At the Coeur d'Alene City Council meeting Tuesday night, RecallCDA organizer Frank Orzell of Coeur d'Alene, pictured, said (according to the rough draft of City Clerk Susan Weathers' minutes) “… that he had received complaints of intimidation.  John Montandon, 6269 E. French Gulch Rd., commented that he allowed the recall group to use his parking lot and as a result he received calls from clients stating that they were going to stop doing business at his store and believes that this is a form of intimidation.  Mayor Bloem noted that this is a very personal time for her and the Council being recalled and their families.  She respects the right for citizens to shop where they want, but she does not condone any threatening or intimidation.” Stop the Recall organizer Jennifer Drake commented later that she and other members of her group have been intimidated, too. She reportedly turned to Montandon in the audience and apologized to him for feeling intimidated for anything that was happening.

• You can read Susan Weathers' rough draft of the council meeting here.
• You can read the prepared statement made by Stop the Recall organizer Jennifer Drake here.

Thoughts?

Item: Recall drive hits 3,700: Group needs 4,311 valid signatures from voters/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: RecallCdA said Monday it has about 3,700 petition signatures seeking the ouster of four Coeur d'Alene officials. The group needs 4,311 valid signatures from registered Coeur d'Alene voters to issue a recall election against Mayor Sandi Bloem and council members Mike Kennedy, Deanna Goodlander and Woody McEvers — all of whom supported moving forward with the McEuen Field redevelopment project.

Thoughts?

Family of Mayor Sandi Bloem closed a pair of accounts at Sherman Hardware this week, after the store's owner allowed recall supporters to seek signatures to oust the mayor and three city council members. The decision was a personal one, family members said, and not part of an orchestrated retaliation against store owner John Montandon. Montandon, who has owned the hardware store at 1010 Sherman Ave. for 24 years, said he has been “dodging bullets” from upset citizens after he let RecallCdA supporters — the group organizing the petition drive - use his parking lot to gather signatures. “And I think I've got hit several times,” Montandon said Wednesday. He said he has received between 15 and 25 phone calls from upset people since petitioners started using his lot on Sunday/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (Photo: State Sen. Kathy Sims in Sherman Hardware lot earlier this week)

The divide widened this week after some downtown business owners who display “Decline to Sign” signs at their stores began receiving a postcard addressed to them, mocking their stance. The postcard, mailed from Spokane without a sender's name, calls the store owners “servants to the glorious Visionaries!”

Thoughts?

recaller recording

Original story: Hayes asks (for) recaller recording investigation

RecallCdA organizer Frank Orzell confirmed Thursday the recall petitioner secretly recorded giving inaccurate information in an attempt to solicit a signature works for his organization. Orzell said he spoke to the petitioner — whose first name was withheld from the online story but is known by The Press — about not using misinformation in the future. “We do an extensive training program,” Orzell said of the petitioners, most of whom are volunteers but some are paid. “He did not intentionally” use wrong information, Orzell said. The recording was provided to The Press Tuesday, and posted online with a short story Wednesday. The approximately three minute recorded conversation between a man and the petitioner could not be authenticated because neither camp would go on the record Wednesday, but Orzell said Thursday the conversation did happen/Tom “Pitbull” Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Do you think charges should be filed for giving false information to obtain signatures?

recaller caught misstating facts?

Update 2: “The Press knows the identity of the individual who recorded the conversation, and we know the first name of the petitioner. Recall CdA organizer Frank Orzell did not deny or confirm that they have a petitioner by that name when Tom Hasslinger asked him about it.”

Update: Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes just told The Press he would like to see a legal investigation of the recording. Hayes said he will ask Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Wayne Longo to have the department open an investigation.

A recording of an apparent recall petitioner soliciting signatures reveals that the petitioner used wrong information while attempting to get at least one person to sign. The recording turned over to The Press Tuesday took place on Tubbs Hill around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the person who provided the tape. The person who recorded the conversation via cell phone did not want his name in the story, but the recording tracks several minutes of apparent conversation between him and another male apparently trying to gather signatures on a recall petition seeking a recall election against four Coeur d’Alene officials/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Specific fibs:

• Spending $40 million to renovate the park
• 18% property tax increase
• Denied a vote six times
• Get to elect a new mayor and council in November
• Redoing all the trails on Tubbs Hill and make it more commercialized

Question: Cliff?

