Mary Souza’s Newsletter

March 7, 2014

True Colors?

Dear Newsletter Readers,

We have some news updates that might surprise you, and some observations to challenge your thoughts.  (more…)

An article in this morning’s Coeur d’Alene Press skewspaper heralded former Kootenai County Clerk Dan English for changing his party affiliation (for now) so he could vote a Republican ballot in the upcoming primary election.   (more…)

Soon a committee of 14 people handpicked by the Mayor of Coeur d’Alene will meet to begin the process of selecting Coeur d’Alene’s next police chief.

OpenCdA would like to encourage all 14 of them to do some reading and thinking before the committee meets.

We urge the committee members to read “Good to Great Policing:  Application of Business Management Principles in the Public Sector.”  It was published by the Police Executive Research Forum in 2007.

We also hope the committee member will read “Arrested Development” by David C. Couper, former Chief of the Madison, Wisconsin, police department.    In his book Fr. Couper identifies anti-intellectualism, violence, corruption, and discourtesy as the four obstacles to police improvement.  “Those who police a democracy should be college-educated, well-trained, community-oriented, controlled in their use of force, honest, and courteous to everyone they encounter.”

In a Washington Post online article dated March 4, 2014, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent C. Gray reportedly blamed the US Secret Service for periods of traffic paralysis during dignitary visits to the District.

Gray’s attack is misdirected.

When a protected dignitary visits any area, that dignitary’s itinerary is set by the dignitary’s staff and the representatives of the host, not by the Secret Service.  The places where the dignitary will visit and reside are not controlled by the Secret Service but by the dignitary’s staff and representatives of the host.

Only rarely will the Secret Service overrule the staff’s and host’s selections, and only then when those selections pose nearly insurmountable risks to the dignitary’s life or safety.

If Mayor Gray wants to minimize traffic problems created by protected dignitaries living in or visiting the District, he needs to express his wishes forcefully to the appropriate staff members.   Mayor Gray always has the option of telling the staffers that the dignitary is not welcome in the District.

Mayor Gray does not have the option of waiving the federal laws which require the Secret Service to protect the dignitary.  My experience is that the Secret Service’s level of protection is commensurate with the level of reasonably verifiable threat to the dignitary’s safety.   There will always be disagreements over how much is too much or how little is too little.

In an op-ed piece in this morning’s Idaho Statesman, Idaho Supreme Court candidate William Breck Seiniger, Jr. tried to explain why Idaho judicial candidates  cannot speak openly about the issue of impartiality on Idaho’s Supreme Court or perceived flaws in existing law.

Attorney Seiniger raised a valid point that is certainly worthy of consideration, but after mentioning it, he very pointedly avoided addressing the plain-language allegation raised by Idaho Supreme Court Justice Daniel Eismann in his dissent in Nield.

In his dissent, Justice Eismann clearly and unambiguously said that the majority (Chief Justice Burdick, Justice W. Jones, and Justice J. Jones) determined what they wanted the outcome to be and then they twisted the law and/or facts to arrive at that outcome.  (more…)

To all who believe that their name is worthy of being displayed prominently on a piece of furniture in a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, park and who are willing to pay to have their name placed there, please consider the cost paid by each of the recipients of one of the Stars on the Wall to be honored and remembered.

While the names associated with some of the Stars on the Wall are identified in the Book of Honor, the names of those who must forever remain secret even in death are left blank beside their star in the Book.

The annual memorial ceremony is attended by hundreds of employees, retirees, and family members and friends of those who died in service with the CIA.  It is a simple commemoration of lives given freely and often anonymously in “unsurpassable devotion to duty and country.”

We can just hear the little boy in the red striped shirt and ballcap:  “Daddy!  Daddy! That looks just like where we put Grandma and Grandpa’s urns!  Are they here?”

Welcome to the McEuen Park Columbarium .

Email Panhandle Parks Foundation Executive Director Kim Stearns and let her know what you think of the proposed donor wall.

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Spokane schools employees violate campaign laws.

Wow!  Good thing nothing like this could ever happen in School District 271.  Nope.  Not here.  Never.  Uh-uh.

In fact, the violations could easily happen here.  What would never happen here would be a state investigation, ’cause what happens in Coeur d’Alene stays in Coeur d’Alene.

Mary Souza’s Newsletter
February 26, 2014

Is Memorial Field in Danger?

Dear Newsletter Readers,

**Before we get to Memorial Field, there’s hot news from NIC!**

The air in this town is sizzling with messages and phone calls right now because of the possible change in the athletic conference for the NIC teams.  The idea is to change all the teams, except wrestling, from the national competition of the SWAC (Scenic West Athletic Conf) to the regional NWAACC (Northwest Athletic Assoc. of Community Colleges) to save about $600,000 per year.  There are strong arguments on both sides of the issue and, personally, I have no opinion either way on the decision. (more…)

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An open letter to Idaho’s Congressional delegation