Vincent demands apology from Koopman over "false allegations"

By WALT WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer

Gallatin County Commissioner John Vincent is demanding that Rep. Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman, publicly apologize for "false allegations" he made about Vincent in a recent newspaper op-ed column.

A letter sent to Koopman last week by Vincent's attorney gave the lawmaker a week to publicly apologize for statements alleging that Vincent had slandered developer Barb Campbell during a June commission meeting.

Vincent said in an interview that he has been in public office for 25 years and has grown a thick skin. But he has never before had to take a step like this.

"I'm OK with criticism, and I have learned to live with it and learn from it, but I'm not OK with misrepresentations and falsehoods," he said.

But Koopman said Monday that no apology is coming. Instead, he called on Vincent to resign from the commission.

"John Vincent is out of control," he said. "He may have been a respectable figure once, but now he is a public disgrace."

In the letter, Vincent's attorney, Brian Gallik of Bozeman, noted that "statements made in reckless disregard for the truth are not privileged" under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

While Gallik gave Koopman a deadline by which to respond, it didn't threaten legal action. And Vincent, who is running for Koopman's House seat next year, said he will let the public draw its own conclusions if the lawmaker doesn't apologize.

At issue is an guest column that appeared in the Chronicle on Oct. 2.

In it, Koopman accused of Vincent of "slanderous disrespect" toward Campbell, who has two controversial projects in the Four Corners area, during a public hearing.

"Vincent, with zero proof, asserted that the developer had given false information to the commission," Koopman wrote. "No apology was given, and his fellow commissioners sat silently by."

Campbell's attorney has accused Vincent of "McCarthyism" for his comments.

But Gallik's letter quoted Vincent using the audio minutes from the meeting, which showed that he was questioning the information he had received about the developer from Mineral and Fergus counties.

"One reason I'm going to abstain (from the vote) is that I've heard a number of things and I want to check into the veracity of information about the developer" coming from the other counties, Vincent said at the meeting.

Vincent added that until he could check out what he heard, "I don't think I can in good conscience bet money that what the developer says is what she'll actually do."

"I don't know the truth of the information or the lack of it in regard to what I've heard," Vincent later said.

Koopman has been vocal lately in his criticism of county commissioners, demanding they turn over details about the settlement with a former county employee and taking them to task for raising their salaries in a meeting advertised only on the county Web site.

Koopman has said he is only serving as a government watchdog, the same objective he had in seeking public office.

Vincent won't speculate on why Koopman is criticizing the commission.

Koopman's fellow Republicans on the commission have said he is doing it to score political points against Vincent before next year's elections.

Koopman has yet to say whether he will run for re-election.

But the lawmaker said Vincent has taken on the "far-left mind set that uses intimidation and legal harassment to stop people from expressing their point of view." He called on the commissioner to step down.

"Montanans don't sic attorneys on people when they have a disagreement," Koopman said. "They pick up the phone and talk about it."

Vincent responded that Koopman didn't bother calling him before he published his op-ed column. As far as the call for his resignation, he had no comment.

"I feel comfortable in letting folks draw their own conclusions," he said.

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