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“Hypocrisy is not only at home among the “99%” but here in the wilderness of North Idaho. Yesterday on a local 
political blog, Coeur d'Alene's own liberal Democrat “Yosemite Sam”, City Councilman Mike Kennedy, launched this election's attack on the Reagan Republicans, Ron Lahr and myself. Like elections past, Kennedy could not argue with the Reagan Republican-endorsed candidates Dan Gookin and Steve Adams because they are on the right side of the issues and Kennedy is on the wrong side, denying the citizens of Coeur d'Alene the right to vote on McEuen Field, supporting ridiculous pay increases for over-paid bureaucrats and refusing oversight on the LCDC. No Mr. Kennedy was true to form and attacked the messengers not the message”/Jeff Ward, Kootenai County Reagan Republicans. More here.
Reaction?
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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RonLahr on November 02 at 11:39 a.m.
If you look at the election finance disclosure reports the money is coded for signs, postage, and printing of rack cards and other mailers.
The candidates pay the Strategery Group and then the money goes out to our vendors, including the USPS.
Quite the vast right wing conspiracy…
MikeK on November 02 at 11:41 a.m.
Ron and Jeff - how much did you coordinate with the candidates Dan Gookin and Steve Adams? They are on your board. You raised money for them, they paid your firm many thousands of dollars. How much did you coordinate with these candidates?
RonLahr on November 02 at 11:43 a.m.
Mr. Kennedy:
They are our clients… duh!
MikeK on November 02 at 11:45 a.m.
So you coordinated with them while running an independent expenditure to benefit them?
Dennis on November 02 at 11:47 a.m.
ROTFLMAO!!!
They get caught with their hand in the cookie jar and 24 hours later the come up with this hit piece and no answers………. Priceless!!!
RonLahr on November 02 at 11:47 a.m.
Mike:
There were no independent expenditures, only in kind contributions, and direct, from the KCRR Victory Fund.
Stay tuned for the final campaign disclosure reports, if facts are of any interest to you.
DFO on November 02 at 11:56 a.m.
I think this situation calls for a re-examination of campaign finance laws. Organizations such as Reagan Republicans should be required to publicly list major contributors. Otherwise, the strategy used by Reagan Republicans in nonpartisan city election races easily can be abused to get around finance disclosure for individuals who don’t want to be seen as siding with a particular candidate.
DFO on November 02 at 11:57 a.m.
BTW, for the record, Susan Weathers was responding to a question directly from me re: the Reagan Republican/Strategery Group co-op.
DFO on November 02 at 11:58 a.m.
BTW 2, Jeff Ward should know by now that more breaking and interesting news happens at HucksOnline than any print or air media in the region. So he shouldn’t be surprised that Susan Weather would answer a direct question from a newsman of 42 years who runs an “on-line blog.”
notyourturn on November 02 at 12:04 p.m.
“only in kind contributions”
Where were those disclosed at? According to both of your candidates for council, neither reported in-kind contributions?
greenlibertarian on November 02 at 12:07 p.m.
Where are the DETAILS of WHAT the money was spent on that flowed from apparently anonymous donors to RRCC then to Strategery?
One purpose of campaign finance disclosure is to provide, if needed, an audit trail so expenses can be examined for some semblance of reasonableness.
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“Kristy” Wood, that’s a good one.
greenlibertarian on November 02 at 12:11 p.m.
RRKC, I meant.
ReaganRepub on November 02 at 12:15 p.m.
Good to know you are on the job Dave. Are you the person that dropped the Reagan Republicans flyer on Susan’s desk two years ago that began that year investgation?
I agree the state disclosure laws are a mess. We have had a state registered political committee since 2010 called thte Reagan Republican Victory Fund (RRVF). The CDA City told us we had to register as political committee with them to contribute to candidates in this election so we formed RRVF-Municipal. Both have to file disclosures, RRVF with the state and RRVF-Muni with the cities (CDA, Hayden,Post Falls and Rathdrum) Every contributor over 50 bucks has to be listed. The city apparently required the Washington State City-County Employees Union and the Lake City Employees Union to do the same thing so they created a new committee and donated 1500 each to that. I would prefer only one level of political commitees and everything reported to the state. I recall Washington does that.
DFO on November 02 at 12:40 p.m.
Now, here’s something that’s funny. Mary Souza, the erstwhile Reagan Republican board member who connects dots, real and mostly imagined, re: her political enemies has opened up OpenCDA.com space to Jeff Ward’s response to Strategery Group posts here. Mebbe that’s why Jeff simply dismissed HucksOnline as an “on-line blog” and a “political blog.” Mary’s head might explode if the word “HucksOnline” was mentioned in her cyber swamp.
Randy_Myers on November 02 at 2:35 p.m.
Why is it every comment that supports the RRs playing 3 card Monty with the cash I want to flag as inappropriate ?
ShoshoneConservative on November 02 at 3:07 p.m.
That would make things a little easier - and more transparent. The State reports can be accessed anonymously on-line, whereas city and county reports are filed locally.Which means, in a small town, after someone goes up to the counter at the Courthouse or City Hall and asks for it, the person asking is barely out the door before the clerk is on her phone is calling up the candidate, saying “guess what? You’ll never guess who was just in to see your campaign finance report!” I think this discourages many from accessing reports for local candidates.
christiewood on November 02 at 8:31 p.m.
Mr. Ward,
In your newsletter to your supporters you made a blatantly false statement accusing me with the following:
“This May, with the aid of his cohort, city police spokeswoman Kristy Wood and their nattering anonymous henchmen at HBO blog, he launched a scurrilous attack, on Tom Hamilton, Terri Seymour, Citizens for Better Education and the Reagan Republicans slandering us by attempting to link us with Aryan Nazis”.
You clearly have me confused with someone else, and have done sloppy research (let alone exaggerated what I recall reading on HBO about this topic) before posting your newsletter.
I do not appreciate your fabrication, or your clear intention to link my professional life and title to your political blog. My expectation is that you have the integrity to correct your false statement.
Adamjgraves on November 02 at 8:44 p.m.
Christie, I so like you!
christiewood on November 02 at 9:06 p.m.
Thanks Adam. I understand politics get unruly but a blatant lie is unacceptable. I hope they take steps to correct this.
Dennis on November 03 at 5:48 a.m.
Don’t count on it Chistie. He Flat out LIED about LEO’s and Fire Fighters supposedly supporting his candidates and then ran away and hid when he got called on it. You asking for an apology from an individual and group that has no morals or ethics.