2 Cents: Charlie Should Let It Go

59 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  Joker on March 16 at 11:11 a.m.

  Amen! Great minds think alike. I was tussling with JBelle yesterday over this very point.

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  JBelle on March 16 at 11:36 a.m.

  And I disasgree still. Even the sterling logic and rhetoric of the Joker cannot dissuade me from the notion that as an American, he has the right to face his accusers. He certainly, being the servant leader he is, has earned it. As well, this whole incident arose out of his responsibilities on a community board, a volunteer position. How many people are going to step up and serve if their political enemies can can launch AG investigations into their best intended actions while serving?

  Finally, those concerned citizens should sack up. Actually, I think the spelling is better executed as ‘sac up’. And if Jorgenson’s going to be their conduit, he should sack up, too and disclose who he is running with, in the spirit of working and playing in the sunshine. I think Steve Smith refers to it as ‘transparency’. ;)

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  DFO on March 16 at 11:59 a.m.

  JBelle; don’t misunderstand me. I agree with you that the attackers are cowards for hiding behind Mike Jorgenson. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the individuals involved were among those who contacted Americans for the Separation of Church & State in a vain attempt to derail the Kroc Center. Those names never surfaced publicly either.

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  cantyoureadthesigns on March 16 at 12:16 p.m.

  “involved were among those who contacted Americans for the Separation of Church & State in a vain attempt to derail the Kroc Center. Those names never surfaced publicly either.”
  -DFO

  Didn’t Larry Spencer admit to being involved with that?

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  JohnA on March 16 at 12:17 p.m.

  An increasingly difficult aspect of community volunteerism concerns this very issue. The scrutiny under which we fall will make it tough to continually find these leaders. If you’ve ever wondered why the same standup people seem to be on every volunteer board, whether it’s Jobs Plus, LCDC or the Planning Commission, it is because so few people are willing to subject themselves to that spotlight.

  I fully agree that elected officials are due the increased scrutiny; they run for the position and are generally compensated for it in some way. But, volunteers? As if it is not enough to be willing to accept the challenges that come with the appointed position in the first place, they have to withstand not only opposition but staunch personal attacks.

  I’m beginning to wonder if even the most community-minded people in our midst will at some point decide one thing: it is just not worth it.

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  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 12:19 p.m.

  The main guy did come forward right after it came out that the AG wasn’t going to prosecute Charlie for a crime.The guy even gave his real name on a Press thread.I guess Mr.Nipp thought that because he was a volunteer and wasn’t paid to work for LCDC, he was somehow exempted from any conflict of interest.That’s naive at best to think that.

  He should let it go.

  Alot of people weren’t against the Kroc Center; they were against the underhanded way Mayor Bloem runs things.She acts like the slush fund is her personal account.

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  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 12:26 p.m.

  Just because, most of the board commissioners of LCDC are volunteers, shouldn’t exempt them from scrutiny.Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if they received some kind of benefit for being on the LCDC board, like health Ins.

• 

  DFO on March 16 at 12:29 p.m.

  >Alot of people weren’t against the Kroc Center; they were against the underhanded way Mayor Bloem runs things.She acts like the slush fund is her personal account — Kage Mann.<

  Kage; you know that things don’t become true, simply because you keep repeating incorrect info, right?

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  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 12:43 p.m.

  DFO, the taxpaying public wasn’t given an opportunity to speak out about the Kroc Center and if they wanted it in CDA, because at the 11th hour Mayor Bloem snuck the item on the agenda at the last minute,so the public wasn’t aware of it.Nor was the public given an opportunity to voice their opinions about using 3 mill.out of the slush fund for the remediation of the Kroc site.It was the taxpayers money.She’s pretty sneaky.

• 

  Digger on March 16 at 12:52 p.m.

  “Anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if they received some kind of benefit for being on the LCDC board, like health Ins.” -
  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 12:26 p.m.

  Uh, Kage, I’ve never known a government commission or board that isn’t elected giving health insurance to its members. And as DFO said before, you can’t spew untrue things and hope that someday they become true.

