[Vision2020] Latah GOP censures party chair

Fri Apr 26 12:25:30 PDT 2013

Thanks for sharing, Tom.  The article makes some things very clear to me.

First, the Latah County GOP has ripped the mask off the notion that Moscow City Council elections genuinely are non-partisan elections. 

Second, the current Latah County GOP isn’t at all interested in compromise even amongst themselves, let alone amongst residents of the county – they prefer to be just a bunch of big bullies who care only about their own partisan interests and not about the majority of Latah County Republicans specifically -- let alone the majority non-Republicans -- that don’t wear brown shirts and march in lockstep with the teabagger contingent.

Third, the teabagger contingent so determined to eat their own is apparently too stupid to look at how Latah County in general and Moscow specifically votes, and I’ll give them a clue:  they are not a majority here.  Their kind of crap might play well in some parts of the state, but neither Latah County nor Moscow fit into the “wingnut batsh*t crazy” market.  While they can apparently successfully destroy their local party, they will never be successful at dominating this county or the City of Moscow.

Fourth, does anyone else wonder why it’s only Steed who is under fire for his participation on the Moscow City Council???  If the Latah County GOP precinct committeemen want to play that game – which they clearly do -- it seems to me the rest of the GOP contingent should be taking the same fire for the same actions – it’s not just the county chair they should be gunning for.  Yet, the other GOP council members are immune.  That’s definitely food for thought.

Fifth, until the Latah County GOP gets its house in order, folks had better start paying attention – very close attention – to who they vote for, particularly for non-partisan local offices.  Because the Latah County GOP failed to stand up for decency and chose instead to welcome with open arms the theocratic whack-a-do crowd (AKA the teabaggers), they’ve gotten themselves into a position where candidates from the Latah County GOP simply cannot be trusted to not be wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Are there still some moderate Republicans left in Latah County?  Probably . . . but we certainly cannot trust that the extremists controlling the Latah County GOP to tell us which are intelligent Republicans and which are their kindred nutjobs.

Let’s hope the local newspaper has the integrity to start publishing party affiliation even for non-partisan elections.

Saundra

Moscow, ID

To care for anyone else enough to make their problems one's own, is ever the beginning of one's real ethical development.

~ Felix Adler

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Tom Hansen
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 4:39 AM
To: Moscow Vision 2020
Cc: Jeanne McHale; Fritz Knorr
Subject: [Vision2020] Latah GOP censures party chair

In a related news item . . .

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