Commissioners Put Brakes On Race Track Accused Of Violating Meetings Law, County To Meet Again

Following complaints of backroom dealing, county commissioners Tuesday invalidated a week-old decision to let a Post Falls city councilman use his unfinished race track.

Commissioners agreed April 18 that Councilman Joe Doellefeld could hold weekly practices at the controversial dirt motorcycle track near State Line. The impromptu gathering was not advertised. Angry neighborhood opponents weren’t notified.

In response to an inquiry by The Spokesman-Review, County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said he would hire a special prosecutor to investigate potential open-meeting violations if commissioners didn’t nullify the action and reschedule the meeting.

Commissioners said they had agreed to do just that, even before hearing from Douglas. They scheduled the second meeting for 9 a.m. Friday.

“It was always the intent of the board to adhere to the letter and the spirit of the law,” Commission Chairman Dick Compton said. “We felt convinced we were complying but for public perception reasons, we’re just going to do it over.”

The law requires meeting notices be published 48 hours in advance so residents can determine whether they want to attend, said Roy Alden Atwood, a University of Idaho professor who wrote a book on Idaho’s open-meetings law. No notice was given of the April 18 meeting.

Compton argued it did not violate the law because the board’s action was a routine housekeeping measure. Commissioners merely updated Doellefeld’s permit to use his track, he said.

Doellefeld was told last year he can operate the track for races once he meets 17 conditions. About half of those conditions have not yet been met.

Attempts to reach Doellefeld for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Neighbors argued Doellefeld was given preferential treatment because he was an elected official. He got exactly what he asked for rather than being forced to finish work at the track, neighbors said.

Prosecutor Douglas said he looked into the matter only enough to determine that any investigation would have to be done by someone else. He also gave commissioners a copy of an open meetings handbook.

“The sage advice in this publication is ‘When in doubt, hold an open meeting,”’ Douglas wrote in a letter to the board.

Neighbor Lynn Humphreys said he expected nearly two dozen people to attend the Friday meeting.

“We’ll be there with bells on and we’ll be early,” he said. “We want to show them this is a matter we care about.”