Category: Local Politics

Before we dive into this, we’re going to issue a disclaimer. Many of the people mentioned are easy to talk with and kind in person. Some have very deep pockets and have contributed generously back to the community to worthwhile causes. However we are not here to discuss their kindness or generosity, but rather their politics and crony capitalism. It’s up for debate to whether these people are generous solely for tax write-offs, for the notoriety, or if it’s out of a guilty conscience for selling Idahoans out politically. That would depend on the individual, and is a subject for another time.

Throughout history there have been numerous examples of regimes oppressing liberty for the sake of lining their pockets. Whether it be Edward I Longshanks’ iron fist rule over the Scots, King George III’s unjust taxation of the colonies, or the countless other examples worldwide (Not picking on the English, it just fit well). Their endgame was to control the masses in an effort to make themselves and their friends wealthier. Sometimes it was via oppression of a nation, but more common was local financial control by a few wealthy families. In Kootenai County, we see this same story being played out before our eyes. The local elites continue to get richer via crony capitalism, making themselves a sort of good ole boy cabal. We’ll call them the CDA Clique.

LIVING IN DAD’s SHADOW

This is where Peter J. Riggs enters the picture. He’s the son of Dr. Jack Riggs, former District 4 State Representative, and one term Lt. Governor of Idaho. Jack also owns Pita Pit, has a lengthy list of real estate investments, and has considerable political influence in the state. While Jack can be fun to chat with, he’s a moderate politically on his best day.  When in office Jack was a politician, always doing the bidding for the timber, dairy, medical, tobacco, and other liberty strangling industries in Idaho. Therefore politics are in Pete’s blood.

Pete ran for State Rep for District 3 in 2016 and narrowly lost to Don Cheatham, despite having double the funds in his war chest. Looking at Pete’s financials from that election we found some interesting things. These should be no surprise to the seasoned liberty minded folks that analyze election data. Consider it a refresher for you folks, and an introduction for those new to the subject.

Remember Jack Riggs was tight with the timber and dairy lobbyists in the state. That may seem benign to some, but those two groups are among the biggest fighters of liberty in the state. Currently the cow-milkers are lobbying in overdrive on the immigration reform, wanting illegal immigrants to be given a drivers license. Jack was also tight with real estate PAC’s, and lobbyists. Therefore it should come as no surprise Pete had sizable donations from these groups.

Below are the sorted donations from these groups from Pete’s 2016 sunshine reports. Images are provided at the bottom to click and zoom in on.

THE DONATIONS

Timber Industry

• Potlach Corp- $500
• Todd Brinkmeyer (Well known in Idaho timber industry, son of the owner of Idaho Forest Group, also associated with Potlach Corp)- $750

Dairy Industry 

• NW Dairymen’s PEC, Sponsored by Darigold Inc.- $200
• Idaho Milk PAC- $200

Real Estate/Building

• North Idaho Builders PAC- $500
• Idaho Assoc. Realtors PAC- $750
• CenturyLink- $1000
• Donald Smock (local Realtor)- $500

INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS

Jennifer Drake- $200 This is his little sis, and a well known noise-maker in CDA. You might remember her and her pal Sarah Meyer made the news a few years back for opposing the Recall CDA movement after the McEuen Park debacle. Notice Sarah’s last name, yes she’s the daughter-in-law of Parkwood Property money man Steven Meyer. Jennifer also heads up the CDA Arts commission and is infamous for her weird art recommendations. Remember the Ganesha statue on Sherman Ave? What about the faulty and drab looking Rainbow bridge on Front St? Recall Marker 11, the communist monument in Riverstone Park? Yep all at her recommendation. The City did the right thing to remove the communist monument, but Jennifer showed up at the next council meeting and told them the “what to”. She also runs the Crown and Thistle pub in a building her daddy owns.

Steve Widmyer- $250 Steve has done very well for himself as real estate investor. He has very deep pockets and connections. As mayor he typically sides with the more liberal council members, although he did surprise us for taking a stand on the parking fee disaster last year. He also thinks URD’s are a good thing for CDA and owns property in a few. I’ll give this to Steve, on a personal level he is the most approachable Mayor CDA has had in eons.

Jim Deffenbaugh- $500 Jim was the executive director for Panhandle Area Council (PAC) for 30 years. They are a designated Economic Development District for the five northern counties of Idaho. One of many tasks they do is assist in Urban Renewal District (URD) agency creation and administration. Jim passed away in 2018.

Thomas Cronin- $100 Thomas was a former police chief for CDA police and the CDA Tribe. He is now Treasurer for Balance North Idaho, a very liberally minded Political Action Committee.

Brenda Bookholtz- $100 She served as his treasurer for Pete’s campaign in 2016. Vocationally she was Pita Pit’s treasurer at the time. Now she works under Mike Kennedy, former liberal CDA City Council member, at Intermax Networks, a company owned by Steven Meyer. Steven is the founder of Parkwood Properties, a wealthy land management company that will be the main financial  benefactor of the Health Corridor URD.

