October « 2011 « OpenCdA

October 11, 2011

Berns Must Go (And He Shouldn’t Go Alone)!

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Administrative Incompetence, News Reporting, Urban Renewal Money Abuse — Bill @ 4:22 pm

Well, the Commissioners of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho’s urban renewal agency, the Lake City Development Corporation (LCDC) and its Executive Director Tony Berns (shown left) are still trying their best to hide public information from the public.

Now the LCDC Commissioners have adopted and enforced a formal policy requiring that all requests for public information must be submitted on a specific form which the LCDC has adopted.

The most recent egregious exercise of this policy was brought to light by reporter Tom Hasslinger’s article in the February 11, 2011, Coeur d’Alene Press headlined online with LCDC director, activist spar over records request.

(more…)

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October 10, 2011

Full Riverstone Article

Filed under: General — mary @ 8:42 am

Note: Two days ago I posted info about the Spokane Journal of Business article about Riverstone, but the links will only let people with subscriptions connect to the article. This morning we received permission from the Journal to copy and post the article in its entirety. Click on “more”, below, to read the whole thing:

The Regal Cinemas complex is one of three buildings that Riverstone developers have surrendered. —Staff photo by Mike McLean

October 06, 2011
Lender takes part of Riverstone
Trustee sale is scheduled for December; $14 million owed
By Mike McLean
Of the Journal of Business (more…)

Comments (1)

October 9, 2011

Stall Tactics?

Filed under: The City's Pulse — mary @ 4:01 pm

Mary Souza’s Newsletter

Did you hear that George Sayler declared, in a public forum Friday morning, that he does not favor a public vote on the McEuen Park remodel and thinks the city should “move forward” with the project? George has said in the past that if he was on the city council he would second a motion so the council could discuss a public vote, but Friday he clarified that he is not in favor of an actual public vote, advisory or other wise. At least now we know where he stands. Sayler, pictured above, is a former State Representative, now running for the CdA City Council. (more…)

Comments (4)

Riverstone loses Theaters and more

Filed under: General — mary @ 9:14 am

In last week’s Journal of Business, the headline, front page story says, “Lender takes part of Riverstone”. This is a very big story! The theaters at Riverstone have reverted back to a Seattle-based lender, as well as the buildings on either side of the theaters…including those containing Azteca and the home decor business on one side, and the ice cream shop all the way around the corner to Starbucks on the other. All of it.

The loan balance is $14 million plus $3,600 in daily interest since Aug. 1…ouch! There will be a Trustee Sale for the properties on Dec. 20 at First American Title in CdA.

Did I miss this in the Press?

Comments (22)

October 8, 2011

McEuen Field Advisory Vote?

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Coeur d'Alene Election, McEuen Field — Bill @ 11:56 am

An article in today’s Coeur d’Alene Press reported two City Council candidates’ ideas about an advisory vote on the proposed McEuen Field project. One candidate, Dan Gookin, said he favored the vote. The other candidate, George Sayler, said he would second a Council motion for a vote so the merits of an advisory vote could be discussed.

How do you feel about an advisory vote? Should one be taken? If so, who would administer it fairly and honestly enough for you to trust the results? (more…)

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October 7, 2011

Keeping Our Elections Honest and Accessible

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Administrative Incompetence, Coeur d'Alene Election, Dan English, Mike Kennedy — Bill @ 1:45 pm

Today the Kootenai County Clerk’s Office sent out a press release titled Some Absentee Ballot Requests Show Confusion About Eligibility. In that release, County Clerk Cliff Hayes revealed that for the upcoming November 8 cities and fire districts elections, his office has received almost 1500 requests for absentee ballots. Of those requests, 469 were rejected because they were from voters whose residence address places them outside a city and in a fire district which has no contested races.

Some people will probably just ask, “So, who cares?” But more timely and appropriate questions might be, “What difference does it make?” and “How did he know that?” (more…)

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Open Session, Friday

Filed under: General — mary @ 9:46 am

There’s so much going on right now with the upcoming elections and next Tuesday’s public presentation on “What You Need to Know Before You Vote”, which starts at 6:30pm at the Senior Center. Sharon Culbreth, long time local realtor, will be speaking about LCDC, Kathy Sims, our State Representative and owner of CdA Honda will speak about upcoming legislation and I will talk about Taxes, budgets and public salaries. You won’t believe some of the info I’ve been digging up! This event is free, so please mark your calendar for this coming Tues. evening.