Kennedy's legal fees soar to $50k

COEUR d’ALENE — City Council incumbent Mike Kennedy said he’s

expecting his legal fees to reach $50,000 by the time the election

challenge suit is in the books.

So far, Kennedy said he’s raised and spent more than $6,000 on out of

pocket hard costs associated with defending the suit.

Including city and county costs, Kennedy said the total cost for the

election challenge over the 10 months since it was filed could hit

close to a quarter million dollars.

“The cost to the taxpayers of the city and the county and the number

becomes enormous,” Kennedy wrote The Press.

City officials estimated Tuesday that their costs could be close to

$50,000 defending the suit, although those estimates were rough.

The last city bill for time and costs was in May and the total then

was $17,575. City attorney Mike Gridley said that could have doubled

by now.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said the county did not have

an estimation on the costs associated for the county attorneys and

employees who contributed to the case. Since the county wasn’t a named defendant, it didn’t have plans to seek costs should plaintiff lose.

Seat 2 challenger Jim Brannon could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Kennedy could seek legal fees if the judge rules in his favor.

“If you can be subjected to personal lawsuits simply for winning a

race, it could well make most normal people decide not to bother,”

Kennedy said. “That would be a shame and a detriment to our

democracy.” - Tom Hasslinger