Out Of Sight And Out Of Earshot - It’s The Bonner County Way
Apparently, open government means different things to different people. Commissioners Bud Mueller and Larry Allen of Bonner County and Ron Rankin of Kootenai County entered office last year promising open government.
Rankin kept his promise - with help from sidekicks, Dick Compton and Dick Panabaker, of course. Only four of 54 official meetings in 1997 were held in executive session. Meanwhile, Bonner County commissioners closed 46 of 108 meetings.
Now, I realize the B.C. Twins got themselves into hot water from the get-go. But 46 executive sessions? C’mon. Unfortunately, they’re not the worst of the lot. The Bonner County School Board took that honor, hands down, meeting privately 67 of 79 times.
According to state law, governing bodies are supposed to close meetings only to discuss things like litigation, real estate purchases, labor negotiations and employee evaluations. It’s hard to believe trustees found 67 legitimate reasons to exclude the public - even in Bonner County.
Still, give the Bonner County trustees credit for revealing how much it paid former superintendent Max Harrell to pack his bags: $222,000. Hell will freeze over before we learn what Bonner County agreed to pay former building department employees to settle that lawsuit.
So much for that form of “open government.”
Ol’ Vox Pop harkens to vox populi
Kootenai County commissioners were trying to do a good thing when they offered developers 12.7 acres, including Chilco Falls, to settle a lawsuit. And they’re doing a better thing now by pulling that offer off the table and substituting 40 acres of surplus property near Powderhorn Bay. The Chilco Falls site in the Athol area is popular with people from the north end of the county for horseback riding, picnicking and ice-climbing. It’s nice to see that the vox populi is being heard.
B.C. 3 get Sweet Tater, too
While I’m at it, I might as well give a Sweet Potato to the Bonner County commissioners - for finally deep-sixing the amnesty law. Again, their heart was in the right place. They wanted to bring thousands of illegal lots into conformity with the law. However, a lawsuit and two meetings during which no one spoke in favor of the on-again-off-again law showed them the error of their ways. A year ago, the commissioners probably wouldn’t have listened anyway. So, you can say they’ve grown a bit during their time in office. You can say it. Not me.
, 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, or by sending e-mail to daveo@spokesman.com.