The City’s Pulse Newsletter, by Mary Souza
Intimidation and retribution are alive and well in Coeur d’Alene. Behind the pretty curtains, our community has some serious troubles that need to be swept clean.
And these problems may be bigger, deeper and dirtier than any of us have realized to date because the retaliation from the powers-that-be is much more intense than expected.
Without prior warning, Jim Brannon’s position as Executive Director at Habitat for Humanity was eliminated Wednesday in what can only be called suspicious circumstances.
Jim is running for a seat on the CdA City Council against incumbent Mike Kennedy.
Last Wednesday evening at 5:30 marked the most important, televised candidate forum of the election season. Any triumphs or tribulations in a candidate’s performance at this forum will be re-run on Channel 19 many times each day until the election on Nov. 3rd.
So, that same Wednesday afternoon, Jim was summoned by Habitat’s chairman, Rick Shipman, to come to his US Bank office at 4:00pm, at which time Jim was handed a letter informing him his job of three and a half years had been eliminated.
The letter was given to him only 90 minutes before the televised forum.
There was no prior warning, no two week notice, no exit interview. That’s pretty cold and impersonal. Yet, the chairman of the Habitat board, Rick Shipman, told the Press that Jim was one of their “best co-workers” and the chairman found it “hard to sleep at night” after the decision. I bet.
What’s really going on here? Habitat’s board says it’s simply a fiscal decision. The budget is down, as with all non-profits right now. The Press quotes Shipman as saying, “It’s not Jim’s fault, we’ve fallen on hard times.”
But Jim Brannon already dutifully and responsibly created contingency plan budgets last summer, just in case their end of September revenues were off in these tough economic times. The board was fully aware of these alternative budgets. Yet now, when the contingency plans should be implemented, the board suddenly decided to eliminate the top job instead. No other budget measures required.
The August minutes of the board show them praising Jim’s performance and even ready to discuss a raise, but Jim stopped them by saying any money for raises should go to his staff. What changed between August and late September? Jim announced his run for City Council against Mike Kennedy, that’s what changed.
Here’s the fishiest part: The regular meeting of the Habitat board will be on October 15th. They are paying Jim for the whole month of October, his final letter states, so why didn’t the board just wait until their regular meeting to make this decision and then give Jim a two week notice? That would be the normal, professional way to go.
Instead, they held a “special meeting” right before the candidate forum, and they handed Jim a letter 90 minutes before he was to go on TV.
Was this a political decision? Yes, I believe it was. Jim is running against Mike Kennedy. Mike Kennedy is employed full time by Steve Meyer. Mike got his job as President of InterMax Communications, a highly technical company, shortly AFTER he was elected to city council. Mike had zero background in technical communications. Steve Meyer, Mike’s boss, was one of Mike’s big campaign contributors.
Steve also owns Parkwood Properties which is a large real estate development company here. Steve’s partner at Parkwood is Charlie Nipp. Charlie was the first and longest Chairman of LCDC, our local urban renewal agency, and he is still on the LCDC board.
Mike Kennedy’s job on City Council is to oversee and supervise the LCDC. City council also votes on many land development deals. And don’t forget that the Ed. Corridor deal is coming up and Parkwood Properties specializes in constructing buildings that they lease out to government agencies (read: schools) for a pretty penny.
They need Mike on the city council! Mike needs his job with InterMax because he has 7 kids! Jim Brannon is just in the way.
The Habitat board is also heavy with bankers. And banks want to do business with LCDC because they’re the only group in town with any money these days. LCDC is slated to receive $5.2 million dollars in Tax Increment Revenue this year, according to their own information.
So, I’m sure the political pressure is strong. The power structure in town wants no changes on the city council. They like what they’ve got.
It’s time to take action, people. It’s time to stand up and be counted as citizens who are sick and tired of this abuse of power. We need to speak out.
If you agree, please write a short letter to the editor right now and send it to Mike Patrick at the CdA Press. His email address is: mpatrick@cdapress.com
The other important action to take control of our future, is to VOTE. And to get 10 more people to VOTE. It’s time to sweep things clean and take back our town!
Election day is Tuesday, November 3rd.
Ask Steve Badraun about getting fired as an act of political intimidation.
Comment by Pariah — October 9, 2009 @ 7:48 pm
The scum could not be any thicker or deeper. This level of unscrupulous political manipulation makes one wonder if the powers would find ballot fraud within reach? I have no doubt that ethics presents them no hesitations.
