Applaud Rep. McCann
I have long been registered as an unaffiliated ... Idaho voter and have voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates over 34 years.
Unaffiliated voters can’t vote in the Republican primary and I perhaps shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that I would not be able to speak at the “public hearing” held by the Latah County Republican Central Committee to consider whether Rep. Lori McCann should be censured or reprimanded for her voting record ... . The Idaho Republican Party views independent voters as a threat, undeserving of participation either in selecting its candidates ... or in the proceedings of its county central committees. At the hearing last Tuesday, it became clear that it views legislators who think on their own as a threat, too. Had I been permitted to speak, this is what I would have said:
Efforts by the committee to censure or reprimand McCann confirm its growing and unhealthy intolerance for any departure from the dogma of its party platform. The actions proposed, and now taken, by the committee reflect disdain for McCann’s independent critical thinking, her careful consideration of differing views, her concern for enforceability of laws once enacted and their long-term consequences, and ... her respect for the opinions of her constituents.
Censure and reprimand are tools of intimidation and coercion, meant to discourage future departures from the party script. ... I applaud McCann’s thoughtful approach to governing and her respectful stand against the committee’s rigid and unrealistic expectations of conformity to party doctrine.
Charles Graham
Moscow
Censure was a travesty
A travesty occurred last Tuesday night. I attended the Latah County Republican Central Committee meeting to consider censuring Rep. Lori McCann because of her voting record.
Out of the several hundred bills put forward by the Idaho Legislature last session, McCann, according to the group, voted against the GOP platform on 13 of these bills, and McCann was censured by the Latah County Republican Central Committee.
Rep. McCann had an opportunity, given by Chairperson Dan Schoenberg, to explain the reasons for her votes, prior to the meeting being brought to order. Her reasons made complete sense. She talked to her constituents, personally researched each bill, reviewed the cost vs. outcome and the overall value to Idaho citizens for all 13 bills. What really touched me was when McCann said that many of her votes were simply the right thing to do for the citizens of District 6, and the state of Idaho, regardless of the GOP’s position.
McCann listens, investigates, does her own research and independently comes to a conclusion before she votes. Isn’t that what we want our representatives to do? Apparently, the Latah County Republican Central Committee believes that 13 votes they don’t like gives them the authority to censure our good representative. That is the travesty.
Kathy Weber
Moscow
The Latah County Republican Central Committee ultimately censured McCann for five of her votes.
