October « 2012 « OpenCdA

October 31, 2012

Do You Trust the Commissioners?

Filed under: The City's Pulse — mary @ 4:27 pm

Mary Souza’s Newsletter

That’s the bottom line on the changes proposed by Kootenai County Commissioners Dan Green and Todd Tondee. They would like us to give away our right to vote for the Assessor, Treasurer, Coroner and Clerk, which will remove many of the checks and balances built into the current system.

Commissioner Green said, at the debate on this topic which was held at the library last evening, that our quality of government depends on who is in office; if we have good people, we’ll have good government. The flip side of that, of course, is that if we have inadequate/bad/corrupt people, we’ll have terrible government. (more…)

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FBI Investigating State Attorney General?

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 9:26 am

Arizona’s Republican state Attorney General Tom Horne appears to be under state and federal investigation for allegedly violating some of Arizona’s civil laws pertaining to campaign financing. Both Maricopa County and the FBI have seemingly refused to confirm the existence of any investigation of Horne.

If the denials are valid, if the only credible allegation of wrongdoing is a state civil matter, then why is the FBI surveilling a state attorney general?

Here is the complaint which apparently caused the Maricopa County Prosecuting Attorney and the FBI to initiate whatever non-investigation they’re not conducting. The underlying reason for the FBI involvement may be revealed in it as well as in this Arizona Republic newspaper article.

(more…)

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October 30, 2012

“Clarification”

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 9:37 am

This morning’s local skewspaper, the Coeur d’Alene Press, finally got it right with its headline Clerk seeks clarification. The key word is “clarification.”

As reported in the skewspaper, Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes has petitioned the District Court for a judgement of declaratory relief. The last two paragraphs of my April 25, 2012, post titled Kootenai County Petition for Declaratory Judgment explains why the present action is appropriate. In essence, the law governing the authority of two different elected officials is not clear.

The Idaho Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the same question earlier does not answer the question, so County Clerk Hayes is asking the District Court to issue a declaratory judgment to clarify the law.

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October 27, 2012

Down in Flames

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Public Corruption — Bill @ 7:34 pm

Public corruption investigations and prosecutions are interesting. They often reveal that the corrupt public officials were able to steal from their friends and neighbors so easily because those same friends and neighbors thought the crooks were pillars of the community and above reproach.

Here is the Internal Revenue Service’s summary of the case against Prince George’s County, Maryland, developer Karl Granzow, Jr. Reading the summary is about as interesting as watching cement dry. Just another crooked Maryland developer, right?

Not quite. Here’s a little more about Karl Granzow, Jr. (more…)

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October 25, 2012

Voter Intimidation?

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 7:22 am

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The billboard to the left was put up by Clear Channel Communications to replace the billboard shown just below it. The lower billboard was alleged to be intimidating to voters.

And in Florida, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and federal agencies are investigating the possibility that letters sent to registered voters there amounted to voter intimidation.

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October 24, 2012

D-Minus for Idaho

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Public Corruption — Bill @ 4:19 pm

An October 22, 2012, Atlanta Journal Constitution article headlined Atlanta region sees spike in public corruption cases concluded that the Atlanta area has not seen an increase in public corruption. Rather, AJC writers Bill Rankin and David Wickert observed, Atlanta has seen an increased focus by federal authorities on investigating and prosecuting public corruption cases.

The AJC article was predicated on a State Integrity Investigation report, the result of the State Accountability Project undertaken in 2011 as a joint project by the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity, and Public Radio International. When the project ranked the states, Georgia ranked 50th, last among the states in public integrity. Idaho was 41st out of 50.

Idaho received a D-minus in its commitment to public integrity by public officials. (more…)

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YES, YES, YES…!

Filed under: The City's Pulse — mary @ 10:16 am

Mary Souza’s Newsletter

Why does this title make me think of that old movie, “When Harry Met Sally”, when she’s sitting in the café…? Ok, stop laughing now and let’s focus. This is serious.

Education has always been a top priority in our family. My husband was a 4th grade teacher when I met him. I’ve been a clinical nursing instructor. And between our two families, we have almost 10 current or retired teachers. We love teachers and we believe in the power of education.

So we applauded the courageous effort of Superintendent Tom Luna’s Education Reforms for Idaho last year. And we are now appalled at the inaccurate information being pushed in TV ads and mailings paid by the National Teachers’ Union. (more…)

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October 22, 2012

Mr. Hibbs

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 11:25 am

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“Always Out Front”

N7MX SK

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October 20, 2012

Save Person Field!

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 12:08 pm

I just got back from a trip to Person Field. You know, that City park that didn’t and never will cost the public $39,000,000? Here are a few photos from the two Coeur d’Alene Junior Tackle football games that were being played at the time. Tell me again, Mayor Bloem, why the people who were there encouraging and uplifting the kids playing ball would be better off if this lot was covered with houses. (more…)

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Bloem: “… Bring the Facts”

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: Mike Kennedy, Recall Election, Sandi Bloem — Bill @ 9:58 am

Coeur d’Alene City Councilman Mike Kennedy

At the April 17, 2012, meeting of the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, City Council, citizen Frank Orzell addressed the Council regarding Recall CDA’s effort to recall Mayor Sandi Bloem, Councilman Mike Kennedy, Councilman Deanna Goodlander, and Councilman Woody McEvers. During his presentation, Orzell stated, “Fear of intimidation and retribution is another indication of the [city’s] dysfunction. Small business owners and city staff have expressed their desire to sign our petition, but very often also talk about fear of reprisal, even loss of employment, and that is difficult for us to ignore.”

Here is the YouTube excerpt of Mayor Sandi Bloem’s response to Orzell’s concern about intimidation and retribution. Note that at the end, Bloem states, “I believe there’s not one person sitting at this dais that would do anything of the kind [resort to fear or intimidation against those involved in the recall effort]. So I would appreciate it if you’d bring the facts.”

Okay. Here are facts. (more…)

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