Comment by Wallypog — October 10, 2009 @ 6:22 am
My comments on this subject are under the earlier “Evaluation” heading. I was so appalled by the mind boggling hubris of this action, that I couldn’t wait for a new subject head to appear. This incident clearly demonstrates the overwhelming arrogance that exists in this community. They don’t care what anyone thinks and they patronise the collective intelligence by making statements that my cats and dog know are false. And why not? They always get away with this behavior. I almost think they want to flaunt their “power” in the public face. Typical bully boy tactics…”nyah nyah, what are you going to do about it?” As stated in my earlier post, Habitat has received the last donation ever, from me. As also previously stated…nasty nasty people.
One question Mary, what did Tweedy Kennedy do prior to his present job?
Comment by Faringdon — October 10, 2009 @ 9:20 am
Gee, Mary – were you not fired on Thanksgiving Day over the phone? Now, Brannon – coincidently – is fired 90 minutes before the debate. It just gets uglier. Talk about grace under pressure – Kennedy probably knew it – and was hoping for Brannon to lose composure. “Tweedy” is a real piece of work – he needs to eat more ice cream so he puffs up some more. The seven kids story appears to really work for him, after all, he has to put them in front in order to retain favor with the public. It’s all he has. He even uses them as an excuse to stay out of other debates. It’s disgusting.
I would like to say I am stunned, but after some thought, I know better, this is how it works – all it takes is a phone call.
Comment by Stebbijo — October 10, 2009 @ 9:32 am
Faringdon,
According to Kennedy’s bio on the Intermax Networks webpage
Comment by Bill — October 10, 2009 @ 9:38 am
Another thing, bankers are nasty people. They stop at nothing. Years ago when I was going through a very ugly divorce, and while trying to resolve the financial aspects of it, my banker asked me to “set up” another one of his clients. He was hoping I would be so desperate, I would buy into it. I even had the courtesy of letting that “client” know, but I was not believed. So, fifteen years later, guess who has control over the “client?” Since, I did not do the dirty work, I am sure someone else did.
What happened to Brannon is obvious. Honest people are not welcome.
Comment by Stebbijo — October 10, 2009 @ 9:46 am
stebbijo, my father was a banker and a more honest and ethical man you could not find. As, I may add, were his collegues. You cannot make these blanket statements that bankers are “nasty people”. And I flat out don’t believe your story.
Thank you Bill for the info on Kennedy. It doesn’t appear that he was very successful prior to his current employment. To take it a step further, had he been successful in his own “entrepreneurial” endeavors, he would still be self employed.
Comment by Faringdon — October 10, 2009 @ 10:11 am
My experience with self-written bios is that they are often greatly embellished. Read the exact words of Kennedy’s background: Sales and Marketing for companies doing business ON the internet…not internet providing companies. He worked from home or a small local office in sales for an internet-based college application company and he worked from home or a small local office in sales for two online insurance companies.
Do these experiences seem to prepare him to be hired as President of a high-tech internet provider? A company that physically installs internet equipment and has trucks, employees, technical equipment inventories, etc.?
The fact is that Mike got his job as President of InterMax soon after he was elected to the city council. His boss is Steve Meyer, who was one of his biggest campaign contributors.
Comment by mary — October 10, 2009 @ 10:27 am
Faringdon, with all due respect for your father, I did not want to imply that he was a “nasty” person. If I ever meet an honest banker in this area, I might not be so concrete in my interpretation. I just don’t happen to know any good ones. And, I don’t care that you don’t believe my story. I know the truth. So there. And, I can make any statement I want. So there, again.
On a sidenote, I see that Wayne Hoffman has forced the city to give up first names, and now I wonder if Mike Kennedy will have his “beer summit” or maybe an ice cream social? [Bill’s note: I added the hyperlink to the Press article.]
Comment by Stebbijo — October 10, 2009 @ 10:45 am
“So there”…thats mature. Yes stebbijo, you can make any statment you choose. It would be nice if they were true. Run into any sleeping wolves lately?
Comment by Faringdon — October 10, 2009 @ 2:57 pm
While, I was using a hypothetical situation to poke fun at my real injury, you decide to discredit me by using my example of that hypothetical situation. Perhaps, it is true that some cannot distinuish what is real and what is fantasy. I can assure you that you are incapable of discrediting me. Given the fact, however, that many bankers nationally have lost consumer confidence by spending our hard earned taxmoney, greedingly, on their own vacations and fattening their own wallets, I am sure that you are correct in assuming that the bankers in the Pacific Northwest are honest and upstanding citizens in our commuinity and would never take advantange of the opportunity to profit from anyone’s misfortune.
Comment by Stebbijo — October 10, 2009 @ 5:09 pm
I would like to steer the real issue back to the front and the bickering between Farringdon (whoever that is) and I is not nearly as important as the issue, that I believe we both agree.
