Thank you for speaking up. Please don't stop.

In my first column last March, I promised to keep a finger on the pulse of local government, assessing their information, accuracy and responsiveness. Over the course of the last 13 columns, I've asked questions and provided information on subjects of importance in our growing community. Reader response has been overwhelmingly positive. Every week I get numerous emails and phone calls from people I've never met, people I've known only slightly and people I know fairly well. All have the same message: Thank you for speaking up. Please don't stop.

When I'm out in the stores or at meetings, people stop me to say the same thing. They are hungry for information and want to know what's really happening in the city that they love. They see massive changes and wonder if the character of our lovely town will survive.

Our Mayor and City Council should be doing a better job of responding to citizen concerns. They should be in constant communication with the public. They should be having lively discussions on important topics during their City Council meetings, debating all sides of an issue before their final decision. But they are not. Their meetings are pleasant and controlled. Very few questions, most of them soft, almost rehearsed. Smiles, nods, banter, but little hard information. Their votes are typically unanimous. Lock step. Sure, there's an occasional rogue vote, but only when they're sure it won't change the outcome.

So, last Sunday morning, I walked into my house at 8:30 am, exhausted after a long but very fun night of work as chair of the Lake City High School All Night Graduation Party. I scooped up the newspaper from the porch and semi-consciously scanned the pages. Imagine my surprise when I came upon the Guest Editorial signed by Mayor Bloem and each member of the City Council, attacking me, by name, for asking questions. They had changed the words from my column to make my information look inaccurate. Their words were wrong, my column was not. They devoted an entire guest editorial to reprimanding me, an individual citizen, for asking reasonable questions in a responsible manner. I shook my head and thought this was their most ill advised move yet ... then I went to bed.

The Mayor and City Council began their editorial letter with their hope that most people will "ignore" citizens asking questions. That's just not the case, but it shows how out of touch our elected officials are with the real needs of the community. They end their letter with the outrageously contradictory statement, "This council always appreciates questions and probing of city business." The Mayor and Council attack me personally in a public forum, but then say they appreciate people asking questions. That won't inspire others to speak up, but oh, could that be their actual intention? They wrap up their editorial letter with a glossed over vision of great things happening in Coeur d'Alene and the admonition to the taxpayers to "get out in the sun and enjoy another great summer". In other words, don't worry your pretty little heads about what's going on ... we've got it under control.

Whoever authored the council's letter did get one thing right when they stated, "Our city belongs to the taxpayers, not the elected officials ... " On that note, here's my message to City Council members Al Hassell, Dixie Reid, Ron Edinger, (all up for re-election this November), Mike Kennedy, Deanna Goodlander, Woody McEvers and Mayor Bloem: I will not stop speaking up. I will continue to ask questions and report back to the people of this community. We, the citizens, care about Coeur d'Alene and want to be part of the process. Please remember that elected officials serve at the pleasure of the people, and we're all watching how you manage our precious commodity.