Flathead County Commissioner Jim Dupont, former longtime sheriff, had intended to stay neutral in the election race that pits incumbent Sheriff Mike Meehan against challengers and law-enforcement veterans Chuck Curry and Lance Norman.

That all changed when Dupont found himself pictured with Meehan in a full-page campaign advertisement for Meehan in Monday’s Daily Inter Lake. The photo shows Dupont pinning the sheriff’s badge on Meehan during a swearing-in ceremony nearly four years ago.

While the re-election ad doesn’t say Dupont supports Meehan, the perception is there and that’s wrong, Dupont said.

The misrepresentation pulled Dupont out of neutral.

“I’ll endorse the other two

candidates,” he said, adding that both Curry and Norman have the skills to run the department more effectively than Meehan.

Curry was Dupont’s undersheriff for years and Norman has been with the department for more than 17 years. All three candidates are Republicans squaring off in the June 8 primary election.

“In the last several months I’ve been disappointed with Mike’s handling of issues in the department,” Dupont said.

He faulted Meehan, whom he endorsed as his successor four years ago, for a lack of communication skills that he claims largely are to blame for a raging morale problem in the department. Dupont said that early on, he suggested several ways Meehan could develop better working relationships with his employees, but hasn’t seen those suggestions come to fruition.

“There are a lot of issues of communication he doesn’t deal with,” Dupont said. “As far as the county goes, he’s done a good job of keeping crime down, but the more your office deteriorates, the more your service [to the community] deteriorates.”

Dupont’s criticism of Meehan’s job performance comes on the heels of no-confidence votes in the sheriff by both the union that represents sworn deputies and the union representing unsworn employees such as clerical staff and detention officers.

Dupont further stated he was “really irritated” when Meehan failed to show up for a candidate debate last week hosted by the unions. Meehan said he didn’t want to participate in an event “associated with political tactics that undermine our political system, slander fellow colleagues and likewise seek to falsely inflame the public for political gain.”

But Dupont said it was critical for Meehan to be there.

“When it’s the majority of your office” that has issued a no-confidence vote, “you need to confront it and fix it and if that’s in a public forum, that’s fine,” Dupont said.

MEEHAN issued a written statement Monday afternoon in response to Dupont’s concern about the re-election ad, saying the photograph “is a reminder of one of the proudest days in my life.

“The message illustrates the seriousness with which I take the oath of office, and the admiration I have for Judge Lympus [who was also pictured in the ad] and Jim Dupont,” Meehan wrote. “I have not sought the endorsement of any person other than the Flathead County taxpayers whom I serve.”

Meehan maintained the photo was “a picture of a public event and a proud moment, and that’s all.”

Regarding Dupont’s endorsement of the other two candidates, Meehan said he didn’t have any information about the former sheriff’s position in the race, but added, “admittedly he is in a precarious position because both my opponent [Chuck Curry] and myself were his undersheriff.

“I was Dupont’s replacement [for undersheriff] when my opponent left office,” Meehan said. “This is why I have not asked Jim Dupont to take a position in this campaign.”

It’s unclear whether Meehan knew the photograph of him and Dupont was going to be used in the re-election ad.

Mickey Lapp, Meehan’s campaign manager, wondered what difference it makes. She, too, pointed out the public nature of the photo and reiterated that the ad makes no endorsement of Meehan.

She took responsibility for the ad’s content, saying, “Mike Meehan does not run his own campaign.”

 Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com