Legislators Mow Down Voters At The Grass Roots

Well, you can thank state Sen. Jerry Twiggs, R-Blackfoot, and his legislative playmates for making the citizens’ initiative process harder. (As if it weren’t hard enough already.) On Monday, the Senate voted 26-9 to approve Twiggs’ bill requiring initiative boosters to obtain the signatures of at least 6 percent of the eligible voters in 22 Idaho counties. Basically, the bill kills bona fide grassroots efforts. Only initiative sponsors with enough money to hire signature gatherers in the boondocks will succeed now. The only silver lining here is that all North Idaho senators - Gordon Crow, Clyde Boatright, Shawn Keough and Jack Riggs - voted against this one. On the House side, where it was passed 48-18, three of our lawmakers voted against it, two for it (Reps. Hilde Kellogg, R-Post Falls, and Larry Watson, D-Wallace) and three skipped out. The new law almost makes me want to sign a One Percent Initiative petition. Gotcha.

A little off the sides and square the back

First, last November’s ice storm was partly responsible for Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler deciding to cancel the annual skinhead conference. Now, we have another silver lining from that freak storm: Tubbs Hill logging. That’s right. Coeur d’Alene’s urban wilderness area was overgrown and needed thinning. But what bureaucrat in his right mind would have risked tree huggers’ wrath by suggesting such a thing? Now, nature has taken its course. The helicopter logging of Tubbs Hill this week has attracted crowds, including “greenies,” who have to admit that Idaho Forest Industries crews are doing a good job. Who knows? A careful thinning approach might work on the national forests, too.

When will they leave the shoreline alone?

Hmmm. Seems Coeur d’Alene Councilman Ron Edinger didn’t learn the lesson from the 1980s shoreline fight. On a 4-3 vote Tuesday, with Edinger in the minority, the council denied a request from a landowner to push his sea wall closer to the shoreline to conform with his neighbors’ (and close off more of the popular beach). Afterward, Edinger groused: “I wasn’t in favor of the save-our-shoreline ordinance when they passed it.” Almost two decades ago, an unpopular proposal for a high-rise, near today’s site of The Coeur d’Alene Resort, caused the community to revolt and elect four lakeshore protectionists. Residents were just as sensitive to shoreline issues then as they are now. As a result, the powers that be lost control of the council for four years. Now, Ron, you wouldn’t want that to happen again, would you?

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