Last Friday morning,  Kathy Sims sent an email to CdA City Clerk, Susan Weathers, asking several questions about the upcoming local elections.  Susan Weathers is in charge of the local elections and all candidates and political groups are required to register with Susan.

In little more than ONE HOUR, Kathy’s email was up on the Spokane paper’s gossip blog, where they proceeded to make fun of her questions and ridicule her on a personal level.

Is there no expectation of confidentiality or professionalism in our City Hall?

In our already topsy-turvy world,  this morning’s CdA Press heralded yet another mind bending headline.  I can’t link to the article because it is not online, but I will try to give you the basics here.

The article is titled “LCDC expects higher budget“, by Tom Hasslinger, and reports that LCDC expects $5.1 million in property tax revenues this year.    Remember this is money that comes from property taxes and does NOT go to the city or county…..it goes to the unelected board of LCDC to spend on “deterioration and blight”.  The rest of us pay more to make up the difference.

So, when all other public agencies are cutting budgets, and private businesses are laying off thousands of local folks, LCDC is expecting an INCREASE in the money they skim off of the property taxes from every single building in the whole downtown, Riverstone, Mill River, NW Blvd area.   (more…)

One of our readers tipped us off to this unbelievable legislation which is to be offered by the House Democrats today.  HR 1018 would provide $700 MILLION dollars for wild horses.  According to the information on the web site of the outraged Republican Minority Leader in the House, this bill would:

• Establish a horse census every two years;
• Provide “enhanced contraception” and birth control for horses;
• Make available an additional 19 million acres of public and private land  for wild horses;
• Cover $5 million tab to repair horse damage to land; and
• Mandate that government bureaucrats perform home inspections before Americans can adopt horses

David Axlerod

“Ultimately, this is not about a process,”David Axelrod, Obama’s senior political strategist, said yesterday. “It’s about results.”

Axlerod was speaking about the new, proposed Health Care surtax of 5.4% on wealthy individuals.  You can read about it here.

Thomas Paine

With a SECOND Stimulus bill being discussed by Congress, one of our readers sent me the link to this You Tube Video about the “We the People Stimulus Package”.  It’s 6 minutes and is worth the time.  This Thomas Paine has some great, impassioned ideas and reminds us all of our duties as citizens.  I don’t agree with his electoral college views, and the video was obviously made before many of our additional, crazy spending bills, but he’s got a great message.

How can a second stimulus be needed when Obama just said the first one is “working just as planned”?

Look Again

Last week, under my thread titled “Transparency?”, Pariah commented that regular folks, or “little people” as he called us, are not given attention by those we have elected at every level of government.  Do you agree?  Any examples?  Here is his comment:

At every level the political class has determined that they have little or no need to pay attention to us ‘little people’. Their contempt for us is real and palpable. They are setting the stage for a very ugly end game.

Comment by Pariah — July 3, 2009 @ 2:45 pm 

Helen Thomas, 1976

White House correspondent Helen Thomas has been around forever.  She’s well known as an ultra liberal and was a huge supporter of Obama.  Now, however, her attitude seems to be changing.  Please take the 4 minutes to watch this You Tube Video of yesterday’s White House Press Conference.  CBS’s Chip Reed and Helen Thomas are upset about the controlled nature of the Town Hall meeting Obama has planned, and also about how reporters at even regular press conferences are called the night before and told they will be called on at the events!

Here’s the link to a You Tube Video that’s well worth 4 minutes.  It’s testimony from US Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) speaking on the floor of the House.  She is outraged by the mafia-style deals being made by the Federal government and its 20 “Czars” that are akin to gangster deals pedaling influence for a select few.  She tells of actual car dealerships that are her constituents and shows how they have been treated.

Please watch this video and pass the info on to others.  This craziness must be stopped!     Here’s the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thR-lVuztIY

Parkside Tower, 3rd floor public patio

As we head into the weekend run-up nearing the 4th of July, I thought it might be fun to try to name the “public” places we all have a right to go.  I’m talking about places that LCDC gave money to fund “public” amenities.  I’ll start with a few and you can chime in with any you might remember:  (more…)

An interesting article in today’s Press about Mt. West Bank requiring collateral for a LCDC loan to work on Midtown.  What many folks may not realize is that LCDC regularly buys up property to hold, off the tax roles, until they want to use it for some project.  Many/most Urban Renewal Agencies around here don’t:  Post Falls does not buy and hold property, and Hayden also avoids it.  LDCD now owns almost two dozen properties.

The loans between Mt. West Bank and LCDC for six of the properties are where Charlie Nipp got himself into legal trouble with the Idaho Attorney General.  Charlie, as then Chairman of the LCDC, did not disclose his business relationship and position on Mt. West’s Board (he is also an owner in the bank’s parent company. along with his business partner Steve Meyer), as Charlie signed all six loans as Chairman of the LCDC.  Oops.  He never apologized or admitted to any error.  LCDC announced no plans to change their protocols or disclosures.   (They just threw a big party for Charlie!)   (more…)