Like low-digit plates? Take a number
BOISE – Some do it out of pride. Others out of convenience or because they have a bad memory. Some don’t do anything at all – they inherited theirs.
Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: None of these people would be happy if Idaho got rid of county-designated license plates and thwarted the ability to seek four-, three-, even two- and one-
digit plates.
“I would hate to be the legislator who voted in favor of a bill like that,” said Kootenai County Assessor Mike Mc-Dowell, whose office keeps track of low license plate numbers as they become available.
The state could implement a new process for making license plates as early as next year. This possible switch from embossed plates to a digital processing method offered by 3M had some people concerned it could lead to a statewide numbering system instead of the countywide one.
But lawmakers say not to worry, that they understand the importance of the county designations. Though many fought to limit the number of specialty plates, they know they can’t mess with the sacred tradition of seeking lower-numbered plates.
“I would say 75 percent of the people want a county identifier, even on the specialty plates,” said Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Skip Brandt, R-Kooskia.
The Legislature has control over how license plates are numbered and what is or isn’t on them. Brandt said the new digital process would allow putting county stamps in a top corner of the plates while keeping the current numbering system, making it possible to identify which county any vehicle is from, even ones with vanity plates or specialty plates, which have their own numbering systems.
This would fit well with Idaho’s love for county designations, McDowell said.
The numbering system is very popular, with an average 55 peo-ple per month coming into McDowell’s office to request a lower-number license plate, he said.
“I think there’s a certain amount of pride that that’s their home county,” McDowell said. “And around here, there seems to be a great deal of new folks.”
But the reasons aren’t all the same, he said. Some feel it’s a way of showing their longtime county residency. Others want the number to match their house address or wedding date or simply want something that’s easy to remember.
“People can even pass their low-number plates on to family,” McDowell said.
Rep. Frank Henderson, the former Republican mayor of Post Falls and a three-term Kootenai County commissioner, held the coveted K1 license plate for 18 years.
When he switched to NOV549 a couple of years ago to recognize the day he married his wife, he gave K1 to Dave Smith of Dave Smith Motors.
Smith had allowed Henderson to place the first sewage treatment plant in Post Falls near his car lot, and Henderson credits that move with turning Post Falls into what he said will become the most populated city in Idaho.
“Because he did that for the city, I called and asked him if he had an interest,” Henderson said. “Besides, I’d had it for 18 years. Everybody (who) saw K1, they knew who was driving.”
Coeur d’Alene resident Paul Huetter said he was just one day away from scooping up the K1 plate before Henderson got it back in 1985. Huetter has sported K2 for the past 33 years.
McDowell said county employees often have an advantage when it comes to snagging the low numbers because it is not advertised when new numbers become available. People find out about available numbers through word-of-mouth, Mc-Dowell said, which starts with county employees.
“We hardly have a fair chance at it,” said Coeur d’Alene resident Dennis Grant, who works for the city’s engineering department.
Grant got license plate K115 15 years ago.
“Ever since, I’ve been enthralled in trying to get a low number,” Grant said.
Coeur d’Alene Water Superintendent Jim Markley, who follows the distribution of the low numbers closely and has a number lower than Grant’s, has offered Grant his plate number upon his death.
Grant thought he was joking, but it turns out that is allowed – and McDowell said it’s been done before.
“Maybe I’ll take him up on his offer then,” Grant said.
McDowell called Idaho’s love of low-numbered plates “just kind of one of those odd things.” Many states don’t have a countywide numbering system and instead use a series of numbers and letters. Huetter said he was stopped in Washington by a curious police officer wondering what K2 meant.
“He thought I was the governor or something,” Huetter said.
McDowell encouraged anyone interested to call his office about finding a low-digit plate.
City and county officials may be the first to know about availability, but private citizens who keep their ears open can score big with a low number, Mc-Dowell said.
“You’d be surprised at how many people do get an understanding of that just through word of mouth,” he said.