LIBBY — A table was set up Tuesday in the Libby City Hall parking lot, where people were invited to be among the first to sign a petition to recall Mayor Doug Roll. Local businesswoman Tammy Brown, who had submitted the petition to the Lincoln County Elections Office for approval of the wording, was on hand to promote the recall drive.

First to sign the petition was Bob Henline, until recently the editor of The Western News. Four City Council members also signed the document.

Henline was a vocal critic of Roll during his tenure as editor, both in the newspaper and out, but it was not until after Henline had resigned from The Western News of his own volition that it was confirmed that he may have been responsible for the petition.

Henline submitted his resignation letter to Rick Weaver of Hagadone Montana Publishing on May 26. Henline was clearing his desk on June 2 when he told Western News General Manager Suzanne Resch and Photo Editor Paul Sievers that he had written the original draft petition, which was submitted in mid-April, as well as the second draft. Sievers said Henline asked him to proofread the second petition.

Henline on Thursday declined to comment on who wrote the draft petitions, but did say he aided the effort to create and validate the document.

“I helped Tammy on it,” Henline said. “It wasn’t a one-person thing. There are a lot of people involved.”

Brown also said that Henline was not the author of the petitions.

The Lincoln County Elections office denied the first petition on April 20, citing the language as too vague, and the second was filed six days later. This time, Lincoln County Attorney Bernard Cassidy advised that the second draft drew too many legal conclusions to be validated and rejected the draft on May 4. On June 16, more than six weeks after the second petition was denied, Brown filed a third petition, and it was validated the next day.

Western News employees started to suspect that Henline was involved in the petition drive before the first draft was submitted. At the end of April, Henline and Resch were at Brown’s diner, where a group of people had discussed how to remove Roll from office.

Subsequently, a document containing the petition was found on Henline’s computer at The Western News, along with an email exchange with an attorney, Doug Scotti, whom Henline had apparently hired to request a restraining order to bar Roll from City Council proceedings. Using computers and printers belonging to The Western News, Henline had reportedly also printed off several dozen copies of the petition and walked the documents to Brown’s workplace.

At that time, Resch informed Hagadone management of Henline’s apparent intentions in the effort.

“When it became apparent to me that Bob was involved with the Roll recall and the injunction with the restraining order, I felt it was important for me to involve my superiors because we needed to preserve our integrity and become transparent in this entire matter,” Resch said. “Being a trusted news source in our community is very important to the daily operations of The Western News and its readership.”

On May 5, the day after the second petition was rejected, Brown denied that Henline was involved with the draft petition. Henline also denied any participation in the draft petition at the time, but as a precaution The Western News removed him from covering the City Council.

Henline on Thursday said he believes there is integrity in an editor taking an active role in an agenda, if that agenda reflects the best interests of the community.

“Absolutely,” Henline said. “I believe it is the role of the newspaper to better their community. Integrity is matching actions with words.”

Resch said that she does not condone newspaper employees taking part in stories that they cover, and that the proper place for a newspaper to influence community opinion is through its editorials, not through activism.