Stewart takes campaign gloves off
And so it begins! Tony Stewart's open letter to the mayoral candidates was not only an open letter but a pre-emptive strike signaling the needed divisive issue to obfuscate the real issue of the mayoral campaign and a call to action of the "human rights community" to ensure that the anti-discrimination ordinance becomes the means by which that is accomplished as he intends to energize them to take a stand.
It was also a warning to candidates Souza and Kunka that anything said short of outright endorsement and full embrace of the anti-discrimination ordinance makes them bigoted homophobes, and perhaps even Christian, not worthy of a hearing on any subject.
It is a diversionary tactic to keep the focus off the decision-making process of our current city government. This ordinance was passed in the same way so many things have been passed by the current city council. As I recall, Tony Stewart and Christie Woods presented it to a subcommittee of the council as an ordinance already passed in several other cites in Idaho. They strongly endorsed its adoption in Coeur d'Alene. The virtues and the correctness of this proposal were so compelling that the council members who were present (except one) indicated their intention to pass the ordinance without further consideration, following public input. The perfunctory public input was given at one city council meeting then immediately adopted. The adoption of the ordinance was a forgone conclusion prior to the formality of Stewart's presentation because the city council and Mr. Stewart have the wisdom, knowledge and the righteous judgment to make decisions for the community that only they deem appropriate and correct.
As we know, all laws are good laws and need not be reviewed, or even read, before passage. The suggestion to have a workshop to discuss the merits of the ordinance, its implementation, and possible unintended consequences did not warrant Tony Stewart's letter of self-righteous condemnation except for his motive to create an issue and endorse the candidate fully in favor of the ordinance. Mr. Stewart, you have now poisoned the well of what might have been a civil campaign. What a missed opportunity for this community.
Eileen Mann is a Coeur d'Alene resident.