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36 Volume 9 Number News from the Heart of Idaho: Camas, Lincoln, and Gooding County
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Idaho Elections Are you one of those people who complains about the way your county is being run? Maybe you think you could do it better. Perhaps you just have the extra time to spend making your community a better place to live. Whatever the reason, it’s time to do something about it... run for one of the open county or state offices. If you want to be on the May 15th Primary Election Ballot, you must file a declaration of candidacy by March 9th at 5 p.m. For county offices, file at the County Clerk’s office. If you want to run for a state office like... the Governor, you have to file with the Secretary of State. Not all county offices are up for reelection this year, so contact your County Clerk’s office for more information.
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The 2012 Republican Caucus Next Tuesday, March 6th, will be your one and only chance to help determine the Republican nominee for this year’s Presidential election. To participate you will have to register as a Republican and show up at your county’s caucus location before 7:00 p.m. Also, if you are seventeen (17), but will be eighteen (18) on November 6th, 2012, you will be allowed to participate in the caucus and vote for the candidate of your choice. The five GOP presidential candidates in Idaho are: Texas congressman Ron Paul; former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum; former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and former Louisiana governor and congressman, Buddy Roemer. On March 6th (Super Tuesday), these
candidates will be competing in 10 states for a total of 437 delegates. Three of those states (including Idaho) will hold caucuses, and seven will have primaries. Idaho will have a primary election on May 15th, but it will not include the presidential race. Lincoln County: LC Community Center Doors open at 6 p.m. voting starts at 7 p.m. Gooding County: Gooding County Fairgrounds (4-H Extension bldg) Doors open at 6 p.m. voting starts at 7 p.m. Camas County: American Legion Hall Doors open at 6:30p.m. voting starts at 7 p.m. (Doors will be closed as soon as the voting begins.) If you need more information about the caucus, contact Mr. Barron (539-1071, Camas), Alex Sutter (308-3566, Lincoln), Dick Elliot (358-2468, Gooding), Trevor Thorpe (343-6405, Gooding), or go online to: idaho-republican-caucus.com
Gossip In The Workplace... Harassment? Within any group of people who work together on a daily basis there can be times when interpersonal relationships become strained. A certain amount of this is to be expected, but it can easily cross the line into something more. On Monday of this week, Jim McNall from Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP) presented a workshop at the Lincoln County Courthouse on communication and how to prevent harassment in the public workplace. Most of us know it is wrong to make fun of, or discriminate against someone because of age, race, religion, gender, etc., but what about things like gossip. We of-
ten think of gossip as the spreading of lies (slander) about an individual, but it is also the sharing of truthful private information that might embarrass a particular person. Just like other forms of harassment, the main concern is the affect on people’s ability to do their jobs. This can be a complicated issue in a public workplace (county or city offices) when an elected official is the harasser. In most workplaces, a person (no matter how high they are in the company) can be fired - elected officials can not. They can be unelected, or they can resign, but they can’t be fired. Here is an example: An elected of-
ficer starts a rumor (a lie) that an employee is not doing their job. That employee loses their job (either by termination or by quitting). A month later, the job is given to a relative or a close friend of the elected official. If an employee really isn’t doing their job, that issue must be dealt with privately (executive session). By starting a rumor, the elected official has violated the employee’s rights, even if the alligation is true. Regardless of whether the termination was voluntary or forced, the rumor was still the cause of the action, and this could end up in litigation. The elected percontinued on page 3.....