Souza takes issue with Council’s re-entry privileges

Mary Souza, the self-appointed fly in Mayor Sandi Bloem’s appointment, triggered a response from another favorite foil when she columnized about City Council manners. Again. In a recent column, Souza scolded Bloem for allegedly allowing council members to take impromptu breaks during public hearings. Quoth Souza: “The council’s lax manner of walking out while a citizen is speaking at the podium is shameful. Mayor Bloem should put a stop to this behavior at once.” Which prompted Councilman Mike Kennedy to respond at Huckleberries Online: Huh? Quoth Kennedy: “I can’t recall one single solitary instance when I or another council member has ever stepped away during public comment. … If Mary needs lessons in rudeness, she should watch replays of how she treated people who testified in front of her during public comment while she was on the planning commission.” Which caused Souza to toss a brickbat Kennedy’s way, as she defended her planning “legacy” (her word, not Huckleberries’) – at the OpenCDA.com blog that she shares with like-minded community nags. Souza claims that only two people can take issue with her actions as a planner, including another favorite punching bag, exec Tony Berns of the Lake City Development Corp. Again, Souza: “He was not happy that I asked too many questions when he gave his Power Point presentation on the wonders of urban renewal.” Souza, who was defeated by Kennedy in a 2005 City Council race, chided Kennedy for calling her “school yard names.” Wouldn’t it be fun if the two signed up for a rematch this year?

I swear … sorta

County Clerk Dan English empathizes with Chief Justice John Roberts after that bobble while administering the oath of office to President Barack Obama on Tuesday. English admits he’s missed a word or two while swearing in deputies in his various departments, during his long tenure as clerk. (All county elected officials except commissioners have sworn deputies.) The oath he administers is similar to the ones that are recited by the governor and, to some extent, the president. English offers a key tip to those swearers as well as the swearees: KISS (or, Keep It Short, Stupid – my words, not English’s). Says English: “I’ve learned over the years through trial and error that it is best to just go a few words at a time so it doesn’t make it awkward for them or me. I think we even had a few minor stumbles recently when our county elected officials were sworn in.” It may seem easy to repeat about three dozen words, but humans are human, says English, adding: “In the end though, just like in a marriage, it’s how the oath is fulfilled, not how it was uttered that will be important.”

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: When riding in an aircraft/it’s not good to hit a goose,/and yet one would prefer that/to the same thing with a moose/The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Could Be Worse”) … Journalist-turned-cabbie Dave Turner has noticed that caves have formed in thawing snow berms. And upon closer examination, some of those snow-berm caves are littered with beer bottles and condoms. Too much information, huh? … “Were they orcs?” – Berry Picker Cabbage Boy responding to a Scanner Traffic entry at Huckleberries Online in which a resident of Helms Deep Lane on the west-central edge of Coeur d’Alene, complained about an unwanted person in the neighborhood Jan. 15. … The Bonner County Bee picked an inopportune topic to amuse readers with a typographical error Tuesday – a cutline headline introducing the winners of a fourth-grade spelling bee contest at Sagle Elementary School. It read: “Speling champs.” P’haps the Bee shoulda asked the moderator for a definition.

Parting shot

Some of you know that ex-Sandpoint High English teacher Marianne Love gently chided me recently re: my constant misspelling of inauguration. I’d been putting an “a” where the second “u” goes. Love e-mailed that she wasn’t being critical. That she was indebted to individuals who’d had the courage to correct her when she’d misspelled words for years, like peek and pore (as in pore over). Love likened my constant misspelling of inauguration to someone walking around with pants unzipped – and nobody has the nerve to tell him. Which happened to her once – in a class full of rowdy senior boys. Subtlely, she recalls, her English aide wrote a note and put it on her desk. “After reading the contents,” Love said, “I did an immediate 180, faced the blackboard (that was before white boards) and zipped. I’ve appreciated her forever.” Remember: There are two u’s in inauguration; and always check your fly before addressing rowdy teenage (pardon the redundancy) boys.