Press series sparks special council meeting
The Pinehurst City Council will go into executive session Tuesday night to discuss the town's police department and public safety.
Pinehurst Mayor Bob Jutila confirmed the executive session will be held to address how the city will proceed in light of a series of articles in The Press that called into question the handling of Brianna Cook's death by city police. Cook, 17, was found hanging from the shower in her Pinehurst home with an electrical cord tied in a slipknot around her neck on Oct. 26, 2013.
"We'll definitely have input from everybody and have some discussion about it," Jutila said.
Executive sessions are not open to the public and, according to Idaho statute, minutes of the meeting need to contain only enough detail to identify the purpose and topic of the meeting.
Councilwoman Nancy Burkhart, who has lived in Pinehurst since 1968, said she hopes the executive session will be the start of obtaining answers to questions surrounding the investigation of the teen's death. She added that the well-being of the residents in the town of about 1,500 people is a top priority, echoing a statement made by Councilwoman Debbie Marek.
"My biggest thing is I want to see Pinehurst grow and I also want to see the eldery come in knowing that it is a nice town," Marek said. "But I also want people to feel like they're safe and feel like it's a secure town."
Teresa Palin, Brianna's mother, told The Press that she was pleased to learn about the upcoming executive session, and it feels as though someone is finally listening. She added that although having details of her daughter's life and death in the public eye has been hard, the reaction to the series has been largely positive.
"I felt like it all had to be exposed to get to the bottom of it and really I just want to know what happened to my daughter," Palin said.
But others reacted to the series differently. During a brief phone conversation with The Press, Pinehurst Chief of Police Rocky Wilson declined to answer questions or provide an official statement.
"I would like to, but I don't want to press this (expletive deleted) on," Wilson said. "I don't want to drag this (expletive deleted) on forever, it could go on for years. It's gone on too long already."