Meet Moscow's Ugly Stepsister

Chamber of Commerce President Nominates Self for Late City Councilman’s Seat

By Joan Opyr, 1-25-07

On January 7, Moscow City Councilman John Dickinson was apparently killed in an accident on the John Day Bridge in Oregon.  I say “apparently” because John’s body has not yet been found.  He had stopped to help a stranded motorist.  A third car crashed into the scene, and John either fell over or jumped the highway barricade as a consequence of the impact.  He fell thirty feet into the cold, swift river below.

John was a friend of mine.  He was a smart, funny man, and I liked him a great deal.  Politically and socially, we agreed on most issues.  We also disagreed on a few, most notably Moscow’s dog ordinance; I believe that Moscow’s dogs should be fenced or leashed, no exceptions.  John was concerned that requiring fences would disrupt some of Moscow’s historic neighborhoods.  This disagreement, though strong and intractable, didn’t bother either of us.  John was a retired college professor.  He handled ideological differences and respectful debate with grace and equanimity.  In other words, he was a true political gentleman.

Not so the man who would replace him.  Not quite two weeks after John’s tragic accident, Moscow Chamber of Commerce President Mike Nelsen sent the following letter to Mayor Nancy Chaney:

“January 19, 2007

The Honorable Nancy Chaney
City of Moscow
P.O. Box 9203
Moscow, ID 83843

Re: Council Appointment Request

Dear Mayor Chaney:

The Moscow Chamber of Commerce would like to express our sincere condolences to the City of Moscow for the tragic loss of Councilman John Dickinson. John was a steadfast supporter of this community, our downtown, the arts and economy. We hope this community will formally recognize his contributions in some fashion at the appropriate time.

I also recognize that John’s loss leaves a vacancy in the Moscow City Council. To that end, I want to offer myself as a potential candidate for your consideration. I understand the importance of public service and providing good governance to our community. My background as a local business manager and current Moscow Chamber of Commerce president has helped prepare me to serve. Further, I would hope to bring an ability to listen, exercise fair and reasoned decision-making and provide valuable perspective to you and the other council members.

I look forward to discussing this with you further at your earliest convenience. Again, thank you for your service to the citizens of this great city.

Sincerely,
Mike Nelsen President

Cc: Moscow City Council 
Moscow City Supervisor Gary Riedner”

This letter was published on Saturday, January 20, 2007, on a local conservative blog called Right-Mind.  According to Right-Mind’s owner and operator, Dale Courtney, he obtained the Nelsen letter via a public records request.  That’s fast work.  I’m pretty quick on the draw myself when it comes to public records requests, but to obtain and publish a letter less than 24 hours after it was sent?  Whoa, Nelly!  Even Woodward and Bernstein had to wait for Deep Throat to tell them what to look for.  Either Mr. Courtney knows his Chamber of Commerce or he’s psychic.

It’s hard to understate the outrage I felt in reading Nelsen’s letter.  Want to talk about dead men’s shoes?  Or is this simply a case of the awkward ugly stepsister trying to stuff her great big foot into a convenient glass slipper?  Mike Nelsen did not run for Moscow City Council in the last election.  As far as I know, he hasn’t run for elective city office ever.  On what basis, then, would Mayor Chaney appoint him to John Dickinson’s vacant seat? 

In the last city council election, two candidates, Kit Craine and Dan Carscallen, came within a few hundred votes of the last candidate to be seated, Bill Lambert.  In the event of a vacancy on the council, surely Ms. Craine (who received slightly more votes) would be offered the position first, followed by Mr. Carscallen.  That would be the democratic thing to do, Mike Nelsen’s resume and his specious claims to John Dickinson’s council seat notwithstanding. 

Here’s an idea.  If the Moscow Chamber of Commerce president really believes that it is right and good to bypass the democratic process, then why not ask Mayor Chaney to go the autocratic full Monty?  Why not suggest that she offer Councilman Dickinson’s seat to first person she meets on Main Street wearing Nancy Reagan red?  Or why not ask Mayor Chaney to select her banker, her doctor, her podiatrist, or her favorite used car salesman?  I myself know a great barista at Moscow’s Coffee Creations who makes the most perfect dry cappuccinos.  She is every bit as entitled to sit on the Moscow City Council as Chamber President Mike Nelsen, and I believe I could make the case that she’s self-evidently more fit to serve.  Why?  Because she hasn’t had the audacity to ask for this appointment.  She hasn’t put herself forward and assumed it as her right.  She’s a well-mannered woman, easy to get along with and a pleasure to know.

John Dickinson was also easy-going and a pleasure to know.  He was a kind and generous man.  I would suggest that we all sit back and wait until a decent interval has passed before we ask Mayor Chaney to consider the future composition of the Moscow City Council.  Let’s wait until John Dickinson’s friends and family have had a chance to mourn and to reflect; until there has been a community memorial service; until the City is ready to try to find a replacement for an irreplaceable member of this community. 

In the meantime, perhaps Mike Nelsen should sign up for a course at the Wendy Ward Charm School.  It couldn’t hurt.

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