The Mayor of Choteau, Chris Hindoien, announced in a city council meeting on Tuesday that he will be resigning. The Mayor’s position has been a heated topic among the citizens of Choteau, who had recently filed a recall petition for his removal from office.
Hindoein says, "When I came on, I didn't come on to be adored, but I also didn't come on thinking that people I considered to be friends would all of a sudden become enemies."
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He has been the Mayor of Choteau for more than four years. The recall petition was filed primarily based on frustrations surrounding the law enforcement agreement between Choteau and the Teton County Sheriff’s Office that ended last fall.
Hindoien has been a strong advocate for Choteau to have its own police department, and believes that according to Montana code, they should have already had one.
He says, “Montana Code says I have to have a police department, but the Attorney General says I have to have a police chief. Nowhere in code does it say you have to have a police chief, but the attorney general ruling says that you do.”
A police chief position in Choteau has been advertised with no luck. Many of those who filed the recall petition believe the contract with the Teton County Sheriff’s Office should be reinstated, but Hindoein says, “The deviance of normalcy means even though we've been doing it wrong and nothing's happened, knowing it's wrong doesn't make it right. Sooner or later someone has to make a stand, and this was a hill I chose to live and die on, and it looks like I'm going to die on it.”
Rather than go through the recall process, Hindioen submitted his resignation to the city council on Tuesday night, effective March 4th. The city is still waiting for clarification on the law enforcement situation from the attorney general.
One resident of Choteau, Julie Brantley, says, “I'm sad because it has caused a real division in this town. People aren't speaking to other people. That's not the Choteau I married and moved to.”
President of the City Council, Stewart Merja will take over as interim mayor after March 4th, and Hindoien and his wife will move to Helena to run his insurance agency, Rocky Mountain Insurance Services. He says, “This has been an honor of my life, to be the mayor here. I'm excited for the next phase of my life, at 59 years old, continuing to grow and nourish our insurance agency.”
