COUNCIL: It's never too late

City Council Report Card:

(A+): Develop vacant land across from a gravel pit, kitty corner from a landfill and a “long” stone’s throw away from I-90 into a self-supporting, job creating community center.

(A+): Transform land formerly housing a lumber mill into an education corridor that will someday contribute to the economic and social well-being of this community.

(F): Ability to distinguish the difference between developing vacant land adjacent to a garbage dump or formerly occupied by a lumber mill to create jobs and spending $39M to turn McEuen Park into … McEuen Park.

(F): Ability to understand true public sentiment (majority) with regard to this pristine “common area” located at the very heart of the city and caring enough to find a solution that works for the majority.

(F): Ability to develop a shared vision and build consensus among the majority.

(F): Ability to realize that everyone within the city of Coeur d’Alene is your constituency.

(F-): Ability to listen to the citizenry (i.e. council meetings, request for a public vote, electing three opposing council members and now a recall effort within 500 signatures of being placed on the ballot).

(F): Ability to take responsibility for failed leadership and accept personal responsibility for the division in this community.

In private sector business, past successes are helpful for establishing credibility, but, one cannot stake a career on past successes alone. As a business owner you are only as good as your last decision and your customers will either reward or punish you accordingly. It is not a matter of what you have done; it is a matter of “what have you done for me lately?” A wise mentor of mine once said it can take a lifetime to build a reputation and one bad decision or one small slip of the tongue to wipe it out in an instant.

As City Council members on a sinking ship, yes it is sinking because at this point no matter what the outcome of the park project or the recall effort, by your failed leadership, you have created an unprecedented division in this community. No one will remember you for any of the great things you have done, you will only be remembered for the last thing.

This is not something you can blame on this group or that individual. Trust me when I say there are many of us in the silent majority that do not know, are affiliated with nor even care about either side of the recall effort. What we do care about is making sure that we do not make the mistake of electing or re-electing public servants that serve to divide a community.

You are in the driver’s seat of a once in a lifetime opportunity. A good decision here could bring the community back together, restore credibility to our local government and salvage the reputations of those among you who have served the city so well in the past.

(TBD): Ability to swallow pride, hold the sanctity of this community above any project, change or reverse past decisions as required bringing this community back together.

It is never too late to do the right thing.

PAUL PLUMMER

Coeur d’Alene