Jim Weatherby

Jim Weatherby, who died on February 20, was visible for decades to many people in Idaho as the go-to “observer” or “analyst” of Idaho government and politics – probably most often on public television but elsewhere too, electronic and print, not to mention lots of panels, association events and much more.

Probably at least some of the people who watched and listened wondered: Why him? What makes his pontifications so worth our attention?

Several things did, and I can testify to them.

Jim was a friend of long standing, and I worked with him on a number of projects, including a book we wrote called Governing Idaho (published by Caxton Press). Among Jim’s other fine qualities I can list patience, because the process from outline to actual printing of that book took more than a decade. But we spent many of those hours – and before and since our work on that book – consuming lots of coffee and lunches while hashing over Idaho’s political and government activities.

His viewpoint was valuable to me as it was to other people, not least in the days when I was intensively reporting on Idaho politics. Those insights tended to be so useful partly because he came at the subject from more directions than I did.

First, the academic. He had a doctorate in political science (from the University of Idaho, and hence the frequent reference as Dr. Weatherby), and for years was on the faculty at Boise State University, but his approach was that of a methodical researcher: Understanding how things are supposed to work, whether they actually do and why they often don’t, observing and learning how people actually use this system of government. If Jim’s mindset was academic– and his thinking was appropriately rigorous –  it was not especially theoretical: It was highly practical.

That happened partly because, second, he also was a practitioner in government and politics. That tended to be glossed over in recent decades, but he lobbied for the state’s cities association and helped other groups, and was highly effective at the legislature because he understood the practice of politics.

A few years ago, after receiving a civic award, he remarked to one group, “I was a lobbyist for 15 years, and to be praised for being so kind – I was told on more than one occasion that I was too nice a guy to be a lobbyist – I took great offense at that.” His manner was so friendly, almost diffident, that you wouldn’t expect hardball from him. But he was capable of it when occasion arose.

He learned from experience, and from absorbing hardball too. On another occasion (in another book on politics he co-wrote with former legislator Mark Stubbs and myself) he talked about a bill he’d worked on as executive director of the Association of Idaho Cities relating to property tax exemptions. The bill seemed poised for passage on a Friday, but died the following Monday. Why? “Apparently there were a lot of sermons preached,” he said. “Everyone is a potential lobbyist, whether a preacher or a parishioner. It just depends on the issue.”

So he understood how the machinery is intended to work, and how it does work in practice.

And then he understood the people. He worked with an endless number of people and groups covering the spectrum of publicly-involved people around Idaho. When I wanted a sense of individual people involved in Idaho government and what they were up to and why, Jim would know.

And then, for decades, he kept refining all that, by talking with people and thinking through and delivering his well-considered takes on what was happening. Writing and presenting about a topic usually hones (not always, but it did in Jim’s case) your thinking and understanding of it. What might have sounded off-the-cuff usually had been extensively polished over time.

Like a lot of people, I always found Jim Weatherby’s observations well worth the attention paid. Kudos to him for the illumination he brought the state over so many years.

 

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