Shoshone County cracking down on meeting rules

WALLACE – Last week, the Shoshone County Commissioners convened to discuss the guidelines for future commissioner meetings.  

BOCC Chairman Jeff Zimmerman presented a list of five rules that had been discussed that would be printed on the back of the board’s meeting agendas that they and the public would adhere to during all future meetings. Commissioner Melissa Cowles also proposed an additional rule during the discussion that was added to the list.  

The proposed rules are as follows:  

- All public questions or comments must be directed to the commissioners.  

- The public should not expect an immediate answer to any questions asked during the meeting. Any answer provided will be at the discretion of the board.  

- Public comments or questions will be limited to two minutes.  

- Personal attacks are not allowed at any time.  

- Threats will not be tolerated.  

- Public comments or questions must stay on the meeting topic. The time for open public questions or comments is during the board’s consent agenda meetings, usually held on Wednesdays.  

“I think it’s time to formalize things,” Commissioner Dave Dose said. “I’ve been paying attention to other counties’ meetings and how they do things. I’ve talked to our legal, and it seems like a good practice.”  

No specific reason for the change was given, but Dose and Zimmerman did specifically mention that the county's legal team had reminded the board in the past, specifically about the rule on personal attacks. 

Many of the rules presented by the board are similar to public meeting guidelines presented by the Idaho Association of Counties. The only difference is that the board wishes to print them on the back of every meeting agenda so that the public has access to them each time they attend a meeting.  

One resident in attendance asked where they would draw the line on what is and isn’t considered a personal attack, to which the commissioners all agreed that they would be sending their proposed rules to Shoshone County Prosecutor Ben Allen, so that he could clearly define the rules before they were approved.  

“We don’t want to make it too complicated,” Dose said. “The whole point is for us to consistently stick to our own rules.”