POCATELLO — When Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad held a recent town hall meeting to discuss the concrete levee system on the Portneuf River and efforts to comply with Army Corps of Engineer standards, one of those who wanted to address the city council was Idaho Lorax.

    He didn't get much of an opportunity.

    After addressing the council about his concerns about removing vegetation along the entire run of the river through town, a pending enviromental fair and other issues, Mayor Blad had Lorax removed from the meeting.

    A short while after leaving the podium, two Pocatello police officers entered city council chambers and escorted Lorax outside.

    “He pushed the panic button,” Lorax said about the mayor.

    Mayor Blad said the removal of Lorax was justified because he was wondering off the topic of the town hall meeting.

    “He was disruptive and not talking about the subject at hand, so I had him removed,” Blad said, adding he didn’t push a panic button.

    “City staff went over to the police department to request them to come over,” Blad said. This caused a delayed response and Lorax had returned to a seat in the audience when officers did arrive.

    “It took a few minutes for them to get here, but I assumed he would disrupt and meeting again,” the mayor said.

    Lorax is a fixture at city council meetings where he frequently calls upon the city to do something about removing radioactive slag that was commonly used in street, alley and even playground construction more than two decades ago.

    Lorax has also been critical of efforts by the city to remove trees and other plant growth along the Portneuf River and is trying to get the city to officially recognize People's Park, a portion of city-owned land along the Portneuf River on the northern edge of town.

    Lorax's appearances at city council meeting have included his being dressed in a full HAZMAT suit and even taking his entire three minutes of public comment time saying absolutely nothing in a moment of silence against bullying.

    But at the recent meeting on the levee system, Mayor Blad minimized any verbal exchange that Lorax may have had in store for city leaders. And now Lorax wants to press criminal charges against Blad.

    “I wasn't doing anything wrong and Brian just overreacted,” Lorax said. “He didn't need to kick me out.”

    Idaho Lorax was not charged with any crime after he was removed from council chambers, but he said officers told him he wasn't welcomed back into that meeting.

    In a press release to the Journal called “Corruption in Pocatello,” Lorax and the

People's Peace Park Neighborhood Association and Watch said they want to file charges against Mayor Blad and Director of the Portneuf Greenway Foundation Tamera Code. Lorax said charges against Blad include malicious harassment for having him removed from the public meeting without cause.

    The charges of destruction of public property Lorax wants to file against Code and Blad have to do with the removal of trees and shrubs along the Portneuf and boulders from city property that Lorax calls People's Park.

    Lorax said he has met with the city police to pursue the criminal complaints, but has not signed any formal citations. However, Lorax has filed a candidate's petition and will be a mayoral candidate this November.

    Mayor Blad admitted his patience with Lorax is wearing thin.

    “He does occupy a lot of city employees’ time,” Blad said, adding as mayor, he will not tolerate comments from the Lorax that simply degrade city employees.

    The next step would be to charge him with trespass on city property and I don’t want to do that,” Blad said.