Cda School Board Applauded

Trustee Ken Burchell and the Coeur d’Alene School Board deserve Sweet Potatoes for combining this spring’s levy and trustee elections. Until now, the district has held those elections a week or so apart. Separate elections cost extra and have guaranteed poor turnouts for the voting on trustees - some candidates have won seats with only 100 votes. A combined election will spark interest in trustee elections and prevent well-organized insiders from controlling results. (By the way, Superintendent Doug Cresswell gets a Hot Potato for lobbying to keep the elections separate and inconvenient.) Burchell moved that the board adopt the election consolidation. Here’s hoping he and trustee Jane Curtis will seek re-election this year. They’ve served us well.

Soon, there’ll be no Hope for Spirit Lake

Roy Hope’s resume says he worked as a homicide detective for the Stockton (Calif.) Police Department. Stockton’s a tough place; dozens are murdered there annually, particularly on the south side where life is cheap. But there’s nothing Roy has done on the Stockton force that prepares him for a career as Spirit Lake police chief. And I use the term “career” advisedly. After Spirit Lake Mayor Bob Knapp hired Hope recently, a cop friend of mine wanted to bet me that Hope wouldn’t last six months. It was easy money, but I didn’t take the bet - I don’t like stealing from friends. Hope will be lucky to last the week. Already, the anti-mayor force on the City Council has its cross hairs fixed on him. The tug-of-war has nothing to do with Hope’s abilities. He could be Robo-Cop and not survive Spirit Lake’s politics.

Ol’ Onion Farmer wins one for humanity

Idaho Gov. Phil Batt merits a Sweet Potato Pie for fighting to end agriculture’s exemption from the workers’ compensation law. The Ol’ Onion Farmer did it on his own, too. Southern Idaho farmer/legislators couldn’t preserve the 79-year-old exemption this time around - despite help from Kootenai County Reps. Jeff Alltus, Tom Dorr and Wayne Meyer (who each deserve a Hot Potato for their efforts). Batt had momentum going his way after an uninsured young Hispanic farmer lost both arms and a leg in a southern Idaho farming accident earlier this winter. Still, Batt persisted against an 11th-hour attempt to derail the bill through amendment. Passage of the legislation was a victory for civil and social rights because the majority of Idaho’s 35,000-plus farm workers are Hispanic. State Sen. Gordon Crow, R-Coeur d’Alene, sums up Batt’s actions best: “He didn’t need to do it politically. He did it because it was the right thing to do.”

, DataTimes MEMO: D.F. Oliveria’s “Hot Potatoes” runs Tuesdays and Thursdays. You can comment on the items by calling (800) 344-6718 or (208) 765-7125.