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Council to urban renewal watchdogs: You’re out of line. That was the message two council members delivered Tuesday night to a pair of citizens concerned with last week’s news that former Lake City Development Corp. Chairman and current board member Charlie Nipp had been under investigation by the Idaho State Attorney General’s Office. Tuesday marked the first council meeting since the attorney general’s office cleared Nipp of any criminal wrongdoing regarding a conflict of interest between his positions on the LCDC board and Mountain West Bank. And after Jim Brannon and Mary Souza requested council exercise strict oversight in the matter, council members Ron Edinger and Deanna Goodlander said enough was enough/Tom Hasslinger, CDA Press. More here.
Question: Were council members Ron Edinger and Deanna Goodlander correct in calling out Mary Souza and Jim Brannon for remarks about former Lake City Development Corp. chairman Charlie Nipp?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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nic on March 04 at 8:48 a.m.
“the public comments, which Brannon used to ask the council to look further into last week’s attorney general findings.”
Interpreted: Brannon asked the city council to override the AG’s authority.
Watchdogs = Attack dogs
toadman on March 04 at 9:04 a.m.
“Enuf Already w/Nipp Shots”
I totally thought this was in reference to partial nipple exposures on television…in which case, I was going to chime in against the misspelled “Enuf Already” outrage, and form a counter argument in favor of partial nipple exposure.
;-)
See? non-substantive.. but all smiles.
Aliasjax on March 04 at 9:05 a.m.
Mary, like Haley Joel Osmett, sees what the rest of us can’t. Where we see well-intended local government and community volunteers, she sees graft, corruption, and conspiracy…and like that little boy who saw dead people, she needs therapy. I wish she’d run for office…her overwhelming defeat would put a number to just how out of step she is.
Watchdogs = Gadflies
Joker on March 04 at 9:08 a.m.
I hate to upset the applecart, but questioning your government is what makes Democracies work. Saying that — I believe the council made a mistake by engaging these wingnuts.
They should have said nothing after they spoke. They’re giving them credibility. Just ignore them, like the rest of us.
Arch_Druid on March 04 at 9:15 a.m.
Joker, you are right. Democracies are all about questioning one’s gvt. If there is a valid reason to do so, then I am all for it. On the other hand, there is valid reason to question Mary Souza, even if she does have her fan club such as the Press, and those who write favorable letters to the editor.
JBelle on March 04 at 9:15 a.m.
Of course, it’s none of my business because I am not a primary resident of Coeur d’Alene, but rushing to judgment anyway, I’d say ABSOLLUTELY Edinger and Goodlander did the right thing by calling out Mare Bear and Her Latest Cowboy. This thing with Charlie Nipp has run all four bases and should be left to rest on the bench. Everybody’s had a little piece, say, in fact, is it too late to enter yesterday’s cutline contest? Mary and the other concerned citizens go after the corpse of the latest LCDC ‘scam’.
nic on March 04 at 9:21 a.m.
“I wish she’d run for office…her overwhelming defeat would put a number to just how out of step she is.”
If memory serves me, she all ready has run for office, and lost. And, she was dishonorably removed from the P&Z board after frequently using her CDAMess column to rail against her P&Z peers.
I don’t think any amount of public humiliation will show MMQC how out of step she is.
Aliasjax on March 04 at 9:29 a.m.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Joker…question, demand answers, play political hardball to advance your agenda - I’m all for it…but MMQC has lost credibilty with every reasonable person in town. Her long history of mis-reporting facts, duplicity and her narcissistic pandering to the CAVEr crowd is not a productive redress of grievences. She, IMO, represents a tiny (and shrinking) minority perspective which gets WAY too much ink from the Press.
DFO on March 04 at 9:47 a.m.
I go back and forth re: the value of Mary Souza, Dan Gookin (whose last name now can be mentioned as a result of Blogmeister Ryan defanging our spam filter who thought it was some sort of slur) & Co. On one hand, their obsession with almost all things LCDC and progress in the community has forced the powers to be to dot every “I” and cross every “T.” On the other hand, they simply can’t help but going too far. It’s in their DNA. When they try to recast class acts like Charlie Nipp and Mayor Sandi Bloem into self-serving rogues — despite a lifetime of community service to the contrary — they lose mose of their audience. They’re infected with the “shouting wolf” syndrome. They can’t be all wrong. But when they’re right, nobody but their sympathizers listen.
locogov on March 04 at 10:05 a.m.
DFO, you are correct. They could’ve been valuable critics, but seem to unable to restrain themselves. I have disagreed with many decesions of the LCDC board. There are even times I have agreed with the critics. However, I can’t stand the continuing attempt to paint people as self serving crooks. Mr Nip is one of the class acts in this community. He acted in a manner he assumed was correct. It is clear he had no economic interest in any of the decesions. People like Mary & Dan cause others to choose not to give of their time.to the community.
JeanC on March 04 at 10:09 a.m.
Questioning is one thing, continually beating dead and apparently fully decayed horses gets one no where.
florined on March 04 at 10:47 a.m.
Wait…I’m confused. I agree with The Joker, and that has me befuddled. Common ground? Can it be?
Charlie on March 04 at 12:56 p.m.
Maybe that parrot-headdress Mary wears has some unknown substance in it! Kryptonite got Superman, what’s Mary got?
Dennis on March 04 at 2:59 p.m.
I’m torn on the reaction of the council members on this issue.
One the one hand, I can understand where they are coming from and finally had it up to their eyeballs. I dealt with garbage like this for 25 years.
On the other hand, public officials need to have a very thick skin. Rarely, if ever, is everyone gonna agree with, support or defend actions on decisions that they are employed to make. I chewed a callus on my lower lip rather than give slanderous twits an opportunity to play the victim if I were to react to them.
Now most people are adults and accept the actions whether they agree with them or not. Then there are the few, (MMQC & “Donut” Dan Gookin et.al.) that thrive on their ability to slam, slander and attempt to intimidate these officials because they won’t march lock-step to their (CAVE’rs) vision of nirvana.
Don’t believe me???? If you have the stomach, take a look at the open cda site and see them playing the victim. What gets me is this situation would have never happened had this group engaged in “Real Dialog” rather than “Attack Dog” tactics. The latter, IMHO, is being done to further their own political delusions.