Today’s CDA Press contained a full-page insert from the City of Coeur d’Alene. Mayor Bloem used an interesting and telling quote from Thoreau.
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April 29, 2008
Building “Castles in the Air”
April 27, 2008
Public Forum on the Education Corridor
I received an e-mail message today, alerting me to a public forum titled Taxpayers and the Education Corridor. No, it’s not being sponsored by any of the public agencies involved with the Education Corridor.
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Open Session, Sunday
We’ve got a list of important dates head, here are some of the big ones:
- April 29th, School Levy information meeting at Lakes Middle School, organized by the School District.
- May 13th, Education Corridor forum for Taxpayers at the CdA Inn, organized by citizens.
- May 20th, CdA School District Levy election, vote at any public school
- Mary 27th, local primary elections for county and state positions
Do you have comments or questions about these or any other issues?
April 26, 2008
A Reader’s Comment: The Education Corridor
We received an email from a reader with a detailed comment about the proposed “Education Corridor.” He identified himself to us. Please read his comment and then add your own: (more…)
April 25, 2008
It’s All About the Process
The City’s Pulse Newsletter 
By Mary Souza, April 24, 2008
Sometimes it’s easier to understand something if you have a similar item with which to compare and contrast. Like apples to apples; like comparing Toyota to Honda. Like the way Post Falls uses Urban Renewal by creating site specific districts that have clear plans with measurable goals that close down when completed, compared to our LCDC here in CdA that has huge districts, vague plans and the maximum 24 year time line allowed by law.
But what I want to discuss today is the upcoming CdA School District levy. The district’s Chief Financial Officer, Steve Briggs has sent two letters in response to my questions. In both letters he clearly states there were no estimates or any written research about the cost to remodel Lakes Middle School rather than build a new one. And in both letters he compares the Lakes project to Spokane’s renovation of Rogers High School.
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Time for a Grand Jury Investigation
Although yesterday’s Coeur d’Alene Press story by staff writer Sean Garmire had some significant factual errors (corrected in the online version by the Editor), the story headlined Sinking hopes also had some distressing allegations supported by physical evidence. Those allegations should cause Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Douglas or US Attorney Tom Moss to quickly convene a grand jury to investigate the cozy connections between developers, builders, realtors, and the City of Coeur d’Alene. (more…)
Education Corridor Update VI
Looks like NIC is going to go it solo on the Education Corridor purchase. Read the article in today’s CDA Press and then comment on whether or not you believe this is a responsible decision.
April 24, 2008
You Know You’re a Stakeholder When…
I’ve been inspired! That “You Know You’re in Idaho When…” thing got me thinking. I could write something similar for the nutty concept of the Stakeholder.
If you’ve not been around local government, then you probably don’t know what a “stakeholder” is. The term is used repeatedly by Coeur d’Alene City Hall, the LCDC, School District 271 and NIC. It dots their documents and reports.
Basically, the stakeholder is a super-citizen plucked from the muddled masses. Those who pick the stakeholders refer to them as “interested parties,” but they’re really well-connected insiders, developers, political people, and various head nodders and apologists. Given that, please feel free to help me complete this list:
You know you’re a Stakeholder when . . . Mayor Bloem smiles back at you (and it’s not forced).
You know you’re a Stakeholder when . . . all you see at the wine and cheese parties are other Stakeholders.
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Electronic Crime Investigation Guide
There probably are not too many electronic crime investigators that read this website. Still, a few readers no doubt watch the very fictionalized, romanticized, time-compressed “CSI“. For those readers who are interested in a better understanding of the breadth and complexity of identifying, collecting, preserving, and presenting electronic evidence in the real world, the US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, has published the Electronic Crime Scene Investigation: A Guide for First Responders, Second Edition. Even here in Coeur d’Alene and Kootenai County, the importance of electronic evidence must not be overlooked. (more…)
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April 23, 2008
Do You Live In Idaho?
This commentary is floating around the e-mail circuit. (Courtesy of reader JFJ.)
Jeff Foxworthy on Idaho
If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t work there, you live in Idaho.
If you’ve worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Idaho.
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