, and the Chair needs to let her agenda items be discussed and voted on – even if he doesn’t agree with them.
– by Rick Cramer of Bonner County
