Mary Souza’s Newsletter  

Last Tuesday’s City Council Meeting was surprising. Not the parade of insiders telling the Mayor they think she’s the best ever.  That’s to be expected.  They are worried.

What was very unusual, though, was tucked away in the City Administrator’s report.  Wendy Gabriel said the city will use the entire street overlay budget for Front Street, as part of the McEuen Park upgrades.

The entire overlay budget.  It was supposed to fix 15th Street and other streets around the city. That money comes from the General Fund, directly from our property taxes.  (LCDC money comes from property taxes too)  (more…)

Mary Souza’s Newsletter 

CdA City Councilman Mike Kennedy was policing the school district’s LCHS parking lot last weekend. Kennedy got out of his car and confronted two Recall CdA volunteers who were using a small corner of the empty public school parking lot. “Who are you?”, he asked.  The volunteer didn’t know Mike, so he responded by asking, “Who are you?”  Mike then identified himself as a CdA City Councilman and insisted the Recallers tell him if, and from whom at the school district, they had approval to use the space. Then he got on his phone and started calling. (photo above, middle, by one of the Recall volunteers)  (more…)

Mary Souza’s Newsletter

Remember last May, when the City Council passed the $39.2 Million dollar McEuen Park Plan in front of hundreds of citizens who were holding signs asking for a Public Advisory Vote before approval of the plan?

The public’s request for a vote was officially rejected two separate times that evening. But Councilman Mike Kennedy threw some crumbs to the common folk when he motioned that Tubb’s Hill should be removed from the McEuen plan.  It was.  And all the Tubb’s Hill people let out a big sigh of relief. Maybe they thought McEuen was in jeopardy but at least Tubb’s was safe.

Well no, it’s not.  Tubb’s Hill is back in the mix of city projects.  (more…)

Mary Souza’s Newsletter  

Anti Recall people have been slinging personal insults, calling childish names and organizing intimidation against local businesses.  They are trying to act big but, in truth, they are incredibly small.

And at last Tuesday’s city council meeting, they even tried to blame the Recall effort for all the personal anger and vitriol.  That’s simply not true.  This Recall is not personal.  (more…)

Mary Souza’s Newsletter  

There’s a long standing, but ugly tradition of intimidation in our town. It’s trying to smother the Recall effort right now and it’s trying to block the public’s right to vote. But this time the intimidators are not going to win.

We have strength and safety in numbers, and thousands of people have already signed the Recall petitions. They are willing to stand up for what’s right.  What’s the city going to do…try to come after 5,000 citizens?  Remember, they’ll be out of office and will have no power to intimidate anyone. Isn’t that a very good reason for signing the Recall?

Let’s talk about some courageous community heros.    (more…)

Recall CdA: Open M-F 10-6, Sat & Sun 10-4

Mary Souza’s Newsletter

We knew that this Recall process might trigger some push back; we were all aware of the big money and heavy political connections behind many of the power players. But I must say that the nastiness of those opposing this process is much worse than I ever imagined.

Currently there’s a secret recording from an unattributed source being published by the Press as legitimate news. There’s a former city councilman who came into the Recall office trying to get damaging information on our efforts. There have been constant attempts by the media to discredit the Recall effort. And there was a recent mass mailing of a Decline letter, chock full of misinformation.  (more…)

Mary Souza’s Newsletter 

The newspapers and blogs are ridiculing the people of the Recall effort, calling names and saying we are crazy, angry malcontents.  I thought maybe you’d like to meet some the interesting, hard-working, dedicated, real people of the Recall.

One of the first people to volunteer is a retired salesman who was just getting back into town after wintering somewhere warm. He likes walking and getting signatures and does so on a constant basis.  He says he doesn’t have to “sell” the Recall to anyone; they are anxious to sign.  I think he’s a Republican, though I’m not certain.

Another of our first volunteers is a Democrat, he told me.  He’s a younger guy with a back injury but has been an avid helper almost daily since we began and believes deeply in the right of people to have a vote on the important changes being made in CdA.  (more…)

Mary Souza’s Newsletter 

No surprise to see the CdA Chamber of Commerce joining the other power groups in downtown to denounce the Recall CdA effort.  What is surprising to me is that the time stamp on their full page, five paragraph scanned and emailed letter, signed by both the Chairman of the Board and the President/ CEO shows it was sent out almost immediately after the meetings where they made their decisions.

You don’t think they had the letter all ready to go, do you?  (more…)

Mary Souza’s Newsletter   

It has been a very interesting first week of the Recall CdA effort! You may have noticed the many prominent negative news articles, letters to the Editor and blog comments trying to besmirch the Recall.  You may have noticed a nearby town publicly admonishing the Recall. And you may have noticed our former Lt. Governor and owner of Pita Pit, Jack Riggs, labeling the Recall CdA effort as “un-American”.

All of them are out of line.  The Recall is one of the most American of endeavors. Abraham Lincoln said that we have a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.” Our Idaho State Constitution says “All political power in inherent in the people.  Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right to alter, reform or abolish the same whenever they may deem it necessary.”  What part of this Recall, undertaken by the people and according to state law, is “un-American”?  (more…)

Let’s DO Something About It: RECALL

This is it, dear Readers, it’s finally time to stop the begging and pleading with our City Council. It’s time for action. It’s time for a Recall.

The Idaho State Constitution puts the power of government directly in the hands of the people. Article 2, section 1 says this: “All political power is inherent in the people.  Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit, and they have the right to alter, reform or abolish the same whenever they may deem it necessary.”

Over and over again the people of CdA have asked the City Council for a vote. Large groups of citizens have attended meeting after meeting pleading for a voice in the major decisions and massive spending projects undertaken by our city.  Respectful, intelligent, informed citizens have spoken out to implore the Council to listen the will of the people. But time and time again our Mayor and the same half the City Council have chosen to ignore the public’s requests.

We, the people of CdA, now deem it necessary to reform our local government for our protection and benefit.  (more…)