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<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Don, Melynda</FONT>, <FONT size=4>et
al,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Like Melynda, I was disappointed in the
lack of depth in the <EM>LMT</EM> news story on Paul Kimmell and the
current mess at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce. Thank you Dan for posting
the story.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>However unintended, some of the quotes from
the article should cause not only chamber members grave concerns, but all
Latah County citizens:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">For the record, said Kimmell and McMillan, the
chamber remains solvent. "I can tell you today, we're in the black," said
Kimmell. "Yes, we're in the black," confirmed McMillan. The two conceded that
some confusion continues to surround the chamber's finances, but as of Tuesday
the nonprofit promotional organization had between $12,000 and $15,000 in its
checking account and the bills were being paid.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>"The chamber is not bankrupt," Swanson agreed. "It's just that the
financials don't balance." She said an audit would help matters. Kimmell and
McMillan agreed</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Moscow business people: Hello!
Do any of you see a problem between the two above paragraphs?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>How do you know your in the black if the
books do not balance?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Just because there is cash in the bank does
not mean you have sufficient cash to cover all your short term and long
term liabilities. Many a business has had severe financial problems
because of inept bookkeeping not noticed because there was always "cash in the
checking account." Some of these firms discovered one day that when
withholding and other tax payments were due, that they simply didn't not
have the resources to cover them.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Further notice:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">...the nonprofit promotional organization had
between $12,000 and $15,000 in its checking account... </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Between $12,000 and $15,000? Holy
Jesus! They only know their checking account balance within a range of
25%? And this is good fiscal management? Would you dare run your
personal checking account with and accuracy range of 25%?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>If Ms. McMillan, chamber president and
FirstBank executive, really believes in her heart of hearts that this 25% margin
of error is no big deal, then anyone with money in FirstBank should get it out
as fast as they can (if the bank really still has it)!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Also incredible:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref">"It's just that the financials don't balance."
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>And whose incompetence has brought about
this sad state of affairs? The accounting knowledge to perform and to
monitor the books of a business organization with a $180,000 per year
budget is not rocket science. Anyone on this list could probably do it
after a few hours with <EM>Bookkeeping for Dummies</EM>. That Kimmell
could not and/or did not read the Earnings Report, Cash Flow Report, and
the Balance Sheet on a regular [weekly/monthly] basis and see the glaring
problems does not speak well of the his talents or business sense or that
of someone of someone who an executive director. Given the size and
profundity of the errors in the chamber bookkeeping, it is unclear why such a
state went undetected for so long except possibly by intention and
ignorance.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Why did the chamber board not see the
main accounting reports? Did the executive director not make it part of
his routine to share these reports with the board and membership
monthly/annually? Again, why did the board not ask to see the
reports? Is it because Kimmell is so likeable that the board members
suspended their good business judgment? That's how confidence persons
operate -- gain trust, keep the foils happily in the dark,
etc.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Another item:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Kimmell defended his use of Lee in his recent presentation, saying it had
nothing to do with the promotion of slavery. "It was not intended to be about
anything but the leadership skills of a leader," said Kimmell. </DIV>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Let's see. The civil war was fought
long ago. Debate still continues about the quality of General Robert E.
Lee's leadership and character. Once in a seminar a lady friend of mine
persuaded me to attend with her, the speaker, whose name I don't remember, gave
an account of Lee's personal dealings (this account was consistent with several
others I had heard/read). One paragraph has always stayed with me, it went
something like this:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref">"Robert E. Lee was the consummate southern
gentleman. He had fine manners, a truly likeable and commanding way,
dressed nicely but manly, and had a moral code that defined southern
gentlemen at that time: Never get caught lying to, stealing from, cheating
at cards, or diddling the wife or daughter of another southern gentleman;
everyone else is fair game."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Regardless of Lee's character, racial views,
slavery views, and lack of success on the battlefield, he is certainly an
extremely poor practical choice to use as a model of leadership for Moscow
business people.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>As mentioned by others on this list, Moscow
businesses people are not engaged in a military war being fought in the 19th
century. They are engaged in businesses trying to survive and to prosper
in a rapidly changing business, economic, political, and social
environment. The rate of change in today's world is several quantum levels
faster than that of civil war times. Nor will the same leadership tactics
work. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Business people are not likely to succeed
today if they treat their employees like slaves, chattel, mere tools, etc. or if
they are not honest with and caring about them. Most motivational
techniques that may have worked for Lee are unlikely to be successful
in a Moscow, Idaho business today. Moreover, despite what Kimmell's
mentor, Christ Church Cult Master Douglas Wilson, believes, much progress
through trial and error, careful research, and/or serendipity has been made in
leadership, motivational, and management techniques in the intervening
years.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>If the chamber wishes to learn about
up-to-date, practical leadership and management skills, it is very likely that
professionals in the UI or WSU business colleges would point them in the right
direction, <EM>pro bono</EM>. It is doubtful that any of the sources that
these professionals would recommend are pro-slavery, racist</FONT> <FONT
face="Verdana Ref" size=4>traitors as Lee was.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>From the article:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref">He [Kimmell] said he refuses to enter the Internet
fray on Vision 2020 but would be happy to talk face to face with anyone about
his work, his affiliation with the church and the chamber's financial status.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>What a wonderful thing for an elected
official to say!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Besides being truly anti-democratic by
forcing his constituents to communicate with him only face to face, such an
arrangement allows Kimmell to change his story to suit the person he is
interacting with. In fact, it has been alleged that this exactly what he
has been doing with chamber board members and the rank and file chamber
members!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>When the following appears in the minutes of
the cult in which Kimmell is a member, all citizens have a right to ask about it
and are entitled to a straight forward answer. Each person should not have
to personally run Kimmell down to find out his current version of what's going
on:</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT
size=3><FONT face="Verdana Ref">"The <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Christ</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Church</st1:PlaceType>
minutes state, Doug Wilson reported that Paul Kimmell, in his role as
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Commissioner</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, is open to
oversight from the elders on certain issues...<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>The above quote raises an important question
about the separation of church and state and raises the question of a gross
breach of public trust. That answer deserves an open, public
answer.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Unfortunately, the <EM>LMT</EM> article
did not address two germane points:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>1. Gross violation of fair
employment practices laws by giving preference in employment by the chamber
to Kimmell's cultie associates. Kimmell has hired at least five
Christ Church Cult members as chamber employees.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Under the most generous assumptions the
chances of this happening fairly is about 1/312,500,000.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The chance of fairly using only cultie
children (8) on one chamber project alone is 1 in several hundred
billion!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>2. The use of our tax
dollars, paid as dues and other donations by tax supported organizations (UI,
City of Moscow, Moscow School District, etc.), to support Kimmell's illegally
discriminatory hiring practices and to support the promulgation of Robert E.
