OPINION: Voters, where do we go from here?

Now that the dust has settled from the primaries, let’s talk about the political landscape in North Idaho.  

DART — Democrats and Republicans Together — originated in the late summer of 2020. A few friends were lamenting the deterioration of our community leadership. The group was a mix of registered Republicans and Democrats who sometimes had vibrant debates on other issues but on this one they were all in agreement: a topic that went beyond partisanship to community leadership. 

They all agreed that our community organizations needed to be governed by reasonable, community-minded and qualified individuals who would make decisions first for the collective good of the community, not to primarily support a particular political view or further a party cause.

It had become clear to the group that every election cycle, for seemingly every office, the only candidates being put forward to the voters were those from the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee. It was also clear that every candidate seemed in lockstep with the central committee leadership, but not necessarily with the concerns and wants of the community as a whole. In school district meetings, at North Idaho College and even in our highway and water districts, a ‘my way or highway’ approach was becoming more common. 

Name-calling and personal attacks of anyone not in lockstep were becoming almost the norm. Party leadership put forward only candidates who would keep a single, hardline mindset. Stories from non-KCRCC approved candidates who had been forcefully encouraged not to run against ‘vetted’ candidates began to grow. 

DART advocates for sound, civil, thoughtful and qualified community leaders in positions of governance and public policy in our community institutions. As evidence that the same concerns were growing throughout our community, other groups such as Citizens to Elect Qualified Experienced Candidates and Non-partisan Doctors of Coeur d'Alene also sprang into life about the same time. Each had different membership but shared the same concerns. 

Soon, Save NIC came to be when it became apparent that the majority of ‘rated and vetted’ trustees had a destructive agenda that was threatening this critical community resource. Now, we also have the Community Library Network board applying unilateral, partisan-based views in making decisions for a community. Indefensible decisions on policy and operations far surpass the role of a library trustee while qualified, experienced staff is ignored and undermined. 

The robust library catalog that used to reflect new content regularly now gets new content at a trickle as the board strives to micromanage content selection through the narrow world view of the ‘rated and vetted’ majority. In each case, we have seen huge increases to legal fees, increasing risk of liability and challenges with decreasing insurance coverage with skyrocketing premiums.

Collectively, we are concerned for the future of North Idaho. Unlike those with political motivations, we each care only about a return to sound local leadership that is community-minded and that does not force political agendas into boards and organizations that serve patrons with interests, beliefs and political views far more visionary than those in lockstep with the leadership of a single, political organization. 

We need more people to run for office who will represent EVERYONE in our community equally and without judgment, while also being fiscally and morally responsible. We give a standing ovation to the many people in our community who stood up to run for precinct committee positions this May.

We also wish to encourage all eligible voters to search out the most qualified and reasonable candidates running in the November general election. DART encourages all voters to NOT rely on catchphrases, postcards or sample ballots. None of those take YOUR values and views into consideration or include BOTH the pros and cons to the qualifications of each candidate. 

Another tip — look at the company kept by leadership of our local political groups, particularly with regard to Republican leadership, as we have two distinct groups representing conservative views. 

Which represents your values best? Is it the leadership that stands behind Brent Regan, the Idaho Freedom Foundation, the John Birch Society, and associates with individuals like Dave Reilly and Vincent James Foxx? Or is it the leadership that stands behind Jack Riggs, Sandy Patano and Christa Hazel among hundreds of traditional “Reagan Republicans,” and associates with Mary Souza and Jim Jones? 

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Rick Palagi is a native Idahoan and Kootenai County resident serving as DART’s chair, a non-partisan community improvement group. He is happy to be a RINO (Real Idahoan, Not Outsider).