There was an interesting letter from John Barlow of Coeur d’Alene in the Sunday, October 27, 2013, Coeur d’Alene Press. He was endorsing Steve Widmyer for Mayor, and his endorsement letter included this sentence:
“Every organization that has interviewed all the candidates so far has wholeheartedly endorsed Steve Widmyer for mayor”
Really? Barlow’s letter was clearly limited to the mayoral candidates, and all the mayoral candidates were interviewed at both The Coeur Group Forum on October 2 and the North Idaho College Republicans forum on October 14. OpenCdA was not aware either of those organizations had endorsed Steve Widmyer. We would appreciate it if someone could provide OpenCdA with copies of those organizations’ letters or statements of endorsement.
OpenCdA wonders if letter writer John Barlow is the President of Hagadone Real Estate Holding Co. identified on the Hagadone Corporation website. According to the Secretary of State’s voter information webpage, there are two persons named John Barlow registered to vote in CdA City elections. One lives on E. Fernan Hill Road and the other lives on 22nd Street. The letter to the editor does not indicate which, if either, was the letter writer.
Yes, John Barlow is connected to Hagadone, as well as Kiki Miller and Steve Widmyer.
Each worked previously or currently for the Hagadone business interests. Hagadone, Barlow, Widmyer all are developers.
John Barlow is JRB Properties who made a donation to Widmyer. The Pess did not question who JRB Properties is so I searched it out and the JRB Properties address leads to the residence of Mr. Barlow.
Comment by LTR — October 27, 2013 @ 7:28 pm
Well, ‘they’ are getting down to the wire … just saw an ad on TV – for Widmyer – first one for Mayor in CDA that I remember … who is paying for that air time?
Comment by Stebbijo — October 27, 2013 @ 8:22 pm
Stebbijo,
Good catch! What TV channel?
Comment by Bill — October 28, 2013 @ 7:03 am
I am pretty sure it was KXLY, we did not change the channel before we went to bed.
Comment by Stebbijo — October 28, 2013 @ 5:34 pm
Bill you state you do not know which Barlow wrote a letter so putting where they live is pertinent just how?
Then you let LTR state as fact that this is the Hagadone Barlow without anyway of knowing if it is or not.
You also know full well that as moderators of public forums the Coeur Group and the North Idaho College Republicans it would be highly inappropriate to give endorsements and would not be included in any letter involving endorsing organizations
I am fully aware of the extremely close relationship you and your followers have with Mary Souza and that as expected your support of her, but I truly believe you are reaching over the line. Maybe if you were to try to post something positive she has done you could increase her base.
Comment by Mike Teague — October 29, 2013 @ 10:51 am
Mike,
I’ll try to answer your questions and comments.
I included their street names to illustrate that there are at least two John Barlows in CdA. There may be more, but those are the two listed in ISVRS.
LTR and other readers are entitled to express their opinions in response to the information in my posts. There was sufficient information in my post (see my previous paragraph) to let other readers conclude for themselves if LTR’s opinion was fact-based or not.
What I know is that both The Coeur Group and the NIC Republicans interviewed all three mayoral candidates at the same time, so what was inappropriate was for John Barlow to mislead Press readers. I have sent emails to both The Coeur Group and NIC Republicans Club President and asked them if they “wholeheartedly endorsed Steve Widmyer for mayor” and if they did, to please provide me with a copy of their formal announcement of their wholehearted endorsement. I also informed them I intended to put their announcement in a post on OpenCdA. To date, neither organization has responded to my latest request.
I have followers? I don’t know how it is reaching over the line to point out that a person with the same name as the website-listed President of the Hagadone Real Estate Holding Co. has published an apparently inaccurate letter to the editor in the Hagadone Corporation-owned Coeur d’Alene Press. Pointing that out is valid because of the obvious bias that the Press and particularly its reporter Jeff Selle has shown in what purports to be news reporting about the campaign.
Judging from various comments I have received, Mary’s personal interaction with people at various events has had a much more positive effect on them than anything I might say.
I wonder if Steve Widmyer got any correspondence from the Idaho State Board of Accountancy. Misrepresenting having a valid professional certification is usually frowned upon in title states, because the people who obtain and retain certification have to work very hard and spend money on continuing education to be worthy of the title conferred by the certification. That applies to doctors, attorneys, realtors, police officers, and others — not just CPAs. If I had earned and worked hard to retain a valid professional certification issued by the state, I would be disgusted by someone who misrepresents having one. That misrepresentation would cause me to question his veracity, and it would make me wonder what other misrepresentations he might make to get votes. It shows only disdain and disrespect for the people who have honorably and diligently sought and worked to retain their valid certifications.
Comment by Bill — October 29, 2013 @ 12:02 pm