The leader of an effort to recall Coeur d’Alene’s mayor and half of the City Council characterized his differences with the council as an ideological dispute over their vision for Coeur d’Alene, including how much public money should be spent on downtown improvement. “There’s an inordinate focus on downtown business interests…There’s a feeling that downtown is getting more than its share of attention,” said Frank Orzell, a retired management consultant who is leading the recall effort. A $14.2 million makeover planned for McEuen Field – a popular green space on Lake Coeur d’Alene – was simply the latest controversy in a growing discontent with city leadership, Orzell said. “McEuen Field coalesced a lot of people into taking action,” he said. “They started clamoring for recall”/Becky Kramer, SR. More here.

DFO: If you're keeping score at home, this is the 7th recall post today. Sawwy.

Question: As their a clamor for recall citywide, or simply in the circles in which Orzell runs?

Jennifer Drake, right, and Michael Sheneman hold signs with opposite opinions during a Recall CdA rally on Wednesday at City Hall in Coeur d'Alene. Residents turned out for the rally to express their discontent with the city leaderships decision to move forward with a park plan that will cost millions of dollars without seeking public input with a vote. (AP Photo/Coeur d'Alene Press, Jerome A. Pollos)

DFO: Hat Tip to Jerome Pollos of the Coeur d'Alene Press for capturing the two sides of the Coeur d'Alene recall fight — and I don't mean just the opposing sides. Jerome also sized up the demographics well.

Thoughts?

Item: Second time's the charm: Petitions certified to begin recall effort; mayor, city council supporters gather/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: The petitions to begin a recall effort against three Coeur d'Alene City Council members and the mayor were certified Thursday, leaving the citizen group spearheading the campaign 75 days to collect 4,311 signatures. The deadline to collect enough signatures from registered city voters to get a recall election on the Nov. 6 ballot for Mayor Sandi Bloem and council members Mike Kennedy, Woody McEvers and Deanna Goodlander is 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 19.

DFO: I attended the meeting of about 40 individuals opposed to this loony recall effort last evening at the Fort Ground Grill, including former state Lt. Gov. Jack Riggs, NIC trustee chairman Nic Armon, and representatives from the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. It's mentioned briefly in the Press story. Too briefly. We'll be discussing what was said there throughout the day. There will be organized opposition to this insane attempt to oust Mayor Sandi Bloem and the better half of the City Council.

• Question: What do you think of the recall announcement today?
• Sandi Bloem: We were informed earlier so I wasn't surprised. I've been hearing rumors for several months. They have the right to do that.
• Question: What do you plan to do at this point?
• Bloem: I plan to do just what I would be doing whether the petition had been filed or not. I will continue working with the staff and the community to hopefully make this a great place to live.
• Question: Are you disheartened that a recall effort is under way not only against you but three fairly respected members of the council?
• Bloem: I'm disappointed because this is divisive for the community. For me personally, I would be very selfish if I was disappointed in the 11 years I've been able to serve this community. It has been an incredible opportunity and I would do it again in a heart beat.
• Question: Do you think that Frank Orzell & Co, who filed the recall papers today, speak for the community?
• Bloem: They speak for a portion of the community. They have surrounded themselves with others who think like they do. I'm sure they don't speak for the community as a whole. No one does that.
• Question: Would you do anything differently re: your approach to McEuen Field upgrade?
• Bloem: No, not as far as hiring the amazing team we have (Team McEuen) and the approach of the advisory group and community meetings. I would change the way the message was delivered to some degree. I would try to communicate what was happening before untruths and rumors took the lead.
• Question: Will this recall effort cause qualified people in the community to take a pass on public elected office?
• Bloem: I think it will play a part in stopping people from running. The lack of civility at times & lack of respect for differing opinions, along with this effort, will make people think twice before they decide to put their name in the hat.

