Two emails read into the public record during the Stevensville Town Council meeting on Oct. 9 asked the council to correct its Sept. 25 minutes and to publish a retraction after a resident said Mayor Michaelson made false statements about an opposing candidate in a mayoral election.

Janelle, a town staff member, read two emailed public comments received Oct. 9. One was signed “Jim Cruz.” Both commenters said the mayor’s remarks, as printed in a Sept. 30 campaign letter in the Bitterroot Star or as spoken during the Sept. 25 meeting, included an assertion that an opposing candidate had “indicated an intention to fire all town employees if elected,” which the commenters called untrue. Jim Cruz’s email said the statement was “immoral” and “unlawful” and asked that the mayor retract the comment and that the council correct the minutes and publish a written apology.

The second emailed commenter asked the council not to approve the Sept. 25 minutes as written and to correct the audio transcript and published minutes, saying the mayor “used a public billing, time and other resources to push your own campaign.” The reader said a speaker in the Sept. 25 meeting admitted the comment was hearsay but said it anyway, and that the meeting minutes omitted part of the speaker’s remarks.

A member of the public asked during the Oct. 9 meeting whether the council had addressed Jim Cruz’s letter; a council member responded that the comment was “noted.” The minutes approval discussion continued, but the transcript does not show the council voting to amend or republish the Sept. 25 minutes at that meeting.

The council did not vote on a corrective motion during the Oct. 9 meeting, and no retraction or apology was recorded in the minutes or announced at the Oct. 9 meeting.