Not The Same ‘Ole, Same ‘Ole

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This next week I will be officially filing as a candidate for Blaine County Commissioner, running as an Independent, non-affiliated candidate.  As an Independent, I am not allowed on the ballot for the May primary, but will be on the ballot in the general election, November 3, 2020.

As Commissioner, I am going to do things differently than the same ‘ole, same ‘ole; I pledge radical transparency and a commitment to treat citizens respectfully as valued participants in our democracy. Right now, if a citizen wanted to comment on a particular Commissioner’s agenda item, they would first have to know about it (not easy! agendas are posted only five days in advance online, lots of topics are not clearly noted but discussed in general reporting areas of the agenda), show up at the upstairs courthouse at the scheduled time, wait for an hour or so of presentation by staff, and finally get a chance to comment for maybe 3-4 minutes, maximum.

People work! People have kids and others to take care of at home. Some folks may find it tough to get to a meeting through physical challenges or lack of transportation. The first thing I pledge to do is to institute live video filming of Commissioners’ meetings and allow remote participation by interested citizens. I would change the hearing of an agenda item to prioritize the comment period first so people who do make the effort participate as citizens to comment are heard first. I would let people speak until they feel that they have been heard and all of their concerns have been brought up.

Most importantly, I would lead the Commissioners in adopting the attitude that the Commissioners work for the citizens of Blaine County; we are only just representatives to get things done on behalf of all Blaine County citizens. We should be grateful for folks to show up and comment, even when they provide a different viewpoint. Better decisions are made when diverse viewpoints are aired.

Neighbors should be sought out in advance and consulted proactively when something is proposed that will affect their neighborhood, rather than shunned and avoided as “only NIMBYs” (I can show you in the meeting minutes where this has actually been said!). Blaine County attorney Tim Graves has publicly stated that I have written too many comments to the Commissioners in the past. This attitude has no place in Blaine County government in the future.

As well, I have signed the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge: “I pledge not to take contributions from oil, gas, and coal industry executives, lobbyists, and PACs and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate and democracy over fossil-fuel industry profits.” From their site www.nofossilfuelmoney.org, this organization states that over 2,000 politicians have signed this pledge since it was started in 2017.

And why is this important? In a state where 50 percent of our power came from coal-fired power plants until most recently, and where our almost-monopoly power company writes campaign donation checks to almost every state legislator through PACs, I wanted to announce a change from doing business in the same ‘ole, same ‘ole way by committing to this pledge publicly, joining other Idaho candidates like Lauren McLean, the new Boise mayor.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Lauren as she was one of only three people who walked into that Idaho Power shareholder meeting with me back in May 2009 when my shareholder initiative to reduce coal power production was on the ballot. To get into the meeting, we had to navigate through Idaho Power bodyguards and DO-NOT-CROSS yellow police riot tape. I think that they thought I was a radical who was going to cause a scene and throw fake blood on coal or something. But I was just a mom. A mom who thought that it wasn’t right that other people’s kids living next to these coal-fired power plants were getting sick from the emissions and the tailings ponds; we had to work for clean air for everyone. Now we know for sure that it is not just our clean air that depends on lower fossil fuel emissions, but actually our way of life, including our snowpack and our prevention of summer wildfires. Don’t underestimate a mom who won’t accept the same old, same old!