Boise
Citizens for Greater Idaho announced that their first Idaho “Meet & Greet” will occur in Boise on Saturday, July 10 at Powderhaus Brewing Company. Speakers include Idaho state legislators such as Rep. Barbara Ehardt, and leaders in the movement, such as Mike McCarter and Mark Simmons, former Oregon Speaker of the House. For more information, visit greateridaho.org
Crook County
Citizens for Greater Idaho announced that they will be bringing hundreds of citizens to attend the August 4 Crook County Court meeting to confront county commissioners on their reluctance to refer a non-binding advisory question to the November 2021 ballot. Citizens for Greater Idaho’s ballot initiative was not given permission to circulate by the county, so in June Citizens for Greater Idaho began collecting Crook County signatures and email addresses on an unofficial list of proponents. Today Citizens for Greater Idaho announced they already have 1200 email addresses of Crook County citizens who want to vote on the issue, which will be used to invite citizens to the meeting.
A member of the Crook County Court, Judge Seth Crawford, asserted at the April 21 County Court meeting that the Court has no authority to refer a non-binding advisory question to the ballot. Subsequently, the Court had a Portland lawyer, Peter O. Watts, issue a letter listing irrelevant cases to justify this position. However, the letter doesn’t mention the longstanding guidance of the Attorney General of Oregon that all Oregon counties have the authority to refer non-binding advisory questions to county ballots, which was subsequently acknowledged by that lawyer in an email. Indeed, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners referred an advisory question to their November 2020 ballot, as other counties have done earlier.
Crook County residents recently entered a float into the local rodeo parade asking the County Court to let the county vote on the “Move Oregon’s Border” issue.
For more information on the Crook County Court meeting, visit greateridaho.org