Reading a Spokesman-Review post this morning captioned Idaho lawmakers to undergo ‘civil discourse’ training this year, OpenCdA did a double-take on this line:

“Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis,  R-Idaho Falls, asked that the Legislature contact the Idaho State Bar and pre-qualify the session as ethics training for continuing legal education credit, for lawmakers who are attorneys.”

So ol’ Bart, an attorney from Idaho Falls who will just happen to be in Boise on the public’s dime serving as a legislator when the course will be given free to legislators, wants the public to pay for his continuing legal education training credit course in ethics.

So ol’ Bart thinks its ethical for legislators to accept a freebie that would cost a pretty penny for non-legislator attorneys.    We think Bart Davis definitely needs to take an ethics course or several — at his own expense, not the public’s.

An Afterthought on 11-08-15 at 3:45 p.m.:   The more I think about this proposed training for our legislators, the less relevant it sounds.  Certainly courtesy and civility are desirable, but our legislators are generally of an age that if they haven’t picked up those traits by now after decades of living and interacting, should we really expect a half-day charm school to develop them at this stage of their lives?  Are there not possibly more pressing ethical issues to be addressed?

Yep.  Coeur d’Alene Press skews paper publisher Jim Thompson and editor Mike Patrick certainly appear to OpenCdA to be waaaaay late to the urban renewal agency examination party.

On Sunday, October 25, 2015, the Press editorial was entitled Another urban renewal question mark.

The Press editorial board editorially questioned the wisdom of the city’s urban renewal agency, ignite cda and its executive director tony berns-o-matic, giving $15,000 of the public’s money to an enterprise in which Coeur d’Alene City Councilman Kiki Miller has a significant interest.

We’re cautiously encouraged to see the Press show signs of awakening from its journalistic lethargy and start paying closer attention to what an unelected body of handpicked cronies have been inflicting on the city using other people’s (your taxpayer) money .  However don’t you wonder why the Press didn’t report this information as news over a year ago when it floated to the surface at the LCDC meetings on October 15, 2014 (beginning at page 5, item 6.B.)  and November 19, 2014 (beginning at page 4, item 7.A.)?  Why now editorially rather than a year ago when it would have been news? (more…)

OpenCdA has been told that District 4-A Representative Luke Malek’s wife Tara has moved to southern Idaho to accept a position with the Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.  We’ve also been told, however, that while the position is technically with Canyon County, she will serve a three year term as the Special Assistant US Attorney (SAUSA) to the Treasure Valley Partnership.  We have received no reply to our email requesting the Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney confirm or refute this.

We have also been told that rather than resign his position as state representative, Luke Malek will remain in Coeur d’Alene until his term  expires.  Obviously if he moves out of his district, he could not run for re-election.  (Well, he could move to Canada which would allow him to say he still resides in Coeur d’Alene, but …)

As the title says, this is just an interesting rumor.

ADDENDUM 10-26-2015, 9:48 AM:  An email this morning from the Canyon County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office confirmed that Tara Malek has replaced Chris Atwood as the gang and guns Special Assistant US Attorney.