COEUR d'ALENE - The Panhandle Coalition has suspended its weekly town hall meetings for the 2011 legislative session.

Formerly held at the Lake City Senior Center, the meetings provided a non-partisan forum where local residents could speak face-to-face with state legislators. They occurred every Saturday while the Legislature was in session.

"There were only two possible dates in February that we could have (meetings), and one in March," said Panhandle Coalition Steering Commiteeman Jeremy Boggess. "There were only three or four times that it was possible. We decided it would be better off to suspend it this year."

In early January, 12 local legislators were invited to a Coalition meeting later that month, Boggess said. Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, and Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, confirmed they would attend.

Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d'Alene, suggested the Coalition hold its meetings every other weekend rather than every Saturday, Boggess recalled.

"The majority of the legislators responded that they didn't want to participate," Boggess said. "Of the invitations we sent out, half of them responded that they would not be attending."

The Coalition event was scheduled for Jan. 29, the same day as a Republican-sponsored legislator's report at the Post Falls American Legion. Six lawmakers attended the Post Falls event.

Finding available space at the Lake City Senior Center was also difficult, Boggess explained, further limiting the Coalition's options. Space availability and scheduling conflicts both factored into the decision to cancel the meetings.

"It was a combination of those factors. It wasn't the Lake City Senior Center's fault, it wasn't the legislators' fault," Boggess said. "We figured since we got to a rough start with the schedule and the other meeting and the response from the legislators, we decided to not have it."

Goedde said he thought the Coalition meetings featured good dialogue between the lawmakers and their constituents. However, citizens can now converse with their legislators in other ways.

"There's always more opportunity," Goedde said. "E-mail is a good way to dialogue with legislators, but it's probably not of the same caliber as face-to-face."

He said legislators chat with local chambers of commerce every other Thursday, another opportunity for an exchange of ideas.

"I don't think the public is losing out, because the (American Legion Post 143) in Post Falls provides a substantial amount of space," Hammond said. "Plenty of opportunity for folks to come out and visit with us."

Additional legislators' reports are scheduled for Feb. 26, March 26 and April 30. Those meetings will all begin at 9 a.m. at the Post Falls American Legion Post 143 on Poleline Avenue. They are sponsored by the Reagan Republicans, the Panhandle and North Idaho Pachyderm Clubs.

The Coeur d'Alene City Hall will sponsor a Town Hall Legislative report on March 12 at the Coeur d'Alene Library community room. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m.

With several weeks between gatherings, the senators and representatives will have a number of topics to discuss, Hammond said.

"The problem of the weekly (Coalition) meetings was that often we didn't have anything to report," he said.

Legislators are also available via phone, e-mail, websites and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, Hammond added. Public meetings are just one form of discourse available.

"We do plan on coming back next year," Boggess said of the Coalition meetings. He said the other meetings are an option for the public, but "they're not really non-partisan," because of the Republican backing.

The Panhandle Coalition is not party-affiliated and "provides an environment for North Idaho citizens to monitor and listen to the Idaho Legislature," according to the organization's website.