The author of Idaho’s 1974 Open Meeting Law, Gary Ingram, was teasing me in his second email response to my continuing questions. Yes, I can be irritating in my persistence, but Gary has been pleasantly willing to share his views.

My line of questioning started last week after my City’s Pulse Newsletter referring to Gary’s work on the Idaho Open Meeting Law. One of my interested and astute readers emailed me with a strong comment, so I asked for Gary’s response. Here’s the back and forth of this provocative conversation:

Reader: Gary Ingram sponsored the Open Meeting Law when he was in the legislature. LOGICALLY, HE EXEMPTED THE LEGISLATURE.

Gary: Mary, not true. As written and originally adopted, Open legislative meeting required– All meetings of any standing, special or select committee of either house of the legislature of the state of Idaho shall be open to the public at all times.
This language actually placed a higher standard for the legislature in that there was no provision for closed meetings. The Idaho Constitution requires open sessions of the House and Senate.

Reader: Ask Gary about the Republican’s caucus..Very secret. Enough legislators there to constitute a quorum. And it would be naïve to think that decisions are not made there, in way or another. (more…)

The City’s Pulse Newsletter

By Mary Souza, March 13, 2008

This week’s newspapers announced the city’s plan to hike our water rates. I was shocked. We all want to trust our government. But in the past month we’ve seen tax money used to pay public relations firms and lobbyists for the Urban Renewal Agency while regular folks are threatened with a lien on their homes if the sidewalk in the city’s right of way is not promptly repaired. And now our water rates will climb in an effort to make us use less, even though this looks to be a banner year for water levels. These are not great ways to make friends and influence people. These are not signs of responsive government. (more…)

The anti-shoestring bill has failed.

The City of Coeur d’Alene believes that it owns the sidewalks when its convenient for the City and you own the sidewalks when it’s inconvenient for you. That may soon change.
(more…)

Today’s CDA Press featured an article on a proposed new police building squat in our beautiful City Park. Apparently crime is an issue for City Hall now that we have more than enough publicly-funded high-end condos in town. But why sully our beautiful City Park with yet another over-priced building?
(more…)

Their mission was to revitalize downtown. Millions of dollars were at stake. Yet the agency was riddled with insider deals, profits made at the public expense, favors passed between board members and developers, corruption galore! Nope, it’s not that agency you’re thinking of, but it’s a sign that problems we have in Coeur d’Alene are not unique.
(more…)

For those you who are political novices, like I am, you might be interested in the term “Rino”. It means Republican In Name Only, and seems to be popping up frequently these days. Kootenai County is predominantly Republican, as everyone knows, so the upcoming spring Republican primary is almost more important than the General Election in November. If a candidate wins the Republican nod in this county, they have a strong chance of winning the election. (more…)