Ex-clerk in Stockton sees pattern in mayor's suspension of officer

When Ellen Montague learned about the suspension of a Stockton police officer who had ticketed Mayor Dan Rydalch's son for driving without a license, she wasn't surprised.

"I thought, 'Well, he's up to his old tricks,' " said Montague, who sued Rydalch and the town in 2006, accusing them of violating her civil rights.

Montague was the town and court clerk in the small Tooele County community when Rydalch was elected in 2005. She said she supported Rydalch's incumbent opponent in the election, which she believes angered the new mayor.

"I did make a couple comments that if Dan got into office, the town would go backward," Montague said. "I made those comments in the office. I didn't go out and tell people that."

Once Rydalch was sworn in, Montague contended in her lawsuit, he began stripping her of her duties. She said she was barred from picking up the mail, told she couldn't speak to people outside her department, couldn't answer the office phone and eventually was told she couldn't interact with anyone who came into the town office.

"I think he was trying to make me quit, but I loved my job," said Montague, who held the post for more than 20 years.

Rydalch ultimately placed Montague on paid leave for two weeks after she said she answered a phone call from an angry resident and calmed the woman down. The mayor was also responsible for a search warrant that was executed on Montague's home seeking town documents she was accused of taking, she claimed in her lawsuit.

"The affidavit that I got a copy of said another gal in the office had stated she'd seen me removing papers from the town hall," Montague said. "I took papers out all the time because I posted the agendas, I took the court clerk papers to the court — that was a common thing."

When Montague tried to return to her office after the two-week suspension, she said she was told not to come back to work "until further notice." Rydalch later offered her $2,000 to resign, an offer she accepted before suing the mayor and the town in federal court, accusing them of violating her civil rights based on the search of her home and her personal computer.

"He did not have any right to serve that search warrant," Montague said. "I agonized over it. I'd never sued anybody before. I didn't want to do it, but I figured he had to be stopped.

"I was hoping that he would have learned a lesson, but apparently he didn't," she added.

Stockton Town Clerk Cherrie Staley told the Deseret News Wednesday that Rydalch has been advised by an attorney not to speak to the media. A call to his town-issued cell phone seeking comment was not returned. A call to the law firm that defended Stockton against Montague's lawsuit was also not returned.