Dear Editor,
Citizens have been telling ousted Commissioner Denis Pitman and Commissioner Don Jones since 2021, NOT to privatize MetraPark management, and/or that they should have a third party evaluate private vs. public management. Pitman did not listen. Instead, he pursued a course of action to secure private management for his and Jones’ preferred contractor, OVG – a company located in California. Pitman constantly claims that he is for open and transparent government. Yet his words have been repeatedly betrayed by his actions to secure the contract for OVG. After consistently saying that this whole idea and pursuit came up last summer, he was recently quoted in the Gazette as saying, “This process is the completion of something I’ve been working on for years.”
Pitman lost the Republican primary to Mark Morse in a rout (almost 55/45%). Pitman conceded the race to Morse. He then told the Billings Gazette that he is befuddled by his loss. Apparently through all of this, Pitman is surprised that voters could see through his subterfuge. The July 7, 2022 Yellowstone County News and a recent Gazette article both confirm that ousted Commissioner Pitman plans to run as a write-in candidate for County Commissioner. Morse’s name is the only name that will appear on the November ballot. But Pitman ‘isn’t ready to give up quite yet’. Pitman wants voters to have an option. Pitman remains perplexed and really stunned of his primary loss.
What arrogance. He says his voters didn’t turn out for the vote. The truth is that turnout was much higher than it was in the year he was elected by a narrow margin in 2026. Thousands more voted. He will soon claim, if we allow this privatizing plan to be bullied through against the will of the voters, that he was right all along, and deserves six more years. It is time for Pitman to withdraw his candidacy and actually listen to his constituents instead of Jones in his remaining 5 ½ months.
Louis A. Moffet
A registered Voter in Yellowstone County for over 40 years
