Commissioner Bauer Fines Dean Tracy for Contempt

Ex-Auditor Teresa Risovi and her buddies continue to cause turmoil for the county commission. Dean Tracy, the administrator of the website that Teresa moderates, came to the December 2nd commissioners meeting to obviously cause trouble for the new commissioner chairman, Bill Bauer.  Risovi and Tracy didn't like the fact that Bauer wanted to hire a full-time Emergency Manager for the county, thereby eliminating Risovi's part-time position.  Tracy did his best to distract and interfere with the meeting.  (Take a look at the above video clip and see what you think.)

There's been some controversy as to whether there was a vote to fine Dean Tracy $5 for being in contempt. Here is the video taken from my angle, which does not show the negative gesture made by Tracy to Bill Bauer - a gesture which the DakTel video shows. (Sorry for the blur-out by Dean Tracy attempting to grab my camera. He did that several times while Bill Bauer was reprimanding him.)

Obviously, the commission voted to fine Tracy in contempt. You can hear Greger voting no and Carr voting yes with a second from Bill Bauer. However, it's hard to hear because of Tracy's disruptive behavior at the time of voting. The Commission could have voted to penalize Tracy with up to 24 hours in jail, but gave him a $5 penalty instead.

Personally speaking, I think the commission should have punished his contemptible behavior with 24 hours in jail.  Not only did Tracy keep messing with my camera while I was filming (as you can see in the above video), but he also followed me when I got up to get away from him.  While I was standing and continuing to film, Tracy placed his body right next to me and slyly bumped me again and again, trying to intimidate me and interfere with my filming.  I kept taking small steps to the left to get away from him touching me.  A repulsive man - who knew exactly what he was doing.  

Even though Tracy did his best to destroy the meeting, I think Bill Bauer handled the situation well.  He clearly stated some of his goals for straightening out the problems taking place at the Foster County Courthouse.  He wants to have regular meetings of the department heads and employees so everyone knows what is expected of them. Also, as he was talking, he freely admitted when he didn't understand something.  One of the most informative times for me was when Bill asked Heather Martin, the Deputy Auditor, to explain each bill before he signed it.  That would be a great thing to do at every commissioners meeting so the public can actually hear about the things for which our taxes pay.

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Here is the statute from the North Dakota Century Code which Foster County Commissioner Bill Bauer is following to preserve order at their meetings:

ND Century Code 11-11-10. Power of board to preserve order – Fines – Collection:-- The board of county commissioners has power to preserve order when sitting as a board and may punish contempts by fines of not more than five dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than twenty-four hours. The board may enforce obedience to its orders by attachment or other compulsory process, and when fines are assessed by it, they may be collected before any district judge having jurisdiction, and, within ten days after they are collected, must be paid into the treasury of the county to be added to the state school fund.