June 7, 2008
Letter to Editor
Mike Denision's, Standard State Bureau, article, “Legislator's Residency in Question”, reported that House Speaker Scott Sales asked Attorney General, Mike McGrath, for a formal opinion on the residency of Senator Jesse Laslovich. I'm the Republican candidate for Senate District 43. Until the article was published, I was not aware that Mr. Sales had filed a formal complaint with the AG. I'm also in the process of questioning Mr. Laslovich's residency with the Secretary of State's office and the Office of Political Practice. At this point, I considered the residency question an administrative matter to be resolved by one of the agencies. Requesting a formal opinion from the AG converts what should be an administrative matter to a legal and ethical issue. Mike McGrath, AG, is the one who hired Mr. Laslovich. The AG appears to have a conflict of interest and should not issue an opinion concerning Laslovich's residency.
Mr. Laslovich's candidacy raises two Constitutional issues, separation of powers and district residency. As a legislator, Mr. Laslovich is Chairman of the Judicial and Ethics Committees. Although he's still a legislator, Mr. Laslovich is working for the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection. The Separation of Powers clause states, “No person or persons charged with the exercise of power properly belonging to one branch shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of the others...”. Concerning residency, the Legislative Qualification clause states, “ For six months next preceding the general election, he shall be a resident of the county if it contains one or more districts”. From an objective point of view, Mr. Laslovich is working in Helena for the AG, his wife is working for a Helena law firm and their residence is in Helena. Mr. Laslovich stated that residency “boils down to the intent of the person...” and that he uses his parents address because he considers Anaconda his home. When he was attending law school, his parents' address was his residence. Now that he's graduated law school, married, employed and living in Helena, the response that he considers Anaconda his “intended” residence is no longer persuasive or appropriate.
Dick Motta
Candidate Senate District 43
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
This is good. Following Laslovich's logic, I can rob a bank even though there's a law against it, but claim that since I had the "intent" to pay it back I really broke no law. Actually it was just a loan that I didn't want the hassel of filling out thoes applications.
I agree. Guess we have 2 sets of laws. One for "people", which is manipulalated by the lawyers and courts to suit themselves and the government they serve.
Listen
You should check out former Rep. Kevin Furey. His new wife works for Gov. BS in Helena. He claims he got tired of commuting back and forth from Missoula, his District(91)to Helena. Or would that be from Helena to Missoula??? Anyway Furey did what he thought was right and quit as Rep. And then he got a job with Gov.BS. The dems sure take care of the "family".
Post a Comment