• 

  JBelle on March 16 at 1:13 p.m.

  daveo,

  I certainly can understand your position; I think it’s one that’s keenly held by a member of the community who does not want to see the momentum of progress deterred. Good for you.

  I, on the other hand, am not a member of your community but come from my opinion by way of serving on many community boards through out the years; along with that experience has been participation in a number of unpopular decisions. Although you and I cut out teeth on the dirty politics of Tricky Dick, it’s a whole new era in dirty politics out there. If it’s allowed to contamine the business of the mission and vision of non profit organizations, society and civilization is doomed. Just think about it: what happened to you today that was as a result of the work of a non-profit organization? I bet you’d be stunned. And wonderfully grateful. Volunteers must not be effected by dirty politics; we’ve seen the devastation of dirty ethics in business in 2009 and continue to disgust at the ongoing fallout. We absolutely cannot allow the same to happen to not for profit organizations and the people who serve them and the community. If the people who instituted this witchhunt come forward and be counted and face the outrage of a community, maybe others will be deterred from pursuing the next witchhunt. And it will be with much more assurance that Mayor Bloem and Councilman Kennedy ask competent, concerned citizens to serve in similar capacities in the future.

• 

  PatrickH on March 16 at 1:29 p.m.

  WHile I really think that Mr. Nipp should let this drop so that LCDC can move forward part of me is curious as to who all contacted Senator Jorgenson. I honestly think we might be surprised by who it is. I don’t think its Dan, or Mary, or Bill from OpenCDA because they shout from the rooftops when they file these actions, Can’t be Don Morgan because he is in Spokane County now and Senator Jorgenson said it was a county resident. I have my doubts about it being Larry Spencer as well because I think he would have come out by now. My guess is someone who stands to be damaged if it comes out that they where behind it, maybe like a Cathy Sims, or the like, but I think we will probably never know.

• 

  JBelle on March 16 at 1:34 p.m.

  Patrick! You make my point brilliantly. Charlie Nipp, and all of Kootenai County, have the right to know who accused him.

  And, not incidentally, the electorate who voted Jorgenson in could be quite interested in his part in this mess as well.

• 

  PatrickH on March 16 at 1:46 p.m.

  JBelle,
  I think I would be more comfortable if I knew who was picking up Scott Reid’s tab. My concern is that if LCDC is picking up the tab for Mr. Nipps defense and subsiquent information requests that it eventually takes money that could be used to further development in the area. Now if Mr. Nipp is paying out of his pocket, or if Mr Reid is taken this probono then I might feel more compellled to say go for it, but even then I have reservations because it just draws this whole thing out and gives Mary, Dan, and company more fuel for their claims. At some point you have to temper that right to know with what is best for the parties involved and a long protracted court battle is not good for LCDC.

• 

  Joker on March 16 at 1:50 p.m.

  JBelle,

  Where in the Idaho law books does it give Mr. Nipp and all of Kootenai County the right to know who accused him? Just cause you want to know doesn’t make it the law of the land.

• 

  Joker on March 16 at 1:55 p.m.

  Kage,

  I’ve been told the city council voted to spend $3 million on the site. The Mayor didn’t vote on it. It seems like Sandi Bloem is an awesome mayor and I find no evidence to contradict that opinion.

• 

  JBelle on March 16 at 2:00 p.m.

  I would agree Charlie Nipp should be paying his own legal fees. But of course, most not for profits have directors’ e and o; under many instances, this will cover the legal fees. I think that’s quite acceptable. But it would surprise me a bit if Scott Reid is going pro bono. Another servant leader. Irrespective of what you think of his politics.

  And Patrick, I don’t see this as an LCDC matter. Not at all. That horse has been beaten to death. This is a personal matter but of interest to both the LCDC and Mountain West Bank.

• 

  JBelle on March 16 at 2:03 p.m.

  Joker, I am not licensed to practice law nor never have been. But I did take US Government from Dean Lundblad at CHS. ;)

• 

  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 2:13 p.m.

