Rules Rule, Ms. Tillman

Would you rather live in a society governed by the rule of law or one in which the emotions of the moment govern. All you need to do is watch the lawless riots in L.A. to see what happens when personal feelings are placed above the law. You get mob rule and the lawlessness that the Democrats seem to embrace.

The case of Ms. Tillman resigning from the KCRCC is simple. The rules of the KCRCC, the Bylaws clearly state that if you don’t have an excuse acceptable to the committee and you miss four meetings you have resigned. Simple. When the fourth meeting adjourned without Tillman providing ANY excuse to be considered by the committee then the chairman is REQUIRED to give notice of vacancy. Tillman’s lack of action brought about her resignation.

The four meeting rule is not unique to the KCRCC. Nearly identical language is found in Idaho code for Education Boards of Trustees. Idaho Code 33-504 “A vacancy shall be declared by the board of trustees … within thirty (30) days of when any trustee…Without excuse acceptable to the board of trustees, fails to attend four (4) consecutive regular meetings of the board.” Even though someone may be elected to a term in office, Idaho law is clear that a trustee failing to attend four consecutive meetings without an accepted excuse has resigned.

The Press editors and others argue the Bylaws need to detail how an excuse acceptable to the committee is obtained. Arguments like this are why we have instructions on shampoo bottles. The process is so fundamental and simple it can be expressed in two words. You ask. If you want to know if something is acceptable to the committee then, obviously you must ask the committee if it is acceptable. Pretending you don’t know what that means is just willful ignorance.

Committees and boards such as school boards, water districts, highway districts, city councils, etc. all operate about the same. Individual members have no power. It is only when the majority votes that the committee, as a body, has authority to act. One of the basic elements of committee function is the “motion” where a committeeman rises, is granted the floor and then makes a motion such as “I move the committee accept Ms. Tillman’s excuse.” If another member seconds the motion then the committee debates and then votes. This process happens many times at every meeting. Motion, second, debate, vote.

To be absolutely clear, ANY member at any meeting could have asked the committee to accept whatever excuse offered and a majority vote would have determined the excuse’s acceptability. So how does it happen that some members don’t understand basic committee functions?

In 2024 there was an attempted statewide hostile takeover of the Republican Party. In Kootenai County, that effort was led by the North Idaho Republicans PAC, a well-funded outside group with a purposely confusing name that has zero affiliation to the official Republican Party, and who works directly with the Kootenai Democrats. They are known for dirty campaign tricks and campaign disclosure violations, along with supporting pro-LGBT and pro-Abortion candidates and activities. NIR put up a Precinct Committeemen candidate for nearly every precinct and was successful in winning about 30 of the 74 seats, mostly in the Coeur d’Alene city precincts. Most had never been Precinct Committeemen before and many had never even attended a KCRCC meeting. Their qualifications included living in the right area and pledging fidelity to the NIR leadership.

The committee is not heartless and Ms. Tillman did have the opportunity to appeal her resignation by applying to fill the very vacancy she created. She was welcomed to address the full committee and make her case. The committee then voted by secret ballot, but Tillman was not reinstated. Why?

The committee members had all the facts and were aware that her husband had tragically passed. They were also aware of Tillman’s social media activity during her absence where she denigrated the hard work of her fellow committeemen and posted pictures of her holidays in California and Puerto Vallarta Mexico, and her support of Boise flaunting the Idaho Flag Law. Then there was her testimony where she spoke of how she disagreed with the Republican Platform and she failed to take responsibility for her own inaction, instead blaming others for her condition. Apparently having all the facts made the difference and the committee decided to fill the position with someone that would actually serve the Republican voters in precinct 417.

But why didn’t someone in the NIR faction bring up the matter of Tillman’s excuse? Not all the NIR members are first time committeemen. City Councilman Dan Gookin has been on the committee for years and is well familiar with the Bylaws. Former Senator Mary Souza has attended many KCRCC meetings and her time as senator made her very familiar with parliamentary procedure. Former CDA Press employee Marc Stewart claims to be expert in the Bylaws. They obviously knew the rules, why didn’t they do something?

Mary Souza used to love the KCRCC when it helped her in her bids for Mayor and Idaho Senator but the KCRCC fell out of favor when they did not recommendation her for Secretary of State. She only earned 15% of the vote statewide.

Even though he’s a member, Dan Gookin also failed to win the recommendation from the committee. Gookin was sued for defamation and the matter was settled with a $25,000 payment to the KCRCC.

Marc Stewart has run afoul of the rules multiple times. Stewart’s connections with the CDA Press do explain how the resignation of one of 73 precinct committeemen made the front page above the fold.

Is it possible that the leaders of the NIR faction knew the rules would be followed, did nothing and sacrificed a pawn in an attempt to embarrass the KCRCC? We may never know, but…

It’s just common sense.

June 13th, 2025