[Vision2020] Latah GOP censures party chair

[Tom Hansen]

In a related news item . . .

Courtesy of the Spokesman-Review at http://bit.ly/11FfkCF.

"Coeur d’Alene soon may join a growing number of Idaho cities to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation."

Courtesy of today's (April 26, 2013) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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Latah GOP censures party chair
Steed disappoints several party members with support of antidiscrimination ordinance
Latah County GOP Chairman Walter Steed took more flak this week for his voting record as a Moscow city councilor. This time he was censured by the party for supporting an ordinance making it a misdemeanor offense to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The City Council passed the antidiscrimination ordinance unanimously April 1 without taking public comment or much time to discuss it.
A small assembly of county Republican precinct committee members Tuesday voted to censure Steed for supporting the ordinance. The censure came about two months after the GOP chairman received a vote of no confidence for supporting a council letter to the Idaho Legislature suggesting ways to prevent gun violence conservatives considered an attack on the Second Amendment.
"We're not happy with the way he's been handling his responsibilities on City Council," said Committeeman David Klingenberg, who made the motion to censure Steed. He added he knows it will not change the chairman's decision not to resign. "We have to settle for a vote of no confidence or, in this particular case, a vote of censure. It's the rules, and we're governed by them. It is frustrating that he doesn't want to step down, and he seems to feel that a majority of this group is not important."
The vote to censure Steed barely passed 7-6 with those in favor of the motion expressing disapproval with the city councilor's decision to support the ordinance they say is a violation of their civil liberties and supports homosexuality.
"That policy legitimizes stuff that we don't agree with and it forces people who don't support that kind of behavior to go along with it," said Gresham Bouma, a committeeman from Viola and two-time Idaho Senate candidate. "It opens people up to lawsuits that they otherwise wouldn't be open to."
Klingenberg said the city can govern its hiring policies, but councilors should not have passed an ordinance that will penalize business owners that do not want to hire people based on sexual orientation or gender identity because it conflicts with their personal beliefs.
"If you believe in religious freedom or private property, it's a really bad ordinance," he said. "It really flies in the face of the Constitution."
GOP Vice Chairman Thomas Lawford abstained from voting as he is the acting chairman while Steed is away on vacation in Europe, but he says he's tired of a small contingency of Republicans attributing Steed's actions on the council to his political beliefs.
"They do not separate public from private life or what you do on the side is not separate from your political views," he said. "It's kind of out there for me. But they're allowed to. Yes, you're free to censure Walter if you want to, whatever that means. ... There were a lot of people who rolled their eyes and said, 'Oh my gosh, seriously you guys, sit down.' "
Idaho District 5 Rep. Cindy Agidius, R-Moscow, said she left the GOP meeting just as Klingenberg began to make his motion, adding she doesn't want to "throw rocks" at the chairman.
"It's a religious issue and it's going to be very divisive. When you start messing with people's religious views, it can get pretty messy," said Agidius about the ordinance and people's personal views on homosexuality. "Personally, I don't like to discriminate against anybody. I'm interested in what you're doing and what you're going to accomplish."
The freshman lawmaker recently returned from her first legislative session, and noted varied opinions within the Republican Party that make coming to a consensus very difficult.
"Some might say it's easier to work with the Democrats than it is with your own party," she said, "and that statement might not be too far off depending on the issue."
Despite a vote of no confidence, censure and request for Steed's resignation, the Latah County Republican Party's bylaws make ousting the chairman very difficult, said Klingenberg. Changes to the state central committee's bylaws has prompted the county to revise its own, which could simplify the number of votes necessary to remove elected officials from their positions.
"I do think there needs to be some super majority," Klingenberg said. "I don't think three-quarters is quite right, but there should be some shorter standards to go by."
Steed's term as GOP chairman ends in May 2014.

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Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still 
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
 

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