Ada County was accused of breaking open meeting laws. What a special prosecutor said
.jpg "Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor said he found no evidence Ada County Commissioners Ryan Davidson, left, and Rod Beck, right, violated open meeting law when they selected Raúl Labrador, middle, for the Central District Health board.")
Canyon County Prosecutor Bryan Taylor said he found no evidence that Ada County violated open meeting laws with its selection of Raúl Labrador for the Central District Health board.
The GOP-led county commission’s selection of Labrador last month appeared to have been outside of a public meeting. That potentially could have been a violation of Idaho’s open meeting law, which sets the standards officials must operate by.
Commissioner Ryan Davidson said he and Commission Chair Rod Beck said during the Jan. 12 meeting that they were “both approached by Mr. Labrador” about the role. Commissioner Kendra Kenyon, the only Democrat on the commission, said that she felt it was “a little worrisome” that they appeared to have already decided on Labrador, who was present at the meeting.
Taylor found that conversations between Labrador and Davidson or Beck did take place before the new commissioners were sworn in one day earlier, on Jan. 11. But he said those did not violate state law.
“The Open Meeting Law does not, by its own terms, apply to discussions between candidates for office, commissioners-elect or private parties,” Taylor wrote in a Feb. 2 letter to Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts. “Accordingly, I have found no evidence that two or more sworn members of Ada County’s governing board engaged in deliberation towards a decision in violation of the Open Meetings Law in this matter.”
Taylor wrote that he believed any enforcement action taken against the commissioners would not lead to “any general advantage, additional process or outcome opportunity not already afforded.” He declined to pursue any “taxpayer-funded enforcement” action.
The Ada County Commission held another meeting Jan. 19, during which they discussed another candidate for the role — Dr. Sky Blue, one of the state’s top experts in infectious diseases — before ultimately voting 2-1 to re-appoint Labrador.
“I’m confident my original statement will stand, that there was no open meeting violation, and we’ll get vindication on that,” Beck said at that meeting. “We follow the law and didn’t do anything beyond the law.”
Taylor said in his letter that the second meeting when they considered another candidate “was intended to serve as self-recognition of any potential violation.”
In a statement, the Ada County commissioners said they appreciated Taylor “putting this matter to rest.”
“The Open Meetings Law in Idaho is critically important to government transparency,” the commissioners said their joint statement. “It is something the Board of Ada County Commissioners considers essential to governing and always follows. “
Labrador is a lawyer and a former member of the U.S. House who represented Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, which covers western Idaho from Canada to Nevada, including all of Canyon County and the western part of Ada County, for eight years. He was also a member of the Legislature representing District 14, which includes Eagle, where he lives, as well as Star, for two years.
Labrador was the chairman of the Idaho Republican Party from 2019 to 2020, when he resigned to start practicing law again. He is now a lawyer with Skaug Law in Nampa and serves as a lobbyist for several companies at the Idaho Statehouse.
He has repeatedly said he is against COVID-19 lockdowns. He called the use of masks “overrated,” came under fire last month after being photographed at a Boise mall while not wearing a mask, and was heavily criticized in 2017 when, during a Lewiston town hall, he said that “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care.” Labrador serves as a departure from former Commissioner Diana Lachiondo, who held the board seat before resigning at the end of term last month and who advocated for stricter health measures.
Commissioners from Central District Health’s member counties voted to approve his appointment last week, a requirement because Labrador is not an elected official. In his new role, he will help make decisions not only for Ada County but also for Boise, Valley and Elmore counties.
This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 10:30 AM.
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