Ironing out a political cheap shot

John Stone got his own billboard, too.

Only instead of his comeuppance appearing on a lighted sign somewhere, Stone’s arrived Tuesday night in the form of a verbal lashing from longtime Coeur d’Alene City Council member Ron Edinger.

“The billboard is a bunch of crap,” Edinger opined to a City Council meeting audience, many of them there to show support for Ironman Coeur d’Alene.

Stone, you’ll recall, spoke out during a City Council meeting June 6 when he’d heard rumors about possible changes to the Ironman contract. And change it did: The Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce and Ironman’s owner, World Triathlon Corp., announced a short time later that their new pact includes three additional years of the half-Ironman but not the full race. Aug. 27 is the last scheduled Ironman 140.6 in Coeur d’Alene.

Stone’s reaction? A nasty message on Riverstone’s readerboard that could be seen from Seltice Way and Interstate 90. With a photo of Ironman swimmers splashing into the lake, it read: Dump the Mayor, not the Ironman.

Mayor Steve Widmyer has acknowledged that Stone, who developed Riverstone, apparently was no big fan of his even before the full Ironman race was left off the 2018-2020 contract with the Chamber. But we echo Mr. Edinger’s sentiments for a couple of reasons.

One, Stone is attacking the wrong target. While the City Council did need to put its stamp of approval on an amended contract because city services and resources are involved, the city and certainly its mayor don’t make or unmake Ironman magic. That falls on the shoulders of the Chamber and its leader, Steve Wilson, who might tell you that it takes two to tango. Who knows? Maybe Ironman didn’t want to do the full dance, and the city and Chamber are being punished unfairly.

The other problem with the billboard broadside is that Stone painted all the Riverstone businesses with his unflattering personal political brush. Most people seeing that readerboard don’t know who John Stone is, let alone care what he thinks. But they might very well take that “Dump the Mayor” theme as a statement from the businesses on Riverstone property. As one cdapress.com reader noted, “I stopped going to Riverstone businesses while the message was up and will continue to express my feelings to the businesses I patron(ize) there. As a business owner myself, I find it in poor taste to use that platform for political speech. You risk alienating a significant percentage of the clients that patron(ize) the businesses there.”

Regardless, Ironman 70.3 is almost here. Maybe we can all stow the political crapola and just have fun.

Even you, Mr. Stone.