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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Batt Takes A Beating With Public New Idaho Governor Thought He Was Ready To Take Criticism

Mark Warbis Associated Press

Gov. Phil Batt pulls his state Cadillac out of the Idaho Department of Law Enforcement parking lot and pops in a cassette of his clarinet-and-guitar duet with Chet Atkins at the Jan. 6 inaugural gala.

He remembers how nervous he was on “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and smiles.

Batt has had few reasons to smile lately. But after a month that left Idaho’s first Republican governor in 24 years feeling abused by the media and misunderstood by the public, on this day he found some comfort.

The Wilder onion farmer addressed more than 350 Idaho and Oregon onion growers and shippers in Caldwell, giving him a chance to talk over lunch with old friends about prices, markets and shared acquaintances.

He acknowledged a thumbs-up from a man passing in a pickup truck on the way to the Department of Law Enforcement headquarters in Meridian. He spoke to county sheriffs and police chiefs there about his commitment to getting tough on crime.

“I’m delighted to get among some friendly faces,” Batt said. “I feel as if they need to know that I am going to have a successful administration in spite of the barrage of criticism. It’s good for their morale and good for mine, too.”

The out-of-town events and another later in the day at an Idaho Association of Counties conference in Boise, where he talked about property tax relief and making state government more responsive, also got him at least briefly away from headlines Batt contends are unfair and misleading.

His decision not to challenge national security claims behind the Navy’s bid to ship more nuclear waste to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and his handling of complaints about the Idaho Fish and Game Commission brought fallout that dominated his time and exhausted his patience.

After decades of public service, he thought he was ready for the scrutiny that goes with being governor. He had no idea it would be this bad - that an Idaho public and press corps used to his mediasavvy predecessor, four-term Democrat Cecil Andrus, could be so relentless.

“The job requires more attention to the day-to-day popularity of the office than I expected,” Batt said. “I thought I could be more systematic in carrying out my mandates if they had good logic behind them, which I think they do. But we can only do that with the support of the public.”

He seems genuinely concerned about how public perceptions are affected by “the exaggeration of my dealings with the INEL situation, the depiction of me as somebody who is willing and even more than willing to accept nuclear waste within this state.”

On the way to the Meridian appearance he pulled into an Intermountain Farmers store to ask employees for directions to the Department of Law Enforcement complex that opened last spring.

“They didn’t seem unfriendly at all,” Batt told press secretary Amy Kleiner, with just a hint of surprise, when he returned to the car.

“I told you,” Kleiner said.

“I know, but I’m paranoid.”

Maybe a little. But Batt also remains confident the criticism will fade in time and the public will recognize what he is trying to accomplish - what he believes is being accomplished.

“I’m very proud of the administration that I’ve put together and the department heads. They have already affected a lot of economies and streamlining of governmental services.”

Still, Batt concedes he acted too quickly on both the nuclear waste and Fish and Game issues, and he vows to be more deliberate in the future. It’s just that the two-month transition to power did nothing to prepare him.

If he had it to do over, “I guess I would pay more attention to potential explosive issues. I spent all that time trying to find qualified personnel for my office and for the department heads, and also writing my budget, writing my speeches for State of the State, for inauguration, for the budget message, and that occupied my total time,” Batt said.

“We didn’t talk about issues during that period of time, not expecting that they would be so dramatic when we took office.”

But they were. And after a month of damage control the governor enjoyed a day spent mostly out of his office and away from his critics.

Yet they were still on his mind.

“It’s just kick Phil Batt week every week,” he told the sheriffs and police chiefs. “I don’t know when it’s going to end, but I can tell you you’re going to be proud of the Batt administration.”