My post on December 5 titled Kennedy’s Demand: Pay Now or Pay Later disclosed Coeur d’Alene City Councilman Mike Kennedy’s demand that that taxpayers pay for his legal fees in the election contest lawsuit. There was an earlier document on November 5, 2010, a memorandum of costs, filed with the court by Kennedy’s attorney Scott Reed . It contains some additional very interesting details (teaser: former Spokesman Review reporter Bill Morlin) about the costs Kennedy allegedly personally incurred in this case.
One particular item in the memorandum of costs that certainly caught my eye: Item 3 on page 2 reads, “Service by Steve Reed, AAYS of contempt pleadings upon William R. McCrory. – $58.00.” That must have been a particularly difficult process service. I’m William L. McCrory. William R. McCrory was my father. He died July 22, 2002, and his ashes are interred at the Pines Cemetery in Spokane.
I still do not understand why Kennedy felt obliged to investigate voter fraud. He won. The city or county and Brannon needed to proof the status of votes and challenge or sustain the election outcome. If Brannon had won the case and Kennedy decided to challenge its outcome, then I could see a rational purpose behind his personal determination. As it stands Kennedy’s efforts were entirely redundant and served no purpose whatsoever (other than to spend his own money).
Comment by Wallypog — December 7, 2010 @ 10:09 am
Kennedy’s actions, and those of his two attorneys, clearly show his intent, Wallypog. It was to BLOCK the investigation of the ’09 election. They tried at every turn to stop access to the election’s public documents. Then they tried to make getting the documents incredibly expensive. Then they tried to draw out the process, wasting months of time. All of this, I think, was designed to make Jim Brannon and Starr Kelso run out of time, patience and money.
Luckily for all of us, Jim and Starr are tenacious and have seen the serious need for repair in our election system. This is a very important case for the whole state.
Comment by mary — December 7, 2010 @ 11:15 am
One theory that is running around, is that when Dan English opened the Absentee Ballots early, as he did for years it turns out, even though it’s specifically prohibited by state law, Dan was able to get an idea of which candidates were in the lead.
Maybe then he shared this info with some of his buddies. Maybe he gave them a heads up. And, in this last election of ’09, when Brannon and Gookin were way ahead in the Absentee Ballots, maybe Dan English told Kennedy he’d better pull out all the stops.
We’ll never know, but one wonders what those last ditch efforts might have been. Mike seems quite uneasy.
Comment by mary — December 7, 2010 @ 11:21 am
Does Brannon go to Hosack at 1400 hrs today in court for a new trail?
Comment by Ancientemplar — December 7, 2010 @ 11:51 am
Ancientemplar,
Yes, in Courtroom #9. That’s in the new justice building just west of the Old Courthouse.
Comment by Bill — December 7, 2010 @ 12:12 pm
Mary, I don’t know whom that theory is “running around” among, but you’d be doing Brannon/Kelso a favor by trying to nip those kinds of wacky conspiracy theories in the bud. They just distract from the important issues like the integrity of the election and give Kennedy supporters ammunition to marginalize all Brannon supporters as a bunch of crazies.
Comment by KootenaiConservative — December 7, 2010 @ 12:42 pm
Let’s see…..we did hear that Dan English had been opening absentee ballots early for years…and we did read that normally one can see how the election will go through the counting of absentee ballots early in the evening. So perhaps Kennedy was tipped off. After all, he had a huge campaign chest with donations from clear-across the United States (why was it so important to get him elected?) Someone wanted him in! Why did he leave his family behind to rent a room to be considered a resident of Coeur d’Alene? Someone really wanted him in!
Comment by LTR — December 7, 2010 @ 1:09 pm
KC: It was common knowledge that Kennedy was running polls during that time. I got called. (I voted for Kennedy and Goodlander on the poll.) Even if word didn’t come from Dan English — and I strongly suspect that it did — Kennedy or any candidate would have “pulled out all the stops” and ramped up campaigning. After all, if you discount the Dan English portion of Mary’s conjecture, if Kennedy’s own polling showed him that he was losing or in a dead heat, his reaction would have been the same.
I don’t see why people are getting all verklempt about this.
Comment by Dan — December 7, 2010 @ 3:18 pm
Interesting court hearing this afternoon. I’ll put up a short post about it.
Comment by mary — December 7, 2010 @ 4:22 pm
Mary, were you in court today? Did you attend the CdA city council meeting on Tuesday? Mike Kennedy, please cry me a river. You could have saved the city a lot of money by not hiring your own lawyers. A concerned public servant would have been concerned with a fair and honest election. Mike Gridley is absolutely useless. I never thought that I would miss Jeff Jones, but I do. I’m sure that Jim Brannon will be portrayed as the cause of this expenditure; but what should he do if he uncovers fraud and corruption? To pay Mike Kennedy’s legal fees with no impact on the city budget, why not fire Mike Gridley? Council could even give Mr. Kennedy more funds if they eliminate Mike Gridley’s exorbitant salary.
Comment by doubleseetripleeye — December 8, 2010 @ 12:22 am