At the beginning of every Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting, the council's six elected members vote on a series of routine matters all lumped into one package.

But for one councilor, the city's practice of having a consent calendar is ripe for abuse.

"We can't just rubber stamp this stuff," said Councilman Dan Gookin. "That's ridiculous. This is the public's business."

There are 13 items scheduled for one vote of the council under the consent calendar during its Jan. 17 meeting at 6 p.m. According to Gookin, as well as Mayor Steve Widmyer, items placed in the consent calendar are supposed to be ordinary ones, previously vetted by one of the city's subcommittees, and not requiring further discussion from the full council.

"The consent calendar was designed as a rubber stamp," Gookin said. "But they always try to stick resolutions in there. Some of these matters are routine, yes, but some need to be further vetted"/Keith Cousins, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

DFO: I'm not sure why Gookin is bellyaching. As Mayor Steve Widmyer points out in the article, he or any other council member can pull an item off the consent calendar for full vetting by the entire council. Thoughts?

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