MY TURN: If you can't stand the heat ...

Ya just gotta feel sorry for poor old attorney Art Macomber who said, as quoted in a recent Coeur d'Alene Press article, that because he had faced sharp criticism from the public over his work at North Idaho College, he raised his fee to $400 an hour.

He is quoted as saying he just can’t do his very questionable legal work for $325 an hour.

Once again, NIC trustees Banducci, McKenzie and Waggoner have stuck it to the taxpayers. The legal advice that Macomber has given to the college trustees is hardly worth such an exorbitant legal fee. But obviously these three trustees don’t care about the quality of legal advice about actual education issues. They passed up hiring a couple of local law firms with years of experience in the specialized area of educational law who would do the work for less money.

All Banducci, McKenzie and Waggoner seem to care about is whether the attorneys they hire are politically aligned with their far-right political agenda. Hiring Sandpoint attorney D. Colton Boyles, who also has no significant experience in educational law, is another waste of taxpayer money.

I’m sure there are plenty of administrators at the college or in our local school districts or in state or local government or people on paid boards who would love to raise their wages because of the criticism they receive from members of the public about things that they have said or done. But of course, these administrators in public entities know that facing sometimes harsh criticism is just part of the job. Anyone working in a decision-making capacity for a public entity needs to have a thick skin and of course cannot just raise their wage because their feelings are hurt.

In November 2024 the community will have a chance to replace these incompetent trustees. Although people tend to have a short memory in politics, I hope they remember how Banducci, McKenzie and Waggoner have continued to waste taxpayer money in more ways than you can shake somebody else's checkbook at.

And in regard to whatever it is that Macomber does to earn more — or any — of the college's money (as President Harry Truman so eloquently stated): “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

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Tom Hearn is a Kootenai County resident.