GOP backs probe of city candidate
A supporter of Coeur d’Alene City Council hopeful Mary Souza got the backing of the local Republican Party this week to investigate whether one of Souza’s opponents lives in the city limits.
The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee voted Tuesday to support Lee Shellman in his investigation into candidate Mike Kennedy’s residency. It’s a rare move for a political party to get involved in a nonpartisan city election.
Kennedy and Souza are vying with former city employee Dan Yake for Councilman Ben Wolfinger’s open seat.
Shellman, chairman of the Coeur d’Alene Parks and Recreation Commission, said he is acting independently of Souza’s campaign and that he went to the Republicans to get an endorsement for his cause—which is to stop the ongoing problem of candidates not living in the city or county in which they are running for office.
Kennedy said it’s suspicious that Shellman waited until two weeks before the Nov. 8 election to question an issue that has been public for months. He sees it as a “smear campaign” coming from the Souza camp.
Kennedy was living in Hayden until July when he rented a room in a Coeur d’Alene house so he could meet residency laws. Council hopefuls must live in Coeur d’Alene for at least 30 days before declaring their candidacy. Kennedy is building a house in Coeur d’Alene, but it won’t be complete until after January, and then he plans to sell his Hayden house.
“He is skirting the letter of the law,” Shellman said, adding that the same thing happened in the 2004 Kootenai County sheriff’s race when candidate John Weick was accused of living in California.
Shellman contends Kennedy is breaking the spirit of the law because he pays taxes on the Hayden home, his family lives there and his business is based there. Yet he is waiting to file a formal complaint until he gets a legal opinion.
Shellman said he is asking the state Attorney General’s Office for an opinion. A spokeswoman with the office said that no such opinion was requested and that legal advice is given only to state agencies or elected officials, not individual residents.
Some Republicans gave Shellman money for a newspaper ad about residency laws. Shellman hasn’t yet spent the money and said the ad won’t mention Kennedy.
Kennedy said he has met all the residency requirements because he sleeps at the rented house five nights a week, gets his mail there and has the Coeur d’Alene address listed on his driver’s license, car insurance and voter registration card.
He said his wife and five children are living in Hayden because he didn’t want to disrupt their stability and couldn’t afford two mortgages.
“I’m disappointed Mary has used her campaign to go to personal attacks with untruths,” Kennedy said.
Souza denied any involvement and said she doesn’t know enough to say whether Kennedy is violating residency laws. Yet she is glad Shellman, who contributed $100 to her war chest, is investigating the issue.
Yake wasn’t available for comment.