OpenCDA

April 21, 2016

Has Coeur d’Alene Turned the Corner?

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 4:06 pm

GoodSignAfter watching the live television broadcast of the April 19, 2016, Coeur d’Alene City Council meeting, OpenCdA is cautiously hopeful that maybe Coeur d’Alene’s city government has turned the corner and veered away from  looking for ways to steer lucrative municipal contracts to cronies and benefactors.

What we saw at Tuesday night’s meeting was the most encouraging sign we’ve seen in the last 15 years or so.   We saw the Council actually follow state law.  Some did it begrudgingly, but they did it nonetheless.

We refer specifically to the deliberation and voting on agenda item E.   Resolution No. 16-020 — Contract with Northern State PAK, LLC d/b/a Coeur d’Alene Garbage Service for Solid Waste and Single Stream Recycling Collection.   This is a ten-year contract with two three-year optional extensions to haul garbage for the City.  Over the life of the contract it is worth tens of millions of dollars to the winning bidder.

For readers interested in looking at the City’s staff report and the draft contract, see our April 16, 2016 post entitled Garbage!.    Those who wish to view the online rebroadcast of the meeting can see it here on the City’s website.  The video is out of sequence, opening when Council returns from the recess.  The deliberation and voting on Resolution No. 16-020 begins at time mark 0:57:45.

We recognize that contracts to haul garbage do not have much drama or intrigue, but for readers who may be considering becoming candidates for public office, studying the packet material and watching the meeting video about this agenda item would be very educational.

You will get to see just how much diligent effort, hard work, and preparation it takes if Council members are to capably and faithfully represent their constituents.

In contrast, you will also see how foolish and anachronistic those Council members look who don’t prepare because they either lack the will or the ability to do the work required.

OpenCdA was very impressed that both Council members Dan Gookin and Kiki Miller came to the meeting prepared to discuss the issue at hand and to make sure their vote was informed.  They deserve public acclaim for representing the City’s residents well at this meeting.

We were also very impressed with Chief Civil Deputy City Attorney Randall Adams.  He, too, came prepared to do his job competently and professionally.  His opening presentation was understandable and thorough.  His answers to Council questions and concerns were on-point, succinct, and authoritative.   We strongly suspect he had a hand in preparing the excellent staff report we linked to in our April 16 Garbage! post.  What an improvement in the City Attorney’s Office!

We recognize that putting too much hope on the very positive performances of two of the six Councilmembers and the Chief Deputy Civil City Attorney may be premature.  Yet the overall skill and care with which this particular contract has been administered warrants that hope.

1 Comment

  1. Thank you for sharing insight to the issue.

    Comment by Sharon Culbreth — April 23, 2016 @ 9:22 am

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Powered by WordPress
Copyright © 2024 by OpenCDA LLC, All Rights Reserved