LCDC foes stick out by sitting down for Reid ovation

Coeur d’Alene’s anti-urban renewal gang huffed and puffed, but it couldn’t spoil the standing ovation Councilwoman Dixie Reid received from Rotarians on Friday. The anti-Lake City Development Corp. fanatics – Coeur d’Alene Press columnist Mary Souza, council candidate Dan Gookin and ex-state Sen. Kathy Sims – watched unhappily while Rotarians gave Dixie the long ovation she deserved for her decades of top-notch council service. Former Hecla exec Bill Griffith told Huckleberries that at least two of the three remained seated during the long ovation: Gookin and Rotarian Sims. Souza, a city planner and Rotarian who regularly chastises the council and urban renewal efforts in her weekly Press column, had complained to Coeur d’Alene Rotary prez Steve Roberge when she heard that Dixie was scheduled to speak to the club four days before the city elections. Even though Dixie had spoken to the group at least twice before. In a comment posted Sunday at Huckleberries Online, Roberge said he thought Souza raised a legit question that he reviewed in depth. Ultimately, he decided that Dixie should speak because she isn’t seeking re-election and she didn’t plan to influence Tuesday’s election with her talk (which reviewed the various issues and colorful characters she encountered during her decades of council service).

Obviously, the Rotarians who cheered Dixie agreed with Roberge’s decision that Dixie’s speech met the club’s four-way test: 1. Is it the truth? 2. Will it be beneficial? 3. Will it build goodwill? 4. Is it fair? Those who stayed seated should consider whether their actions met the Rotary rule re: building goodwill.

•Beginning at 11:05 this morning on KGA-AM (1510), talk-show host Dick Haugen and I will discuss this newspaper’s endorsements in the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls city council races. Please tune in.