Huckleberries has names of 20 individuals who signed paperwork to launch recall against Mayor Sandi Bloem and Councilmen Woody McEvers, Deanna Goodlander and Mike Kennedy. They are: Frank Orzell, Robert Hough, Kenneth Stuver (hard to read printed name) Craig Shaw, Phil Mott, Jacqueline Mayo, Kenneth Mayo, William E. “Dusty” Rhoads, Terri Seymour, Gary Ingram, Julie Clark, Jacqueline A. Wright, William Wright, Linda MacNeil, Bruce MacNeil, Keith J. Reila (hard to read printed name), J. Marvin Lekstrum, James E. Doty, Susan Snedaker and Kathleen Sims. You can read recall petition paperwork here.

Question: Any names on this list surprise you?

Item: Recall roll call: Foes of McEuen plan need 4,311 signatures/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press

More Info: A group of Coeur d'Alene citizens is launching a recall drive against the council members who have supported the McEuen Field conceptual plan. The group, RecallCdA, will seek enough signatures from registered voters to recall council members Mike Kennedy, Woody McEvers, Deanna Goodlander and Mayor Sandi Bloem. … Orzell said he will deliver 20 signatures, the amount required to begin each recall petition, to the City Clerk's office at 10 this morning.

Question: What are you going to say when you encounter one of the petition gatherers for this recall election?

A group of Coeur d’Alene citizens is organizing a petition to recall the council members who have voted in support of the McEuen Field conceptual plan. The group, called ReCallCdA, will seek enough signatures from registered voters to recall council members Mike Kennedy, Woody McEvers, Deanna Goodlander and Mayor Sandi Bloem. Frank Orzell, an organizer of the group, spoke to The Press this afternoon about the group's effort. A press release Orzell delivered states the incumbents have “failed to represent the voice of the community in their excessive spending of taxpayer monies. Included in the list of examples being cited by voters across the city are the approval of a $39 million plan for McEuen Park, excessive salaries for city employees and a growing list of other projects…” Orzell said he will deliver 20 signatures, the amount required to begin a recall petition drive, to the City Clerk’s Office tomorrow at 10 a.m./Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Will you support a recall effort against Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem and three city council members?

Woody McEvers swears he's not feeling the heat. Not the kind in his Rustlers Roost kitchen, where the 30-year restaurant owner can be found nearly every day, cooking, cleaning and otherwise running the Hayden breakfast and lunch spot off U.S. 95. It's the heat that can come through the front door of the tidy restaurant the Coeur d'Alene City Councilman swears isn't affecting him. Because when some customers pull up to the counter or plop down at a table, they bend McEvers' ear on all things political - like McEuen Field. “Yeah, I've heard that: 'You're the swing vote,” McEvers said Friday in his office at the back of the restaurant. “What the hell is a swing vote?” A swing vote is a vote than can go either way/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here.

Question: Can you believe some people would consider boycotting Woody's popular Rustler's Roost restaurant to try to force him to support a public vote for McEuen Field?

Woodman: One of the strongest points of Idaho, is Private Property Rights. We have been trying to get more lake access for our citizens since I have been elected. Many, Many battles and lots of money. The supreme court ruled on the high water mark, above it Private Property. I was working in Malibu in the 1970’s when the same thing happened on the ocean. Private property was above the high tide mark. Well, it has been 40 years of this battle in CD’A. I think we have done what we can preserving at least the Swimming Area and NO Docks. It sometimes does not feel like enough. I Know. We still believe and will always work for more Public Access to Lake CD’A.

Question: Did the city have any choice but to allow fences on Sanders Beach, given the Idaho Supreme Court decision that declared much of the property private?

Nice to see you working on a holiday? Well it has finally happened. Rustlers Roost is open for dinner Wednesday thru Saturday till 8 p.m. After almost ten years, BBQ Ribs are back at the Roost. Plus a new Senior menu with dinners starting at $5.95. Oh yea, our seniors start at 50. Can you remember 50? This is our contribution to the North Idaho Stimulus Package. Low prices and 4 new jobs/Councilman Woody McEvers, Rustler’s Roost owner.

DFO: Woody, are you saying I’m a senior?! Ouch!