Katie Brodie $250 and Laurie Thomas- $75 Both are board members for the North Idaho Political Action Committee (NIPAC), see below for more info. Laurie is the chief deputy treasurer for Kootenai County.

BUSINESS AND PAC DONATIONS

CDA Tribe- $1000 The CDA Tribe’s biggest lobbying efforts are typically tobacco related. Jack Riggs received donations from tobacco companies and lobbyists throughout his time as an elected official.

North Idaho PAC- $1000 Founded by former state legislator and co-founder of Contractors NW, Inc Dean Haggenson. They were the company that was able to secure the CDA McEuen Park bid and other city projects. Rumors abound at his close friendship with previous mayor Sandi Bloem as to why he was able to secure so many city contracts. He is a moderate, who loathed what he called right wing extremists. He put Phil Hart into that category. On the board sits Sandy Patano who is Jack Riggs wife. She claims she started her interest in this PAC due to a hatred of Phil Hart. Also on the board are two donors from above, Katie Brodie, and Laurie Thomas. This PAC is locally famous for picking what Dean said are “electable people”. But almost every candidate they back are moderate, or liberals hiding under the Republican banner.

What does it all mean?

Now what does all the above have to do with the race? The money that will back Peter Riggs are the deep pockets of the area, that benefit most from him being elected. They’re not interested in someone who’ll stick up for the citizen’s rights and defend the Constitution. Remember this crowd stands to profit heavily from the Health Corridor URD, and other URDs around the county. Even if they don’t own property directly in one of the URDs, they are tight with people that do. By being part of the CDA Clique, they’ll be taken care of for being part of the “in crowd”.

So how does Pete Riggs help this crowd if he was elected? The URD lobby in Boise is massive. His vote for legislation favorable to URDs insures the Clique keeps making money from increased property values and improvements in URDs. While on the subject, Steven Meyer has been mentioned in brief above. He founded Mountain West Bank and owns extensive properties in several URDs under the name Parkwood Properties. He’s also the chairman of the Hayden Urban Renewal Agency, and is in tight with IgniteCDA, the CDA Urban Renewal Agency. Some have predicted URDs might make him and his partner Charlie Nipp billionaires over the next 15-20 years. Steven Meyer also serves as chair on the State of Idaho Economic Advisory Council with Sandy Patano (remember Jack Riggs’ wife).

MALEK 2.0

But the potential financial gain is just one aspect of having Pete in the Senate. This crowd almost unanimously hates constitutional candidates, and doesn’t care one iota for the rights of the citizens of Idaho. By having another lame-sauce moderate, they can keep the Senate more middle to left leaning. Remember many in the clique are closer to Dan English or Bernie Sanders than they are to a true conservative like Heather Scott or Phil Hart. This is why we call Pete Riggs, Malek 2.0. He’ll be just as disappointing and get-along with big money as Malek was. Nothing more than a bought and sold yes-man politician. In the words of Herman’s Hermits, “Second verse same as the first.”

On another note, what has Pete done to show he’s even qualified for the job? He’s lived in daddy’s shadow his entire life. Remember during the 2016 debates, he was laughed at for giving long answers about absolutely nothing. His long winded answers left audience participants scratching their heads wondering what his real answer was. His only real job has been working at Pita Pit, where he was listed as CEO for a few years. After that he worked for a year at a local business KORE. Other than that there is NOTHING. So he wants to represent the citizens of District 3 based off experience managing a few restaurants? And because his dad was a politician?

OTHER LOBBYISTS?

We also notice he started a biz called Futurist, LLC in 2018. Typically that term is associated with alt-energy people, often using Nikola Tesla as their inspiration. For Pete we’ve yet to figure out what he interprets it as. KORE where he worked for one year, is a locally owned battery energy storage system maker. They bill themselves as helping to build a reliable, cleaner, environmentally friendly future. This makes us suspect Pete might receive donations or hand outs from energy lobbyists. Time will tell if this is true.

Just say no to yet another left leaning politician in the Idaho Senate. It’s obvious from Pete’s connections and lack of applicable experience he’ll be nothing more than another bought politician. And seeing he’s still young, we’re sure if elected he’d entrench himself in deep, possibly to seek loftier political goals.

There are more donors we’d like to discuss, but this post was getting to long as it is. Besides do we really need to talk about Cathy-Anne Nonini again? The files are below, just click to see what all they entail.

Have some exciting stories we’re working on for this week, so stay tuned folks!

Thanks for reading, Chester.

P.S. Now ‘I’m Henery the Eighth, I am’ is stuck in my head….and it’s not even my fave song from Herman’s Hermits.

THE FINANCIAL REPORTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pic of the Ganesha statue that used to be on Sherman Ave.