  Joker, the city council didn’t want to have public input on either
  bringing the Kroc Center to CDA or spending 3 mill. for the remediation of the Kroc site.Why?Because they didn’t want any negative opposition to it.You don’t have open or honest gov’t when the mayor posts things on the agenda,right before a city council meeting at the last minute, so there are taxpayers who won’t show up because, they didn’t know about it.I’m not arguing
  the mayor accomplishments; I’m pointing out her Methods of operation.It seems as if the ends,justify the means with the mayor.

• 

  Sisyphus on March 16 at 2:15 p.m.

  I’m not sure what the big deal is. For all intents and purposes, Mike Jorgenson is the accuser. I agree with Dave. He should let it go lest the specter of a vindictive leader cloud his reputation.

• 

  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 2:16 p.m.

  JBelle on March 16 at 2:03 p.m.Joker, I am not licensed to practice law nor never have been. But I did take US Government from Dean Lundblad at CHS. ;)

  OMG,it seems as if I have more in common with JBelle,than I thought.

• 

  Joker on March 16 at 2:21 p.m.

  Jbelle,

  Wow, a high school government class. I am impressed. So, maybe we can get a legal opinion from a lawyer. But as far as I can tell Idaho law doesn’t require the disclosure of the identities of an accuser unless charges are filed. Since Mr. Nipp committed no crime, he wasn’t denied any due process. I know you hate that these folks can hide, but that’s the way it is.

  Kage,

  Which is it? The Mayor or the council.

• 

  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 2:22 p.m.

  Uh, Kage, I’ve never known a government commission or board that isn’t elected giving health insurance to its members.Digger on March 16 at 12:52 p.m.

  That’s fine Digger, but you know as well as I do,that there must be some advantage to voluteering your time to a city agency.

• 

  PatrickH on March 16 at 2:34 p.m.

  Kage,

  I think that there is a group of people that apply to and act on city/state commissions and boards because it deals with something they are passionate about. For some it is not about monitarry compennsasion but more like being able to shape the future of our parks system, or preserving the history of the region, or in my case where I am trying to get appointed to the board of the State Commission For The Blind, I want to see that people with complete or near blindness are given the traiing and help they need to be able to work and adaprt ot the world around them.

• 

  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 2:36 p.m.

  Joker, both.

  Anyway, coaches who teach at high schools only do it by default.All they really want to do is coach sports.Half the time Dean would talk about sports in class anyway.Coach/teacher classes are lax and easy for your gpa.My favorite class was life sports.

• 

  JohnA on March 16 at 2:37 p.m.

  Oh, Mr. Kage, where to begin.

  The city’s investment of $3 million leveraged a $65 million gift. That’s a 4% match for a tremendous community asset. If you can name any other organization in general or government in particular, assuming they had the resources to do so, that would turn down 96% funding for anything, please feel free to do so.

  The fact that the city had $3 million to invest in the first place is testament to the talented people running it, headed by its mayors Just like a family, a city only accrues cash when they are frugal in their spending. I can’t think of a better reward for that 20 years of frugality than rewarding your consituents with a world-class community center.

  Especially at four cents on the dollar.

• 

  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 2:43 p.m.

  Patrick, good point and good luck with your endeavors.

• 

  Kage_Mann on March 16 at 2:57 p.m.

  JohnA, I’m nort arguing the need for the Kroc Center or the mayor’s persistence in CDA having one.I’m merely, pointing out the mayor’s methods of operation aren’t taxpayer friendly.Let’s not forget, the mayor and city council approved the taking out of three mill.from a ‘slush fund’ for remediation of the Kroc site.They spent three mill. for something the city and taxpaying public won’t own.The salvation army will run it.

• 

  Sam_Crawford on March 16 at 9:57 p.m.

  Kage: It seems you are beating a dead horse.

  The Kroc Center is just about finished and it is not going away.

• 

  Fishwife on March 16 at 10:08 p.m.

  Well, maybe Mr. Nipp plans to file a lawsuit against his accusers and needs to know their identities. It’s quite simple. Seems I recall that even public officials like Mr. Nipp are protected from malicious accusations, rumor and innuendo. So, he has a right to know his accusers.

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