QUESTION: There have been battles lately over the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee. What does this committee actually do?

ANSWER: Finally, someone asks...

The cheeky response would be that all the committee really can do is knock on doors.

And encourage others to do the same.

Hey, that’s politics, right?

Oh, the committee generally is expected to build publicity for the party, through manning a booth at the county fair and showing the flag at similar events.

But the KCRCC’s principal function is to help Republican candidates get elected to office — regional, state and national.

The one caveat there is that the committee is not supposed to endorse anyone in a Republican primary, merely getting to work in general elections.

You’ve heard recently about a Christian conservative “takeover” of the KCRCC, and members who disagree either grousing about it or actually resigning from the committee.

To be clear, these folks are resigning from any of the 70 precinct committeeman posts. The entire committee consists of those precinct representatives and a handful of officers — the most critical of which is the chairman (or chairwoman).

That position currently is held by Brent Regan, with Alex Barron as secretary and Luke Sommer as parliamentarian.

The chairperson directs the show, running meetings and steering discussions on things like acceptance of members, debate and voting on resolutions — some now banging on issues far from Idaho – and attending the state party convention.

Crucially, none of these votes are binding outside the actual committee itself, although input at the state convention might help shape the party platform.

The precinct committee members — there are about 18-20 vacant or not routinely showing up for meetings at the moment — are asked to organize canvassing groups and get-out-the-vote efforts within their precincts.

By the way, all these procedures concerning the committee are contained in the 55-page governing document of the Idaho Republican Party. County committees and their limitations are covered under Article IV.

Interestingly, however, there are a few situations where the KCRCC can put someone directly into public office.

If a Republican elected county official leaves office before the term is up, then the committee must submit the names of three candidates to serve out that term.

According to the Idaho Secretary of State’s office, the County Commission then has 15 days to pick one of the three KCRCC-recommended candidates.

If the missing official in question is actually a commissioner, then those three candidates are submitted to the governor for selection.

While all this yelling is going back and forth about the KCRCC, it’s worth noting that these people can only put someone in office under very unique circumstances — or by pounding on those voters’ doors in the fall.

Meanwhile, that resolution on war with North Korea that causes such fuss at a regular monthly meeting?

Meh.

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Readers are invited to submit questions on any subject and we’ll try to answer them in “I Wonder” each Tuesday. Send questions to: scameron@cdapress.com