'RINO' keeps his seat

An online recall effort to boot Kootenai County Commissioner Bill Brooks ended Monday night after proponents failed to submit signed petitions.

The initiative to remove Brooks through a special election began in late July for his "RINO" actions.

"RINO" is an acronym used by the website rinorecall.net that stands for Republican In Name Only.

Brooks has already announced he would not seek another term after the current term expires.

According to the website's "About" section, the recall group describes itself as "Americans who passionately believe in limited government and the Second Amendment."

Initiative coordinator Paul Mahlow confirmed Tuesday that the group did not submit any petitions. He said they would release a statement in the coming weeks.

On Tuesday, Brooks was in good spirits about the news.

"I was never nervous about it," he said. "I would like a couple of the signs for souvenirs."

To successfully recall Brooks, Idaho Code 34-1702 says petitioners needed signatures from 20% of the voters registered in Kootenai County at the last general election. For Brooks, the collectors needed to gather approximately 22,159 verified signatures between July 13 and Sept. 27.

The last reported signature count on the RINO Recall website was about 350 obtained at a gun show in mid-July.

The deadline to submit those 22,000 signatures to the Kootenai County Elections Office was Monday at 5 p.m. The petitions were a no-show, Elections Office Manager Asa Gray confirmed.

"They did not turn any petitions in to us," Gray said.

Gray has seen several recall initiatives pass through the Elections Office, he said. However, many were for smaller offices in Dalton Gardens, Bayview, and the Lakeland Joint School District.

"Most of those have been smaller districts, and they haven't been countywide," Gray said. "There's a lot more signatures to gather (for county recalls)."

Reasons behind the recall, as stated on the petition, were:

• "Proposal and support of a study group to restructure the Kootenai County Government potentially removing the rights of the citizens of Kootenai County to directly elect our Sheriff, Prosecutor, Treasurer, Assessor, Clerk, and Coroner." And,

• "His blockage of an ordinance establishing Kootenai County as a Second Amendment Sanctuary County. An ordinance that would hold any federal or state law or regulation that 'infringes upon an individual's constitutional right to keep and bear arms' as invalid in Kootenai County. Mr. Brooks referred to the proposed ordinance as 'cheap political theater' and a 'stunt.'"

On the "RINO RECALL" poster that individuals disseminated on Facebook, coordinators added a third reason. It stated:

"Saturday, July 10, his transition to the Dark Side was complete. Brooks Resigned from the Republican Party."

Brooks said friends of his visited the RINO Recall booth at the North Idaho State Fair. Those friends relayed that booth attendants stated Brooks had "turned his back on the Republican Party after they had supported him" and that he opposed the Second Amendment.

Brooks, a firearms instructor, said he never had the full support of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.

"From the beginning, the Republican Central Committee here did everything they could to make sure I wasn't elected," Brooks said Tuesday. "They did everything they could to elect Marc Eberlein, not me."

The commissioner said that in previous elections, KCRCC representatives said they would not endorse candidates in the all-Republican primary. However, Brooks said that was a false statement.

"They don't put their thumb on the scale, they stand on the scale. They are shameless about supporting candidates they want," Brooks said. "The primary is supposed to be the people of that party and no other people deciding who they want as their candidate."

In March, Commissioner Leslie Duncan proposed an ordinance that would reject enforcing any state or federal gun law that violates the Second Amendment — making the county a "Second Amendment Sanctuary." The idea was opposed by both Brooks and fellow Commissioner Chris Fillios.

"A Second Amendment Sanctuary is a bad idea, whether it is in Nancy Pelosi's backyard for illegal aliens or Kootenai County for sawed-off shotguns," Brooks said.

The petitioner's first concern refers to the Optional Forms of Government Study Commission, instigated by Brooks to evaluate county operational structure against alternate forms permitted in Idaho statute. Brooks affirmed that he is not pushing the recommendation of any alternative and that voters have the final say if there is a proposal for change.

"If they vote no, that's their choice," Brooks said. "If they're accusing me of giving people choices, then I'm guilty."

Brooks believes the recall was likely a repercussion of his negative comments on the KCRCC and the John Birch Society, an anti-communist group that favors limited government. The KCRCC has formally embraced the John Birch Society in its party platform.

"They don't like me because I shine a light on those little cockroaches scattering all over," Brooks said.