Spencer Tells What Happened in Boise, Apologizes

I would like to explain what happened at the Counties/ Legislators reception Wednesday in Boise. Two members of the House invited me to go to a event that evening with the counties officials and the legislators. Not aware of any significant agenda or exclusivity of the reception I agreed to attend. Upon my arrival, I was greeted by Lawerence Denney (the Speaker of the House), and escorted in with him and his lovely wife. As we were approaching the back of the line at the buffet tables, Rick Currie quickly approached us. He stopped in front of Lawerence and began to question my attendance, and demanded to know who had let me in, as he felt I should not be there. I was so shocked I may not have replied, but Lawerence told him that he had invited me and was his guest. Rick then apologized and went back to his table. Someone told later that a couple of other people had questioned my attendance, so I have decided that it would be appropriate to apologize for my presence and any distraction it caused, as I would not want be a cause ill will between the Legislature and our county leaders. I have begun calling each of the local delegation to ask if they felt offended or if they felt my presence was out of line, and if any are found who felt slighted they will receive an apology. While it seemed to me that Rick could have used a more discreet method to convey his concern, I believe that he was trying to act in the interest of the Association of Counties, as the event was paid for by them for the purpose of getting to know the members of the legislature, and he may have thought my presence would be a distraction to the process. Regrettably, the incident didn’t fare very well for the image of Kootenai county with the Speaker. I did my best to fix it at my meeting Lawerence the following morning, but he told me to forget about it as it had made his evening. Rick Currie will be receiving an apology from me, and a promise that I will be more careful to be sure that my attendance to events don’t cause this type of friction. Again, if my presence have offended anyone, I offer my sincere apology.

Larry Spencer