Commissioners’ silence is broken
Depositions held ahead of May hearing for secret ballot case
The majority of county commissioners questioned by the plaintiff’s attorney in a lawsuit over the use of a secret ballot by elected officials admitted they had misgivings over the manner in which they voted, but the group’s leader continues to defend the action.
Four of the five commissioners serving on the Board of Weston County Commissioners when the group voted by secret ballot to replace former Rep. Hans Hunt in 2021 gave their depositions in a meeting with attorney Bruce Moats earlier this month.
The depositions were taken on April 14 in Newcastle in preparation for the next step in an amended lawsuit challenging the legality of the secret ballot, Moats said, and the information obtained through the depositions will be used in a hearing at the Weston County Courthouse on May 23 at 1 p.m.
Moats is representing the News Letter Journal, Kari Drost, Patricia Bauman and Raymond Norris. Initially, the group’s lawsuit concerned the secret ballot vote used to appoint a person to fill Rep. Hans Hunt’s unexpired term after he resigned to take a job in Washington, D.C. The suit has since been amended, and will also seek to determine the legality of group text messaging about county business between a quorum of commissioners.
The plaintiffs have already prevailed in one hearing. Moats filed a motion in January to amend the complaint against the Board of Weston County Commissioners to include text messages that have been discovered in which county business was conducted in apparent violation of Wyoming law. The commissioners responded by rejecting the amended lawsuit, and a hearing was held on Feb. 21 to determine if the amended lawsuit would be accepted by the court. As previously reported, at the conclusion of that hearing, Judge Stuart S. Healy III, of the District Court in the Sixth Judicial District, accepted the lawsuit challenging the legality of the secret ballot and allowed the plaintiffs to include the text messages in their complaint.
Healy also ruled that an upcoming hearing on the lawsuit would take place in Weston County, and Moats then made arrangements for depositions of the commissioners to be held in Newcastle. Prior to this month’s depositions, the majority of the commissioners have cited potential litigation, and refused to comment publicly on the secret ballot.
During their depositions, current commissioners Don Taylor, Ed Wagoner and Nathan Todd all acknowledged that the secret ballot vote to replace Hunt likely violated the Wyoming open meeting laws, and all three indicated that they believed a transparent government was important.
Todd was asked by Moats about a training the board received from Jerimiah Rieman with the Wyoming County Commissioners Association. The board agreed to participate in the training after questions about the vote were raised.
“At that juncture, um, I felt that we maybe made a mistake, and, um, it was important for us to listen to, um, outside advice to gain further knowledge on it,” he replied.
Todd also said that transparency is important because the community needs to know where an elected official stands, and he stated that he revealed whom he voted for to anyone who asked him personally.
When asked by Moats why he didn’t reveal his vote during a formal commissioners’ meeting as Taylor had, Todd responded that he wanted “somebody’s honest opinion before so that we could make an honest explanation of what happened if we did do it wrong. And I didn’t want to step outside of — ownership in a board, I guess.”
He also said that when the voting process was explained to him during the 2021 meeting where the secret ballot was cast, “it stuck in my throat a little bit.” He said that after listening to the explanation and reasoning, he thought, “OK, I guess it must be legal.”
Todd also said that he would never use a secret or anonymous ballot to vote ever again because “I feel like I did something wrong now that I’ve looked at it and had a chance to retrospect, I guess.”
When it came to the use of text messages to conduct county business, specifically authorizing prepays for bills submitted to the county, Todd acknowledged that these texts likely violated the open meeting laws and that the commission has refrained from using text messaging as a quorum since the use of the texts were called into question.
Wagoner shared a similar sentiment during his deposition, stating that it was important to keep the public aware of what the commissioners were doing “by being truthful to everyone, (so) they know you’re not doing things behind the scenes or underhandedly.”
When asked by Moats if he would ever use this form of voting in the future, Wagoner said no.
“When we have replaced other elected officials in the county, for instance, our deputy of district court, the names were brought forward. We interviewed and (had a) discussion and we voted aye or nay in an open meeting,” he said, agreeing that this was the proper and legal method to select someone under the Wyoming Public Meetings Act.
Wagoner also stated that the text messages used by the commissioners to conduct business were public records, in his opinion.
Taylor, who has openly acknowledged his belief that the secret or anonymous ballot was against the law, expressed similar thoughts during his deposition.
He said that “after thinking about it later, that’s when it started to really bug me.” He said that is the reason why he revealed to the public at the next meeting of the commissioners whom he had voted for. Taylor also stated that he did not think the board would use a secret ballot to vote again.
Taylor is also the commissioner who willingly provided copies of the group text messages when they were requested by the plaintiffs, and he stated that he believes the use of those messages to conduct county business could be a violation of the law.
During her deposition, however, Ertman — who was chair at the time of the incident but is not a county commissioner any longer — did not share the same sentiment or understanding of the laws as her fellow commissioners. Instead, she often stated that she did not recall what happened or did not understand the questions that were being asked of her.
When asked how the use of a secret or anonymous ballot to vote came about, Ertman explained that it was chosen because it was the process used by the Republican Party to select the three individuals to forward to the county commissioners.
Ertman was asked if she believed that the precinct committee meeting and the county Republican Party organizations are governed by the Public Meeting Act.
“I wouldn’t understand why they wouldn’t be,” she replied.
Ertman responded affirmatively when asked if it was her understanding that the Republican Party was a government entity, and said that it was her understanding that they were. She confirmed that she has been told otherwise however.
Ertman also noted that she did not have any misgivings about voting by secret or anonymous ballot because that is the way the precinct people who participate in Republican Party meetings vote.
When Moats asked if she had sought any other advice to determine if the form of voting utilized by a political party was proper for a county commission to use, Ertman responded with a question.
“From whom would I have sought the advice from?” she asked.
Moats again asked Ertman if she had asked anyone how the commission should go through the process of selecting a replacement.
“I’m not sure where you’re going with that. I apologize,” she replied.
When asked about the text messages, Ertman did say that if personal devices were used to conduct county business, then the information was considered public.
But when Moats then asked if there was a point where the board stopped using a group text to communicate, the former commission chairman stated more than once that she didn’t understand the question being asked. Eventually, she said that she did not recall if a decision to stop using the group text was ever stated outright.
“I don’t think it was routine enough to say we were doing it or we weren’t doing it. Do you understand?” she said. “I’m not saying no. I’m saying I don’t really understand your question.”
