[Vision2020] Property Tax Exemptions Redux (was RE: A short game of T ball )

[Saundra Lund]

Hi Rose & Visionaries:

It occurs to me some folks might not understand why Doug Wilson's conduct,
even exclusive of the content, is objectionable.

The FACT of the matter is that his visit with the BOCC pertained to two
*pending* issues before the BOCC/BOE.  On April 14, 2005, we formally asked
the BOE to examine the property tax exemptions previously granted to Logos
School and Community Christian Ministries (CCM) because we think there are
valid questions about whether or not these two entities meet the statutory
requirement for property tax exemption.  

Wilson has been carrying on about our filings on his monologue since
4/18/2005, 10 days *before* his little chat with the BOCC.

True to his narcissistic form, Wilson insists it's all about him (or, "moi,"
as he claims on his monologue) & religious persecution.  That plays *much*
better to his supporters than admitting we have valid questions (just as we
did last year with respect to NSA & Anselm House).

So, a reasonable person would likely understand that it was COMPLETELY
IMPROPER for Wilson to go before the BOCC in a transparent (IMHO) attempt to
influence pending matters.  But, also true to form, Wilson will refuse to
look at his conduct with an objective and reasonable eye.  No surprise
there.

***In any case, we will be presenting our questions and evidence to the BOE
in room 2B of the Courthouse on Monday, June 27, 2005:  CCM is scheduled for
2 PM and Faith Ministries dba Logos School is scheduled for 3:30 PM.  As
always, these are public hearings, and we hope all interested will
attend.***


Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

PS:  I am responsible for the content of this post -- not my friends or
enemies.  Likewise and contrary to what Donovan Arnold wants to believe, I'm
not responsible for the content of V2020 posts by my friends or my enemies
:-)  So there.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
Edmund Burke

***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2005, Saundra Lund.
Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum
without the express written permission of the author.*****

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of DonaldH675 at aol.com
Sent: Friday, 03 June 2005 2:00 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] A short game of T ball 

Visionaries:
 
Doug is begging so hard to play  ball, I'll let him in for one inning.
Prior to Doug's turn at bat he accused members of the city council of
conducting ex parte communications.  He, himself lettered in that sport.
 
On April 27, 2005 Doug appeared before the County Commissioners (minus Paul
Kimmel, who just happened to be out of town) in an attempt to bully Tom
Stroschein and Jack Nelson. He did not notify Saundra Lund or I that he
would be discussing us, nor did he notify the Commissioners what he wished
to discuss. 
 
 He just opened his mouth and vomited threats.  His contention, as usual, is
that his church is being singled out for unfair treatment.  You know, the
kind of treatment where people don't get a property tax exemptions if they
run a million dollar publishing business out of a church owned building.  
 
In part his testimony reads.....

DW:   " If that is the case and if there are people in town who have had a
very public vendetta against us for personal or ideological reasons of their
own, my concern, which I wanted to express to you all, face to face, is that
the mechanism of the law not be used, or not be allowed to be used as a cats
paw for fulfilling personal, settling personal scores.  That sort of thing,
it appears to me would be a flagrant example of applying the law
selectively.  So in other words the exclusive use, the particular
interpretation of exclusive use that you all decided on in the last go round
is now in appeal.  That understanding of exclusive use must apply to all tax
exempt entities in Moscow or Latah County and not just to those entities
that have me sitting on the board......

But I think we should all agree that the law should not just be applied to
those who are the brunt of the animosity of a handful of people in town who
want to run 'em out of town and who want to use the zoning requirements, the
Latah County commissioners or the Board of Adjustors, the Idaho State
Attorney General, there was a complaint filed against me there on another
thing.  I don't think that that should be - I think that should be
recognized and I wanted to appear before you face to face and  tell you face
to face that that is my fundamental concern.  I think it opens Latah County
up to a great deal of exposure if the law is applied selectively in that way
and I simply wanted to tell you that....

I guess the thing I wanted to say is that monsters don't shrink when you
feed them. And I believe it is your responsibility to not just look at the
letter of the law, what's going on in the law but also to look at the town
and see what's happening in town.  The animosity, the ideological agenda
that's directed against us is open, public the archives of vision 2020 are
there for anybody to read and the last two years have been our adversaries
have been overt about what they want to do; they want to run us out of town
and they are using every device that they can get their hands on to do that
....

So, I'm certainly not going to illustrate the unjustice of it by filing a
similar complaint against the Presbyterian Church across the street or you
know, I'm not going to do that. But the fact remains that there is a de
facto situation on the ground where a year later the tax exemptions that has
been removed has been from our two entities the next two that are
threatened are are two entities that I sit on the board of and I just
wouldn't want Latah County to make a very expensive mistake.  And that's why
I wanted to appear.  I didn't want to necessarily, I know that this is not
the venue for going into all the details of it."
(emphasize added)

By the way, this little communication is an excellent example of Doug Speak,
for those who aren't familiar with it.  He appears in front of the county on
a day that his congregation member , Paul Kimmel, is not there.  That is no
accident.  He says he won't file property tax exemptions against the
Presbyterians,   (Note to readers:  Doug rarely does his own dirty work
anyhow. He leads from the rear.)  Doug said he wouldn't file property tax
complaints, he didn't mention the zoning complaints waiting in the wings to
be filed by his son, Nathan, and Nate's sidekick, Aaron Rench (both NSA
graduates and employed by Christ Church).  

Oh, back to the T ball game,  Sorry, fans.  Doug was caught cheating and
thrown off the field.  And guess what, he was kicking and screaming the
whole way about how he was being discriminated against.    

 
Rose Huskey
"Devil colic the wame o' ye, fause thief; daur ye say leas in my lug?" 
Jenny Geddes

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