Libby councilman drops restraining order vs. clerk
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
December 16, 2009
A restraining order taken out last month by Libby City Councilman D.C. Orr against City Clerk Glena Hook has been dropped at Orr’s request.
The matter had been scheduled for a hearing last Wednesday afternoon in justice court to determine if the temporary order of protection issued on Nov. 12 should be dismissed or made permanent. The hearing was canceled when Justice of the Peace Jay Sheffield approved a written request from Orr to withdraw the order.
"I have been advised that there are civil remedies to this situation and wish to pursue those avenues of resolution," Orr wrote in his request to the judge.
In his original application for the order, Orr said Hook’s "erratic behavior" began at a Wednesday morning council meeting last March, when she was "loud and abusive" toward him regarding his response to an e-mail from an applicant for a city council vacancy who had been rejected for missing a deadline. Mayor Doug Roll was not present at the meeting but gave Hook "implicit permission" to confront Orr on the issue, Orr claimed.
Orr, who was appointed to the council last December was elected in November to serve the two years remaining on the term, alleged that Hook had become increasingly "unstable and volatile" toward him and had an "irrational fear" of him. He called Roll "a coward who refuses to deal with this situation."
Hook’s attorney, Todd D. Glazier of Kalispell, issued a statement Friday in which he called Orr’s contentions "unfounded by the law, unsubstantiated and frivolous."
"Who in their right mind claims to be fearful of Ms. Hook, a 56 year old grandmother?" Glazier wrote.
Glazier said Orr’s accusations against Hook "arose out of a simple disagreement during the scope of her employment. If he cannot deal with a simple disagreement then maybe he should not be involved in politics."
Hook will be requesting that Orr reimburse her for the expenses she has incurred, Glazier added.
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Editor’s Note: See the December 15, 2009 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, on Tuesdays, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com
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