Don’t Miss this Mid-Summer Bash

The Big Blue Huckleberry Barbecue is our way of saying: “Summer is the Season for Fun.” Plan now to join us for food, beverages, music, storytelling, auction items and more at the Big Blue Huckleberry Barbecue on July 29th. There are details on our website and Facebook page. Buy your tickets now at ActBlue before they sell out. There are only 150 tickets available, and you won’t want to miss out on this unique summer event.

Bonner County Schools Need Our Support

As you know, in May of 2023, Democrats, Independents, and moderate Republicans succeeded in passing two at risk school district levies after a serious attempt by conservatives to block their passage. Leading the effort to undermine our schools were Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) extremists with the help of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.

Our friends in West Bonner County now face a similar effort to undermine their rural public school district. Their opponents, once again aligned with the IFF, are using tactics reminiscent of those employed by the conservative ideologues serving on the Board of Trustees at North Idaho College. IFF aligned School Board members who now hold the majority, recently hired an IFF insider as the new Superintendent of Schools for the West Bonner County School District. They selected him over the existing interim Superintendent Susan Luckey, who has experience as a West Bonner School teacher and principle. The new superintendent is Brandon Durst, a person with no applicable experience to serve as Superintendent of Schools.

As a result of his hiring and recent actions, enough Bonner County citizens signed petitions to force a recall election of Keith Rutledge and Susan Brown. These two trustees are among the board members who approved hiring Durst. They will now face the voters on August 29th.

If you want a rundown of the full story, read the opinion piece by Former Idaho Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice, Jim Jones. He spelled out this fiasco in a recent article in the CDA Press.

You can help West Bonner voters rid themselves of these antagonizing trustees and Superintendent Durst by contacting the Idaho Board of Education and Governor Little. Let them know that we need calm, sober, effective leadership in our schools. Tell them to support local efforts to restore the viability of the West Bonner School District. Tell them that if Brandon Durst doesn’t resign, he will likely be sued and or fired once new board members are elected.

IdahoMoms7b.com is a non-partisan PAC fighting extremism in Bonner County. Go to their website and learn about their efforts to restore quality schools in Bonner County. While you are there, contribute to their cause if you can. Let us break this threat to Idaho public schools. After all, we are in this together.

Join the Fight to Restore Open Primaries

The Idaho Open Primaries Initiative is now live. This ballot initiative offers voters the chance to end Idaho’s closed primary system. As a result of this effort to restore unrestricted access to our political primaries, the Attorney General (Raul Labrador) has weaponized his office to stymie this voter-led initiative by using misleading wording in the titles assigned by the attorney general. The purpose of this obfuscation is to confuse and dissuade voters when they see this issue listed on their November ballots.

As a result of the AG’s actions, Idahoans for Open Primaries and Reclaim Idaho are suing Labrador to force him to correct material inaccuracies in the title, and to extend the time allowed for signature gathering equivalent with any delay caused by the lawsuit. Signature gathering for the Open Primaries Initiative begins as soon as the lawsuit is settled. Then, Dems will begin to gather the needed signatures. In the meantime, you can contribute and volunteer to support this effort at ReclaimIdaho.org. Let us all get behind this initiative.

Women’s Symposium

Since the passage of the Dobb’s Decision, Women’s reproductive rights have been under attack in Idaho and other conservative states. As a result, Idaho women are organizing a response. Join them at the first Idaho Women’s Symposium. It takes place in August. I will share more details as soon as they are available.

Precinct Captain Training and Recruiting

The Kootenai Democrats are offering Minivan Training for all new precinct captains. This software enables a canvasser to use a smart phone to log and track voter contacts. Precinct Captains should use Minivan when canvassing their precincts. Click Here to set up and use the self-guided training. The training portal opens this Thursday, July 13 at 4 PM.

Currently, we have seventeen vacant precinct captain positions in Kootenai County. In the coming weeks, Tom Sanner together with Paula Marano, Tom Hearn, and Brian Seguin will be reaching out to strong Dems in these “dark” precincts. If they contact you, please consider becoming a precinct captain.

 Learn about becoming a Precinct Captain.

How to Stay Engaged

We strive to list all our community events on our website calendar and Facebook page. So please use these sites to find details on upcoming events like our Big Blue Huckleberry Barbecue (July 29) or the KC Dems Club Mexican Fiesta (July 21). Other upcoming events include the AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic (September 4), and the “Break the Silence” Suicide Prevention Awareness Walk (September 9).

Have a super week everyone. I hope you keep cool, and I look forward to seeing you at one or more of our get togethers.