Coeur d’Alene resident Jim Brannon filed a civil lawsuit today in First District Court challenging the results of the November 3, 2009, city election for Council seat #2.  According to the official canvass approved by the Coeur d’Alene City Council on November 9, incumbent Mike Kennedy received 3,165 votes while challenger Jim Brannon received 3,160 votes.

The lawsuit names the City of Coeur d’Alene; City Clerk Susan Weathers; Mike Kennedy in his capacity as incumbent candidate for Council Seat #2 ; City Council members Ron Edinger, Deanna Goodlander, Mike Kennedy, Al Hassell, Woody McEvers, and John Bruning; Mayor Sandi Bloem; Kootenai County Clerk Dan English; Deedie Beard as the Elections Manager for Kootenai County, and Jane and John Does A Through Z whose true and correct names are unknown as defendants.

In his complaint to set aside, void, and annul the election, Brannon alleges that the defendants failed to follow and comply with the Idaho Municipal Election Laws.  There are several specific items that allege shortcomings and irregularities in the administration of the election.

The lawsuit was assigned to District Court Judge John Mitchell.    A trial date has not yet been set. (more…)

The Idaho Supreme Court has handed down its decision in Rexburg v Hart.  This is a long-awaited urban renewal agency decision which determined that Idaho’s urban renewal agencies are not the alter-egos of the cities.  It appears this decision affirms a finding in a much earlier Supreme Court decision (Boise Redevelopment Agency v. Yick Kong) that, “While the particular city may trigger the existence of the [urban renewal agency], it cannot control its powers or operations.”

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Here is today’s version of the agenda for the Coeur d’Alene City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 17, 2009.  Remember that the Council can add or delete agenda items even after the meeting has begun.

At the time of this post, the packet giving details of each item was not available online.  Imagine that.

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Back in October 2005 I posted a suggestion on my Whitecaps weblog.  The post was titled Why Not A Regional Criminal Justice Center?.  It suggested that Spokane County and Kootenai County work together to create a regional law enforcement custodial and training facility on the Washington-Idaho border.

In February 2006 The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, WA, asked me to write an op-ed piece in support of the proposal.  It appeared on March 2, 2006, under the headline Bi-state effort answer to jail overcrowding.  The headline completely neglected the training component of the facility.

Now, in November 2009, Canyon County Sheriff Chris Smith asks the question:  Regional Jails – Has the Time Come?

Someday.  Maybe.

Even if  you are not a student or practitioner of law enforcement administration, you are likely to be engrossed by John Buntin’s most recent book, L.A. Noir – The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City.

It is the story of the rise to power of two of Los Angeles most renowned characters:  William H. “Bill” Parker and Meyer Harris “Mickey” Cohen.  As the publisher notes, “These two men, one morally unflinching, the other unflinchingly immoral, would soon come head-to-head in a struggle to control the city.”

It is the story of a Los Angeles city government, including a police department and a county sheriff’s department, corrupted by gangsters and dishonest public officials.  It chronicles how Chief Bill Parker rose to be the head of the most admired and most reviled police department in the United States – the Los Angeles Police Department.

For those in Coeur d’Alene who either worked for or along side the officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, it is a reminder of how far out of the muck Parker (along with August Vollmer, O.W. Wilson, and V.A. Leonard) brought law enforcement.   It is also a reminder that public corruption is a persistent cancer that cannot be eradicated but can be controlled by honest and dedicated men and women.