Dear Editor,
In the June 2022 Republican primary election, my husband, Mark Morse defeated incumbent, Denis Pitman, for a seat on the Yellowstone County Commission. Over the summer, Pitman decided to run as a write-in candidate. Mark went on to win the November general election with approximately 94% of the vote. Given Mr. Pitman’s recent YCN editorial, that loss must still sting.
Things got worse last fall for candidate Pitman as more information came to light. On 09-23-2022, the Billings Gazette reported:
“Gene Jarussi, a Billings attorney, alleged there was inappropriate contact between commissioners Denis Pitman and Don Jones and OVG, a bidder for outside management of MetraPark, for request for proposals and before the booking agreement the county has with OVG in a separate contract. Jarussi’s filing stated that commissioners Pitman and Jones had contact during the request for qualifications and says contact favored OVG.” Jarussi asked the court to declare the RFP process invalid due to these secret meetings, phone calls, etc. and ultimately succeeded.
The Gazette subsequently reported 10-26-2022 that Yellowstone County filed a motion in district court to dismiss a lawsuit as they had terminated the manager search. “Most bothersome was the fact that I found contact with OVG going back to March of 2019” Jarussi told MTN.
Denis Pitman’s allegations of improper meetings are serious. If he has credible evidence of this alleged wrongdoing, ironically what he himself was credibly accused of doing as a commissioner, he needs to present that evidence to the county attorney.
For one week in January, Mark went with me on the “Flakes Trip” with Cat Country. We met a lot of wonderful people and greatly enjoyed that short vacation. The trip had to be booked and paid for months before the June primary election. Mark gave his proxy for any needed votes and was available if needed. By contrast, Mr. Pitman did not give his proxy to vote when he left town for a family vacation during the controversial marijuana vote in the fall of 2022.
As Evelyn Pyburn points out in her 06-30-23 YCN article “Elected Officials get 5% Pay Boost” “Not all county official’s pay was determined by the decisions of the Compensation Board. The sheriff’s pay is partially impacted by state law, but it is tied to decisions made by the Compensation Board. And, since the union contract ties pay of sheriff’s deputies to that of the sheriff’s pay, the compensation board’s decisions have other extended impacts.” Sheriff’s officers will receive a raise which will likely help with attracting and retaining personnel. I suspect Commissioner Pitman voted for similar pay increases when inflation was much lower than it is today under the Biden administration.
While Mr. Pitman is free to criticize government as well as any other citizen, he should be wary of making false accusations. Perhaps he needs to move on and find more productive things to do with his time.
Teresa Darnielle Morse
Billings
