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One of the lame excuses offered by the previous Kootenai County Clerk and his Elections Office manager was, “We are not the residency police.” The underlying premise seemed to be that no one had the authority or the time to make sure registered voters were in fact lawfully registered to vote in each election in Kootenai County.
This press release issued today by the present Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes seems to blast that lame excuse to smithereens. The Clerk and his staff deserve praise for making the effort to not only ensure that only lawfully registered voters can vote, but also to help correct inadvertent oversights by well-intended registrants so they can vote lawfully.
Good for County Clerk, Cliff Hayes and new Elections Office Manager, Carrie Phillips. Does anyone know if the past Elections Office Manager, Dee Dee Beard is still showing up at the Elections Office to make certain that everything is functioning correctly? Have other individuals left the Elections Office since Mr. Hayes was elected?
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — August 5, 2011 @ 9:26 am
Right after Dee Dee retired, her office computer’s hard drive, full of important election info, was completely cleared, cleaned & deleted. And this happened right in the midst of the Election Challenge court case!
Comment by mary — August 5, 2011 @ 10:44 am
Mary, why would that be allowed? The 2009 Coeur d’Alene Municipal Election which was apparently filled with gross incompetence and laziness seems to continue to lean more and more toward fraudulent behavior.
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — August 5, 2011 @ 12:32 pm
IMHO the culprit is English. All along he acts like Mister Rogers, all innocent, honest and naive, whilst the political sewage gathers above his ankles deep enuf that standing erect becomes an effort. And when that sludge gets illuminated we get an, ‘oh my’ how did THAT happen? Ye smelled like crap all along English and ye shall stink that way into eternity. What did you get for marketing your soul or are you really that God forsaken stupid? Just my humble opinion and a sincere question.
Comment by Wallypog — August 5, 2011 @ 4:46 pm
Wallypog,
The Sandra Martinson grand theft case is connected to English since she was his chief deputy clerk. She is scheduled to go to trial on August 23 for three days. But … she is also scheduled for a pre-trial conference on August 19, and I predict that at that PTC, she will accept guilt pursuant to an Alford plea, be sentenced to less than 6 months in jail (more likely no jail time), and two or so years of supervised probation. She knows where there are other skeletons in the Kootenai County Closet, so even though she has made damaging public admissions, she can use graymail to keep her out of jail.
Comment by Bill — August 5, 2011 @ 5:05 pm
Bill, Sandy is very seriously ill with MS, so no sentence any judge could impose would compare to the one she’s already received.
Two things will have come from this. First, I believe she’ll make full restitution to the County, so taxpayers are made whole, and second, the audit standards for local governments have been greatly tightened, which will ensure better compliance at all levels for all employees serving the public.
Comment by JohnA — August 6, 2011 @ 9:08 am
JohnA,
What a pathetic rationalization of criminal conduct.
Comment by Bill — August 6, 2011 @ 9:33 am
This.
Comment by Dan — August 6, 2011 @ 9:36 am
A little off topic but I think the price of McPark and the underground garage got significantly more expensive Friday evening.
Comment by Ancientemplar — August 6, 2011 @ 9:56 am
I’m not rationalizing anything, Bill. First of all, she hasn’t been convicted of anything; hasn’t even had her day in court. If she’s guilty she should face the same consequences as anyone else.
My point is that if anything substantive can come from this it is that restitution will come and that local audit standards have been tested and shown to be shoddy. Concerning the latter, audit standards are revised all the time, all over the country, usually as a result of unlawful activity. There is a large price to pay when our faith in local officials is challenged. The least we can expect as taxpayers is that changes are made so the faith can be quickly restored.
Comment by JohnA — August 6, 2011 @ 9:57 am
Ancientemplar,
Is that because of the reduced USA credit rating likely increasing interest rates on loans, or is there some other more local factor?
Comment by Bill — August 6, 2011 @ 10:53 am