War of the ages - and the wages

Hand it to Anne Nesse: She puts her energy where others' low wages are.

Two years ago, Nesse led the charge to raise Idaho's minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.80, phased in over four years. That ambitious statewide initiative fizzled. Given almost 11 months to collect at least 53,751 valid signatures from registered voters, Nesse and her Raise Idaho volunteers mustered only 8,157 signatures, failing to even get the item on the November 2014 ballot.

Nesse didn't give up. Last year she ran unsuccessfully against Kathy Sims for a seat in the Idaho House of Representatives, ostensibly to open fire on the minimum wage from a legislative vantage point. When that effort failed, Nesse simply narrowed her focus: She decided she'd do her best to boost the minimum wage within Coeur d'Alene's city limits.

That didn't work out either. Believing she had the months of June and July to gather 1,681 valid signatures, Nesse recently learned that the deadline was actually May 1. It passed before the signature drive even started, leaving Nesse and her supporters frustrated - but not ready to raise the white flag.

"It's not dead and it'll never be dead," she told The Press.

While Nesse, 66, explores other options, we just have to stand back and applaud her. Whether you agree with her on the minimum wage matter is irrelevant; this is about recognizing civic activism at its finest. Nesse is laboring on an issue that won't benefit her directly. She's investing her own time and money in something she believes will ultimately lift thousands of Idahoans she has never met out of a life of poverty, and she's turning over every political stone and seeking every constitutionally protected option available to get that done.

This contest is less about minimum wage and more about maximum citizenship. In that sense, Anne Nesse has already won.