The Flathead County commissioners on Thursday adopted a written policy about how the commissioners may add or delete agenda items from now on.

The formal policy states that items may be placed on or removed from the commissioners’ agenda by consensus of two members of the commission.

It further states that proposed agenda items submitted to the commissioners’ office in the normal course of business may be placed on the agenda by the commissioners’ administrative staff. That has been the normal course of action, but the written policy aims to formalize the procedure.

Commissioners Cal Scott and Gary Krueger voted in favor of the agenda policy. Commissioner Pam Holmquist voted against it, calling it a “knee-jerk” reaction that “needs more vetting” before she can support it.

The agenda policy came into question this week when Holmquist unilaterally pulled off Wednesday’s agenda a discussion and public comment session about the proposed tribal water compact. Holmquist said she believed the crowd would have exceeded the capacity of the commissioners’ chambers and wanted to schedule it at a bigger facility.

Holmquist sent Krueger and Scott an email about her intent to postpone the water compact meeting, but when she didn’t hear back from either of them she went ahead and postponed the meeting.

Holmquist told the Daily Inter Lake on Monday that as the commission chairwoman she had the authority to single-handedly add and remove agenda items. But both Krueger and Scott disputed that and asked that a formal policy be adopted.

County Administrator Mike Pence stated earlier that if just one commissioner has the authority to add or remove agenda items, it usurps the authority of the majority to govern.

Krueger added that under Holmquist’s assertion, it would become a “dictatorship.”

Scott said commissioners have access to texting, cellphones and email, so there was no good reason for the miscommunication in which Holmquist pushed forward to take the water compact discussion off the agenda. 

He apologized to those in the audience about the scheduling snafu.

“We had a process where this [water compact] would have been vetted,” Scott said. “However, here we are.”

Scott said having the full-blown public discussion about the proposed water compact after the general election Nov. 4 doesn’t help Flathead County have maximum input into the process.