Residents ask Stevensville council to correct minutes, accuse mayor of spreading false campaign statements

Two written public comments submitted by email were read into the record at the Stevensville Town Council meeting on Oct. 9, 2025, asking the council to correct published meeting minutes and to retract statements the writers say were false.

The comments, read aloud by municipal staff member Janelle at the start of public comment, were submitted by Jim Cruz and Jen Cruz. Jim Cruz’s email named the mayor and said the mayor had “spread false intelligence” in a Sept. 30 campaign letter printed in the Bitterroot Star. Jim Cruz wrote that the mayor’s published line—“my opponent has indicated an intention to fire all town employees if elected”—is “not true,” and called the statement “immoral” and “unlawful.” The email added, “Do you not realize that doing such a deed could be considered political terrorism, trying to coerce town employees and citizens with an untrue statement about someone who cannot even stand in front of…