Lee's ideas, an offensively fulsome, inept, impractical, racist, proslavery,
and insulting example for Moscow business people to model. I am sure
that in time these tax supported institutions are going to be asked to explain
their actions in this regard, especially if such support continues.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Although, the <EM>LMT</EM> article was
intended to reassure us that everything is fine at the chamber and Kimmel is
right on top of things, a careful reading of the article reveals, quite clearly,
the opposite.</FONT></P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>
<P><BR>Wayne</P>
<P>Art Deco (Wayne Fox)<BR><A
href="mailto:deco@moscow.com">deco@moscow.com</A><BR></FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </P>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>From: "Melynda Huskey" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:mghuskey@msn.com"><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>mghuskey@msn.com</FONT></A><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>To: <</FONT><A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 12:21
PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref" size=4>Subject: RE: [Vision2020] LMT 8/25/04
Moscow Chamber Rumors Denied</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Verdana Ref"><BR><FONT size=4></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT
face="Verdana Ref" size=4>| <BR>| I think the Tribune did a slightly better job
assembling all the facts than <BR>| the Daily News did, but I think there's
still some confusion--and some <BR>| unfair generalizations or allegations about
us, the members of Vision 2020.<BR>| <BR>| For example, "McMillan blasted Vision
2020 as something that's gone from a <BR>| potentially helpful local forum of
ideas to "garbage" spouted by about a <BR>| dozen contributors who give a
totally wrong impression of what Moscow is all <BR>| about. 'Vision 2020
was a great idea when it came out,' said McMillan, 'but <BR>| it has just been
taken over by a group of, I don't know how to say this ... <BR>| I would call
them almost destructive.' "<BR>| <BR>| Is Ms. McMillan a member of Vision 2020?
Her name doesn't appear in any <BR>| recognizable form on the list of 516
subscribers maintained by First Step. <BR>| And while she may not like
what people have to say on the list (sometimes I <BR>| don't either!), I'd
hesitate to qualify it as "garbage."<BR>| <BR>| I'm also disturbed by this
statement:<BR>| <BR>| >Kimmell defended his use of Lee in his recent
presentation, saying it<BR>| >had nothing to do with the promotion of
slavery. "It was not intended<BR>| >to be about anything but the
leadership skills of a leader," said<BR>| >Kimmell.<BR>| <BR>| There was no
response from anyone on the Board to the presentation, nor any <BR>| comment
from Chamber members not on the Board, which I think was a weakness <BR>| in the
article. And I still think the use of a Confederate general as a <BR>|
role model given recent controversies was a peculiar one: I have yet to
<BR>| hear or read an explanation for the choice, which would have been a
helpful <BR>| addition to any of the articles.<BR>| <BR>| I was also
particularly troubled by this paragraph in Alexis Bachrach's <BR>| article in
the Daily News last night:<BR>| <BR>| "Many who have long disagreed with the
pastor's views, took their protest <BR>| against Wilson and applied it to the
entire church. Those same community <BR>| members have attacked Kimmell's
membership in the church on local Internet <BR>| listservs and other public
forums."<BR>| <BR>| This is editorializing unsupported by evidence. What
protest? How, and by <BR>| whom, was a protest applied to the entire
church? And who are these "many" <BR>| community members? As someone
who *has* commented here on what I see as <BR>| conflict of interest, poor
judgement, and preferential treatment of church <BR>| members in Paul Kimmell's
work as a commissioner and as the Director of the <BR>| Chamber, I strongly
object to the notion that I am protesting an entire <BR>| church, or attacking
someone's church membership. That's just not accurate <BR>| at all.
My concerns are very focused on a particular person's actions in <BR>| his role
as a public figure. His church membership is a part of that <BR>| concern
*only* insofar as it appears to be implicated in his public role.<BR>| <BR>|
Melynda Huskey<BR>| <BR>| <BR>|
_____________________________________________________<BR>| List services
made available by First Step Internet, <BR>| serving the communities of
the Palouse since 1994. <BR>|
</FONT><A href="http://www.fsr.net"><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>http://www.fsr.net</FONT></A><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>
<BR>| </FONT><A
href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><BR><FONT face="Verdana Ref"
size=4>| ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ<BR>| <BR>|
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