Safe Montana Concealed Billboard Contract

Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl said Thursday that the founder of Safe Montana directed a contractor not to release information about a series of it’s anti-medical marijuana billboards which totaled $20,560, earlier than the October financial report.  He also ruled that the group was improperly set up to both support its own ballot initiative and oppose another.

 
The campaign complaint was filed in September by Jeff Krauss, treasurer for Montana Citizens for I-182. The ballot initiative would expand medical marijuana in the state.  In his investigation, Motl obtained a contract between Safe Montana founder Steve Zabawa and Lamar– the billboard company– which was signed in mid-February.  Motl said that he requested the document from a Lamar representative, but the employee “refused to produce a copy of the contract, saying his refusal was directed by his customer, Safe Montana.”  Motl subsequently issued a subpoena for the contract.