OPINION: Voters’ voices need to be heard on these issues

This editorial was published in the Post Register of Idaho Falls.

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We reported a week ago that three Republican Bonneville County legislators — Rep. Wendy Horman, Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, and Sen. Kevin Cook — have been requested to appear before a Legislative District 32 Committee to respond to allegations of violating the Republican Party Platform in a hearing set for 7 p.m. Dec. 7.

It was reported at the time that the legislators had not been notified what the alleged violations involve. Horman said she was told she will not be notified of the specific complaints until she agrees to the rules for the meeting.

Cook said he will be facing four complaints, that he will go before a Special Investigation Committee where he will be given those complaints, he will have some time to write his reasoning why he did what he did and give that to the committee, there will be a meeting to discuss it, and the panel will vote whether he needs to be brought up for potential sanctioning.

We have the Republican Party Platform Enforcement Rule that the Idaho GOP passed June 24 during its summer meeting in Challis to thank for this. It empowers state, district, and county GOP committees to “call into question the conduct of a Republican elected official,” determining if “violations” have occurred, and handing down everything from censure up to removing party support and prohibiting the use of Republican Party identifiers on campaign information and advertising from the elected official during their current term and any subsequent campaign for political office for a period of five years.

Party committees have every right to hold office-holders accountable, but there are at least a couple of important things missing here.

First off, it seems odd to withhold information from those facing questioning about alleged “violations” for any length of time, seemingly keeping the violations a secret. In the case of Cook, he shared that he was told one of the alleged violations was for his vote for the Idaho LAUNCH program. So it can come down to the way a Republican legislator votes? Unfortunately, that’s not so much of a surprise these days given the current political winds in the Republican Party.

Another important thing missing in this equation: the voters, the people who elected these legislators into office in the first place. Here we have a relatively small percentage of the voting public making decisions on whether lawmakers did a good or bad thing because of how they voted.

Bonneville County GOP Chairperson Nick Contos said a week ago that the final rules for the Dec. 7 meeting had not been adopted, so it had not been determined whether the public can attend. One thing is for darn well sure: If the legislators are going to be held accountable to the voters, the voters need to be in on that meeting. If a committee is going to hold those elected accountable, that needs to be open to the public.

As the ground rules are set for these meetings, it needs to be done in front of the public, in the open.

Legislative District 32 Chairman Doyle Beck seemed to downplay the magnitude of the action.

“The whole purpose of doing any investigation is to try to understand both sides of (the issue),” he said. “It’s got nothing to do about a gotcha. ... It’s purely a back-and-forth to understand each other better.”

But as we see with the Platform Enforcement Rule, it could end up with some consequences that go beyond mere understanding.

The outcome needs to involve informing the public. This does not involve — regardless of what some GOP leaders would have us believe — a “private club.”

The responses of those legislators called in front of the committee need to be remembered.

“If the voters don’t like me, they’ll vote me out of office,” Mickelsen said. “I feel like I’m doing a good job. I’m taking the time to read the bills, so (for the county GOP) to basically be backseat driving legislators is ridiculous.”

“I read the bills, I do my homework. I listen to anyone that contacts me, and I vote,” Horman said. “I am happy to go explain any of my votes to them or to anyone else. ... I will be happy to listen to their concerns both before and after I vote, but I will not be intimidated into voting a particular way under threat because of threats. That’s never how I’ve worked, and I will not be changing that.”

It’s moves like this that make getting out to the polls so important. The voice of the people needs to be heard, and that doesn’t just include certain voices within the Bonneville County Republican Central Committee.