VOTE FOR BRANNON and DUMP TWEEDY!
Comment by Stebbijo — October 10, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
I agree, Stebbijo, VOTE ‘EM ALL OUT. Let’s clean house!
Comment by mary — October 10, 2009 @ 9:37 pm
It’s interesting that the Brannon story in the Press was picked up by almost 24 Associated Press outlets all across the nation yesterday. We’ll see if it goes farther today.
Comment by mary — October 10, 2009 @ 9:39 pm
You’ve got to be a SERIOUS Kool Aid drinker to think Jim’s firing was not political.
“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Comment by Will Penny — October 11, 2009 @ 12:53 am
PS
I forgot to add that I didn’t know TR had lived in CDA.
Comment by Will Penny — October 11, 2009 @ 12:54 am
After reading the comments this writer left on the CDA Press website, I would be hard pressed to find them credible on anything. Not that I dispute anything they wrote, for I have no personal knowledge of any of it, but because it was an inappropriate use of that forum and appeared to be self-serving.
Having said that, Coeur d’Alene is getting a lot of bad press, maybe it is time to start playing by the rules and revamp the image. It is pretty tough to admit being from here with all of the rumors of racist activity and the dirty politics. I sure don’t want that reputation for myself.
Comment by dd — October 11, 2009 @ 3:38 pm
dd, welcome! We are glad to have all respectful opinions here. I am the writer of the newsletter above, so maybe you can help me understand which of the comments I wrote on the Press web site you deem inappropriate and self-serving? I would appreciate it. Thanks — Mary Souza
Comment by mary — October 11, 2009 @ 5:19 pm
In my opinion the Press web site is an inappropriate place to throw out names and accusation about other’s activities or beliefs, or to mince words with other posters. Personally, I’d like to see more comments about the issues and less argument back and forth. Good journalism should never throw out names and accusations without documented proof to back it up. It seemed to me like you had a personal axes to grind and were using that forum to toast some people.
Comment by dd — October 12, 2009 @ 9:25 am
dd, I can’t respond adequately unless I know which comments you are talking about. To call my words “inappropriate” on the same Press web site where some other blogger calls me personal names and makes up complete lies, is hard to understand. My words are never personal attacks, I bring forward the behaviors, connections and relationships of local officials in terms of their jobs, not in a personal sense.
Were you unhappy with my mention of incumbent city councilman Mike Kennedy and the fact that he got his job as President of InterMax AFTER he was elected to the city council? A job given to him by Steve Meyer, one of Mike’s biggest campaign contributors. Or were you upset that I mentioned Steve Meyer is close business partners with LCDC’s Charlie Nipp, where they own Parkwood Properties, a major real estate development firm here in CdA, and one of the top 5 private land owners in Kootenai County.
Please help me understand why you don’t think think these important connections would impact Mike Kennedy’s ability to be objective on the council? Should the citizens of our town not be aware of these obligatory relationships?
Comment by mary — October 12, 2009 @ 10:36 am
And to say my comments are “self-serving” is correct. I am a taxpayer and believe in my personal right and responsibility to participate in government and hold it accountable, so, in that way, my comments ARE self-serving. And I hope they serve many other taxpayers as well.
Comment by mary — October 12, 2009 @ 10:40 am
dd… The Press website is open to all who wish to comment there. The CdA Press is this communities local newspaper and it is the correct place to discuss local issues. If you follow the Press comments sections you will find a real paucity of input on any issue from the leadership of CdA. They have been the subject of many critical comments, many inquiries and many requests…… but……. they……. very rarely ever respond (I can recall maybe 2 responses in 4 years time).
The Press online comment forum could be an ideal venue for transparent gov’t. What could be better than having a readily open public arena for citizens and their elected officials to have honest discourse. But we don’t hear from our elected officials.
On this issue there has been ugly rhetoric and some excellent questions. It is easy to ignore the names but why ignore good questions? Why don’t the people involved reply especially if they have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide? You come here and have been welcomed even though you bring critical commentary. You have gotten the courtesy of a reply from the person you addressed. Until that starts to occur with our elected officials here or on the Press website methinx you doth complain too much. In fact one reason people do resort to insulting rhetoric is because their important questions are arrogantly ignored.
Comment by Wallypog — October 12, 2009 @ 2:05 pm
What does Habitat For Humanity and the St.Louis Rams have in common?
Comment by Gary Ingram — October 14, 2009 @ 6:46 pm
Let’s see….if you hold your government, local or national, accountable and expect that the constitutional rights of citizens will be upheld, then you will be targeted for intimidation and reprisal. Yep, seems a lot of that is going around these days!
Comment by mary — October 14, 2009 @ 7:24 pm