The Montana Department of Commerce had raised questions about potential conflicts of interest concerning the Boulder Development Fund and the mayor — two issues that have been subsequently cleared by the agency.
That’s part of the challenge of being a business owner and an elected official in a small locality, said Boulder City Council President Drew Dawson at the Sept. 21 meeting when the issue was discussed.
Mayor Rusty Giulio recused himself from the discussion.
The conflicts stem from the facade program and the new gateway signs at the north and south entrances to Boulder.
Giulio, who also owns the Windsor Bar, had applied for funding through the city’s facade improvement program to clean and reseal the brick and granite on the circa 1904 building on Main Street.
Giulio did not apply to the program until the Boulder Development Fund Board and the City Council decided that Council and Boulder Development Fund Board members, who are also business owners, could submit applications, said Dawson.
Giulio also didn’t apply until he knew there wasn’t going to be any more applicants, said Dawson.
Giulio was awarded $7,500 to make the improvements, the Department of Commerce received the invoice and that’s when the conflict question was raised, said Dawson.
Dawson said the city has documented the process and forwarded that information to the state, and the matter was reviewed by the Department of Commerce’s legal counsel.
“I think we did great. We followed the rules,” said Dawson.
In all, there were five facade improvement applications — the Boulder-Basin Senior Center ($7,500), Hardware Hank ($4,200), the Boulder-Basin Masonic Lodge #41 ($1,812.50), the Sweet Spot ($7,500) and the Windsor Bar ($7,500) — with $3,625 remaining in the fund set aside for the program.
The next conflict that raised questions, “isn’t that stellar,” said Dawson.
When it came time to install the gateway signs, it was determined that some last minute excavation needed to be done, said Dawson.
Jan Anderson, co-chair of the marketing committee, asked Giulio to do the work, and he thought there had been other bidders, said Dawson.
Giulio, who also owns a contracting business, was paid $750.
Dawson asked the Council to approve a motion for Giulio to return the money, which it did.
Anderson said she asked Giulio to do the work a week before the deadline for using the grant funds.
“The marketing committee which I co-chair had discussed more than once seeing if he could help with the landscaping task when we got to that point. Work on the project was delayed months by several issues, one of which was the quarantining of the committee member heading the project due to COVID-19. Others included easement issues, delays with a contractor, and family emergencies. With no one else on the committee ready to take over the project and time running out, I took the reins to get the landscaping done. I apologize if I overstepped, but I don’t apologize for getting the work done,” said Anderson in an email to the Monitor, adding that she was willing to pay Giulio herself, if necessary.
Days after the meeting Dawson said the city received clearance over both issues by the Department of Commerce. In the case of the facade improvement question, Dawson said the city submitted documentation to show how it took steps to avoid a conflict.
“We should receive a letter sometime this week,” said Dawson in a Sept. 27 email.
At the meeting, Dawson asked the City Clerk Ellen Harne to begin looking into developing a Code of Ethics for the Council.
This will outline how city business owners can continue to do business while still being able to serve as an elected official, said Dawson.
