All's Well That Ends Well

Ralph Jones wins the $1000 raffle prize. News reached me a few minutes ago from the Law offices of Doug Spruance, attorney-at-law. In a fruitful conversation last Friday, I pointed out the points of law that my position was standing on. We had a good exchange of ideas, and he followed my suggestion which was, "call the State of Idaho Bingo & Raffle Advisory Board." He did, and the state properly informed him that there was no law broken in a board member receiving the prize.

Some organizations do prohibit officers and or employees from participating in these types of fund raisers as a matter of policy. The purpose is of course to avoid the appearance of impropriety. In the case of our small town and the difficulty in fund raising, I would advise against doing anything that would discourage the more active members in our community from participating.

During the period between July 5, the day of the drawing and today, many hurtful things have been said to and about pretty much everyone involved, some in writing. Mr. Spruance suggested that gloating or in any other way, stepping on those that delayed the process, perhaps ill advised, but apparently done in good faith, would be non-productive and divisive. I agree. We need to stop committing communal suicide. Perhaps I have been more passionate about this that I could have been. Others have seen to it that the errors of my ways didn't go unnoticed. There have been mean spirited statements from many different sources. We need to go back and recapture the good will that along the way got trashed in the fight for justice.