Gookin State Of Union To Pachyderms
At the Pachyderm Club meeting this morning, Coeur d'Alene Councilman Dan Gookin complained that the "Council Member Information Packet" he's holding is inadequate. He also was not happy with the agreement the council wanted him to sign as a member of the City Council which can roughly be described as an agreement to cooperate. Gookin refused to sign.
This morning Coeur d'Alene City Councilman Dan Gookin spoke to the North Idaho Pachyderm Club which is a local Republican organization. Following are some quotes from his talk (according to an embedded Berry Picker):
- Gookin commenting generally about the City of Coeur d'Alene: "Like Congress, the City doesn't necessarily have to follow their own rules."
- Gookin in reference to Councilman Mike Kennedy: "Last Council meeting Mr. Kennedy berated me." Kennedy said, "there are no secret meetings."
- Gookin speaking of the City's view of LCDC: "They do not levy taxes, they impact them.
- Gookin speaking of the City: "They can use urban renewal as a bank of convenience."
- Gookin, in reference to certain members of the City Council who make up the majority: “Those four that, you know, are being recalled … they are not listening to the public and they don’t understand that … umm … this is a tremendous burden" (from a tape recording).
- More below
- Doctor West's phone rings with a rather distinctive ring. The good doctor fumbles around looking for his phone. Finally, he gets it out of his pocket and leaves the room to take the call, but not before Gookin comments: "If you had my book you would know how to stop that."
- Gookin speaking of what motivates the majority on the City Council: "What's motivating is waterfront . . . they want 200 more feet of lake front in the City . . . they don't care about boaters."
- Gookin discussing what he has been told about McEuen Field: "Starting in September all of McEuen Field will be stripped bare . . . they are being very paranoid . . . they could hire someone to strip the land and leave it . . . maybe it just won't happen in September."
- Gookin on City art: "I was skewered for saying that the art on 4th Street is ugly . . . which it is."
- Gookin on the construction of a new parking garage: "We have a parks director who is in charge of building a parking garage, which just does not make sense.
