Say it ain’t so!
Idaho Democrats are going the way of their Republican brethren when it comes to government secrecy.
The minority Democrats, with just 18 House seats and seven in the Senate, made the decision to caucus behind closed doors to maximize their effectiveness.
That reason doesn’t fly with us.
Editorial from the Moscow-Pullman Daily News
Idaho’s House and Senate minority caucuses have voted to close their meetings to the public, saying they don’t want Republicans to get a glimpse of their game plan.
“To maximize our effectiveness in the Legislature, we must take the field with every advantage that we can muster,” said House Assistant Minority Leader James Ruchti, D-Pocatello.
From The Spokesman-Review
The legislative minority abandoned its argument that Democrats are the champions of transparency at the Legislature.
From the Idaho Statesman
A Boise boy has already made his first Juvenile Court appearance in the death of well-known cycling enthusiast Kevin Pavlis. But what happened in the courtroom remains a mystery, since 4th District Juvenile Judge William Harrigfeld is keeping the case sealed from the public.
From the Idaho Statesman
The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, governing body for
federal courts in the western states, has approved, on an experimental basis, the limited
use of cameras in federal district courts within the circuit.
From the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council
County commissioners will meet with Prosecuting Attorney John Bujak today to discuss open meeting protocol.
“I’ve had some concerns about the way some things have been put on the agendas for the commissioners meeting, and does it comply with the open meeting law,” Bujak told the Idaho Press-Tribune Sunday. “So my office put together an instructional memorandum on how to put things on the agenda for the meeting in compliance with the open meeting laws. We’ll meet (today) to just go over the memorandum and just answer any questions they might have.”
From the Idaho Press-Tribune
A special prosecutor will investigate the Rexburg mayor and City Council for alleged violations of Idaho’s open meeting laws.
The announcement was made in an official letter from the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office to Maria Nate, who had filed a complaint with the office regarding the Nov. 4 appointment of Mayor Richard Woodland by the Rexburg City Council.
From the Rexburg Standard Journal
The Idaho Attorney General’s office has told Nampa Classical Academy officials the state won’t back down from pursuing information about the charter school’s possible use of the Bible and other religious texts.
From the Idaho Press-Tribune
First names are a matter of public record, even if they reveal gender, First District Judge Charles Hosack ruled on Friday.
That means Wayne Hoffman will get the full names of every city of Coeur d’Alene employee as part of his public records request.
From the Coeur d’Alene Press
When Paul Kjellander, head of the Idaho Office of Energy Resources, briefed a legislative interim committee this morning about the wide-ranging work on options for Idaho’s energy future being done out of his office by the Strategic Energy Alliance, an effort launched by the governor that includes task forces, a board of private industry representatives, and a council that includes state agency heads, Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, said she had a legal concern. The work of the alliance, which was created by an executive order from the governor, is “in a gray area with regard to whether the work is public or private,” she said. That’s why she’s been working with the governor’s office on legislation to codify the entire Idaho Office of Energy Resources, which actually doesn’t exist in state law, but also was created by executive order. Writing the agency into state law would give it the Legislature’s blessing as well, she noted, as well as clarifying that everything it does is subject to the state’s open meeting and public records laws.
From The Spokesman-Review’s “Eye on Boise”