Time to End the "Culture of Cronyism"

Well that didn’t take long.

The Great Falls Tribune ran a story on Sunday about the effects of Governor Schweitzer’s cronyism run amuck. Schweitzer’s good ole boy buddy Dave Gallik, who he appointed to the supposedly non-partisan job as Commissioner of Political practices was by Tuesday tendering his resignation. Gallik was quoted in today’s Tribune article as saying;

“This is a political, Republican-based fight against me, “Gallik said. …….. “Not necessarily against me, against anybody who wants to get the job done down there.”

Gallik went on to say that the staff “called the cops” on him Tuesday when he returned to work even though he didn’t say one word to them and he just “can’t afford any more false accusations” levied towards him so he was resigning. He also went on to blame his troubles on some sort of Republican witch hunt. Yep that is it, just another of those “vast right-wing conspiracies” that haunted Hillary Clinton.  Nothing at all to do with him not doing the work.

According to earlier stories at least one of these ladies worked in this office for over 13 years. Why is it they have never complained about “new bosses” in the past? Could it be that they, democrat and republican alike, did their work so there was nothing to complain about? I wonder if Gallik actually resigned on his own accord or if our governor decided it was time to save face and told him to resign before more allegations came to light?

Prior to the resignation Republican legislative leaders were calling for an investigation and Republican Speaker of the House Mike Milburn said;

“the allegations were serious and, if true, amounted to a direct violation of the Montana code of ethics.”

It would appear that the Republican leaders are going to try and make political hay out of this sad turn of events. I wonder if this would have all taken place if the legislature had passed that “Cowboy Code of Ethics” they yammered on about last session. While it has been obvious to anyone that follows politics that the Schweitzer is the king of cronyism in state government I don’t think you need an “official cowboy code of ethics.” Either you are honest, transparent and ethical or you are not. This whole mess could have been avoided if those in power actually selected the best person for the job instead of worrying about appointing people as a reward because of their blind allegiance to one political party or another.

It is time to demand an end to the “culture of cronyism” that exists in our state, forget the political party maneuvering and just get down to work towards the betterment of us all Cowboy Ethics be damned Those of us funding our government are sick to death of watching this while we are withering on the vine waiting for the economy to turn-around.

Today's Great Falls Tribune Story here