State Investigator Finds Discrimination Against Fontana Moore

State Investigator Finds Discrimination Against Fontana Moore

by | Dec 2, 2024 | Elections

An investigator with the Montana Human Rights Bureau issued a report finding that the Secretary of State’s office discriminated against Rina Fontana Moore when it emailed the Cascade County Commission urging them not to hire her for a position running  the election office.

After removing election duties from Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant last December, the county commission opened an election administrator position. Rina Fontana Moore applied for the open position. In a highly suspect hiring process, the commission hired Terry Thompson, who had no experience or training in running elections. Fontana Moore has 16 years experience and extensive election administration training. (See our post about the hiring process: https://wtf406.com/?s=Rae+Grulkowski+)

Secretary Of State Urged County To Deny Fontana Moore  Election Job

On February 14th, the Republican Secretary of State, Christi Jacobsen, sent an email to the Cascade County Commissioners urging them not to hire Fontana Moore:  “Please do not hire Ms. Moore or a member of her administration as Cascade County’s Election Administrator. Doing so would directly undermine the voters of Cascade County, among other reasons.”  Her letter closed, “Thank you and God Bless, Christi”.  The next day the county commission voted to offer the job to Terry Thompson.

Commissioners Joe Briggs and Jim Larson said they were surprised by the email. Both said they felt it was inappropriate. Briggs said, “I took it as a personal political statement that was done inappropriately.”  The county attorney’s office contacted the secretary of state’s office.  Jacobsen’s legal counsel said she had a First Amendment right to make the comments. When contacted by The Electric, Jacobsen’s office did not respond.

Fontana Moore Files Discrimination Complaints

Eleven days later (February 27), Fontana Moore filed discrimination complaints with the Human Rights Bureau of the Department of Labor. \One complaint was filed against Cascade County for discrimination based on her political beliefs in denying her the election administrator position. The other was against the Montana Secretary of State for advocating a discriminatory action by Cascade County.

Merchant And Grulkowski Mum About Meeting With Secretary of State

On March 1, two days after Fontana Moore filed her complaints, Jenn Rowell of the Electric was at a meeting in the Capitol building in Helena. She saw County Commissioner Rae Grulkowski and Clerk and Recorder Sandra Merchant going into the Secretary of State’s office. They came out about 20 minutes later. The Electric contacted Grulkowski and Merchant and asked what their business was in the Secretary of State’s office and if county funds were spent on their visit.  They did not respond.

Cascade County Settles With Fontana Moore

The Human Rights Bureau accepted Fontana Moore’s complaints and initiated an investigation.  As part of the process, the parties in human rights complaints attempt to resolve their complaints through mediation.  On October 4, the Cascade County Commission approved paying Moore $52,500 to settle the complaint against the county on the advice of their attorney.  The settlement resolved the complaint.

Rae Grulkowski was the only county commissioner voting against the settlement. Her actions on the hiring committee clearly put the county at risk in the discrimination complaint.  Ironically, the county paid for Grulkowski to have an attorney separate from the outside lawyer the county hired to defend against the complaint. (See our post on Grulkowski’s legal fees:  https://wtf406.com/?s=Grulkowski+)

Secretary Of State Declines To Settle; Complaint Goes to Formal Hearing

The Secretary of State’s office declined to participate in mediation. Election administrator and former chief legal counsel for the Secretary of State’s office, Austin James, argued that Fontana Moore should not be appointed election administrator because she lost her 2022 reelection to Merchant for Cascade Clerk and Recorder. Since the case was not settled in mediation, the investigator completed her investigation and found that the Montana Secretary of State’s actions were discriminatory.  The case will now move forward to a formal hearing.

 

What Has Christi Done?

What Has Christi Done?

by | Mar 6, 2024 | Elections

In an unprecedented move, Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen weighed in on Cascade County’s hiring process to fill an open election administrator position.  The move by Jacobsen casts further doubt on the selection process in the County.  The action provides further evidence of the corruption and incompetence of Republicans in our state and county.

WTF406.com has written extensively on the mess in the Clerk and Recorder’s office after Sandra Merchant was elected.  Due to Merchant’s incompetence, the county commission removed election duties from her office and began the process of hiring a qualified employee to administer elections.  Four finalists were interviewed by the three commissioners, and Terry Thompson was selected.  Two other candidates, Rina Moore and Lynn Deroche, were passed over despite having much more experience and training for the position. Each had approximately 16 years of experience administering elections.  WTF406 and others objected to the process, because Merchant’s crony Commissioner Rea Grulkowski participated in the selection process despite being directed by county resolution not to participate in decisions affecting the election office.

Now, thanks to excellent reporting by The Electric, we find out that Republican Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen weighed in on the hiring decision. Specifically, in an email from a state email account dated February 14th to county commissioners, Jacobsen wrote, “please do not hire Ms. Moore or a member of her administration as Cascade County’s Election Administrator. Doing so would directly undermine the voters of Cascade County, among other reasons.”

The  Electric followed up on the story after observing Merchant and Grulkowski going into the Secretary of State’s office on March 1st.  The Electric requested information from Merchant and Grulkowski about the reason for the meeting and whether public funds were used in their trip to Helena.  They did not respond.

County Commissioners Joe Briggs and Jim Larson both said that they were surprised by Jacobsen’s email but both added that it did not affect their decision, because it was a scored “structured” hiring process.  That may or may not be true, but Grulkowski also scored the applicants and her score alone was likely enough to jimmy the system in favor of Terry Thompson. And if we know anything about Rea Grulkowski, it is that she does whatever she pleases without regard for the rules and law.

So the liability for the county (and us taxpayers) continues to mount thanks to the arrogance of Grulkowski and her far right allies in their effort to control elections in Cascade County.  Both Rina Moore and Lynn DeRoche would have had strong political belief discrimination complaints before the Jacobsen email.  Now those complaints would be even stronger, and the state of Montana can also be brought into any legal action.