The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1923-05-11
ONSTAD. PLENTY
WOODS new MAYOR
Continued from First Page)


the council chambers Monday evening
when the new mayor took over the
office as Kavon and Ewing were going
to make a fight on the legality Of the
appointment of Onstad by the old
council, holding that there was nc va
cancy until the term of Mayor Grave |
had expired which was Sunday night |
at midnight and that the old council
did not have the authority to appoint !
the new mayor but that the making OF
this appointment was the duty of the
new council, and as q result Of this
expected scrap a number Ct spectators
were present to see the fun
1t was planned to have the old coun-
Gil meet, approve their minutes and
turn the administration over to the
new council and mayor. After some
difficulty Mayor Grave was located
and induced to come to the chamber,
but he refused to preside over the old
council saying that he was out CT OIL
flee as was the old council Where
upon the new council convened, and
! Mayor Onstad took the chair and or
dered the minutes of the previous
meetings, the regular and the special
meetings read. After the reading OF
the minutes, Councilman Kavon moved
that the minutes of the special meet
ing be not approved, as the meeting
was illegal. The motion was put and
failed to prevail by the following
vote: Ave: Kavon and Ewing;
/ NAYS: Nelson and Wagner. There be-
! ing a tie, Mayor Onstad declared the
motion lost and the minutes approved.
At this point both Kavon and Ew-
ing protested, saying that the declar-
ing of the office of mayor vacant Sat
urday night was high handed piece
of work and was illegal as there was
no vacancy in the Office of mayor at
the time of the Appointment. whereup-
on Mayor Onstad informed the pro-
testers, that whether the matter was
legal or not was not a matter before
the council and was not matter that
thew could decide whatever were their
opinion. that he had qualified as NAV
or and was acting and that the only
recourse now was the courts, where
upon he presented the clerk with the
following message, which was read:
MAYORS MESSAGE
To the Honorable Beard of Alder
men Of the Town of PlentywOOd, Sher-
idsn County, Montana:
"As I have today been served by L.
S. Olson. the Clerk of your Board,
with official notification of your action
taken at Special Meeting held on the
5th day of May, A. D. 1928, al mem
hers of your board being present, to-
gether with your Clerk, eXcert the
Mayor appointing me as the Mayor
of the Town Of PlentywOOd, on ac-
count Of vOcancy created by the fall
= ure Of Mr.. r. 2, Belanski to qualify
as such within the time prescribed by
= law, after he was elected to such
! Office, the law providing that the fail
IRE of the person elected to a City
Office to qualify within ten days by
, taking the official oath. creates a va.
= csnCy under Section 1913 of the 1921
= Political Code Of the State of Mon
tana, which may be filed by the ap
pointing power, and Section 5015 Of
the same Code provides the method Of
e making such appointment when a va
cancy occurs, and by virtue Of tht
r law, your Beard declared a vacancy t.
exist on May 9TH, 1928, and made you
e appointment IS aforesaid.
ct is regrettable that the Mayor
e elected by the people Of the Town O
Q PIentywOOd did not qualify for sucI
y Office as provided by law, as I feel ems
j I believe you do that he would be
: credit to the Office, and would handl
= same with deity, using his best eff
+ forts for the interests of said town
e but as a vacancy existed it was tn
q duty of your Board to fill such va
e cancy, and in considering the avaiIabl
? timber for said appointment, I trus
l. that the said E. E. Belanski was dull,
n considered for such appointment. -
e "In qualifying and accepting the of
e fee of Mayor of the Town of Plenty
e wood, | desire to state, that although
n the Mayor is the chief executive of
j ficer of the town, his powers are re
s stricted, and more in the line of tn
e duty of suggesting to you what h
/ deems to be the best interests of tn
d town, and it will be for you to accep
, or reject such suggestions. An
# therefore, l trust that we all ma
% work in harmony, to the end that tn
n administration of the affairs of til
e town of PlentywOOd may be ecOnOmi
n cal, and the policing of the City
le effective.
IS Il recommend that the Committee
d hereinafter appointed make out flu
{ statement and report at the next reg
h ular meeting, of the condition of tn
{. various subjects to which their com
le mittee pertains, such as the cOmmitte
n on water works and sewer make a rt
L port on the condition of the waite
II tank, and the necessity of paintin
st the same, also the condition of til
city wells, more especially with refer
( ence to the supply of water the aud
IS and finance committee make a flu
n report of the condition of the town
r; finances, and an estimate of the rex
re enue of the City from each sOurC
g that may be expected for the yea
T. 1928, and each committee make sue
report with their recommendations.
L 81 hereby appoint the fOllOwin
4 members of the board on the r,
L spective committees, the first name
N to be the chairman of said COMMITTEE
Oh aS follOwc.