Sweet Deal for Scott MacFarlane?

Sweet Deal for Scott MacFarlane?

He left the commission on February 17. The facilities job opened three days later.

Scott MacFarlane resigned as Gallatin County Commissioner for District 3 in the middle of his term. The resignation was official on February 3, 2026. His last day was February 17.

Three days later, Gallatin County opened a posting for Facilities Director.

The job was listed on Ladders with an opening date of February 20, 2026. Job number 00806. Department of Operations and Procurement. Full time, in person, in Bozeman. Salary: $112,756.80 to $129,500.80 a year. The posting said the director works under County Administration and represents the department to County Administration, the Board of County Commissioners, and the public.

Shortly after leaving the commission "for personal reasons," MacFarlane was handed that job as County Facilities and Operations Director. Leaving the commission did not mean stepping back from county work. It looks like a transfer. Was it legal? The County Attorney’s office has treated it that way. Ethical? That is a different question.

Montana law is clear on the point. MCA 2-2-105 says a public officer may not, within 12 months after voluntarily leaving office, take a job in which he will take direct advantage, unavailable to others, of matters he was directly involved in while in office. The statute calls a violation of these rules a breach of the public trust.

The posting itself raises the same question. Aside from the county’s own channels and Ladders, the ad was not found on general public job sites such as Indeed or Monster. The opening date was three days after his last day as commissioner. Common sense says this was arranged before he stepped down.

When the legal text is put in front of them, some will say the county stayed inside the lines. There will be no shortage of careful wording. The timeline does not require a law degree. A sitting commissioner leaves mid-term. Three days later the facilities job opens, at a higher salary, on a narrow posting. Then he has the job.

How much of a raise is this?

County commissioners currently make $99,639 a year, according to the 2026 filing fee schedule.

In 2025 the county advertised the Director of Facilities and Operations at $87,000 to $102,000.

In 2026, as MacFarlane was moving into the job, the same position was advertised at $112,000 to $129,000.

That is about a 25 percent jump in the posted range.

Did the county follow the standard hiring process? Would any internal oversight body enforce those rules if it did not? Or did county leadership do just enough to cover itself, knowing what the outcome was going to be?

The facilities office was already in motion before he left.

A June 2024 County Commission agenda lists Jeff Nehring as Finance Director. By August 26, 2025, the county identifies him as Facilities Director. On November 25, 2025, he is again listed as Facilities Director. Then the record slips. A November 3, 2025 procurement listing identifies Jeff Nehring as Chief Human Resources Officer. Cynde Hertzog had been the HR director before that move, for decades.

The public still does not have a straight answer on who held the facilities job, when it was opened, and why a former commissioner was in it within days of leaving elected office.

Gallatin County taxpayers deserve that answer. A resignation "for personal reasons" should not be the on-ramp to a six-figure appointed job the public barely had a chance to see.

The public still does not have a straight answer about the facilities job, when it was opened, and why a former commissioner was in it within days of leaving elected office.