District 4

State Senate

The senator in District 4 represents residents of Coeur d’Alene. The Legislature convenes annually in January.

Term: Two years.

Annual salary: $15,646 a year, plus housing expenses during the session and $1,700 for office expenses.

The race

Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, faces competition from nearly every angle in his campaign for a fourth term in the Idaho Senate. Three candidates are vying to oust the chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

Democrat Steven Foxx argues that Goedde uses his power “in a way that’s not productive for education or Idaho.”

Political newcomer Jeremy Boggess is running as an independent, saying voters are disillusioned with Republicans and Democrats. “We need to get more people involved in how taxes and resources should be utilized,” Boggess said.

Constitution Party candidate Ray Writz wants the Legislature to hold to the Founding Fathers’ vision and not stray from the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. He said both documents are biblically based and the Ten Commandments are the foundation of all laws. He wants morality in public office.

“I think we need to shake up the political spectrum,” said Writz, who is running his first campaign. “We need to keep the two parties on their toes.”

Goedde is unfazed by the competition, relying on his experience and seniority. “It helps to know the players. The longer you’ve been there, the easier it is to get things done,” he said.

One of his main priorities is to carve out a statewide community college system, which the Legislature failed to do last session. Goedde wants a state system that would preserve local control for North Idaho College, one of only two community colleges in the state.

Goedde opposes Proposition 1, which is also on the November ballot and would force lawmakers to increase funding for schools by an estimated $219 million next year.

The language doesn’t give the Legislature direction on where to find the money, he said. Instead, Goedde advocates paying teachers based on their performance, saying that would reward teachers who excel.

Foxx supports Proposition 1, contending it would put the burden on the Legislature to seriously look at education funding.

He said it would increase teacher pay, likely attracting more math and science instructors and providing money for school counselors.

Foxx, who recently quit his job as a mental health advocate, said the state needs to work with high-risk children to keep them from falling through the cracks.

As for the community college system, Foxx doesn’t trust the GOP’s motive for giving property taxpayers an income tax credit for paying into a community college system.

He pointed out that during the August special session on property tax relief, the Republicans shifted some property tax burden to sales tax, which isn’t deductible.

Foxx also advocates smart growth, giving cities and counties tools to plan and not giving breaks to big developers.

Writz said government should never tax necessities such as food and medicine. He said government spends too much money, and too many people rely on the government for needs they should provide themselves.

Boggess said the state needs to restructure its budgeting system before even considering raising taxes.

One of his top issues is stronger sex-offender laws and creating categories for different levels of sex offenders. He also wants Idaho to focus on finding renewable sources of energy.

Independent Party candidate Jeremy Boggess, 35, Coeur d’Alene: “People want a more moderate view. I want to bring more people into the government process.”

Democrat Steven Foxx, 29, Coeur d’Alene: “I’m committed to really looking at the property tax (system) from a non-special-interest point of view. It should be what’s the best thing for Idaho.”

Republican, 57, John Goedde, Coeur d’Alene: “We need to keep community colleges in the spotlight.”

Constitution Party candidate Ray Writz, 55, Coeur d’Alene: “If God is first, then you have the proper perspective where you can help others out in the correct way.”

State House

The two House members in District 4 represent residents of Coeur d’Alene. One of the seats is contested this year. The Legislature convenes annually in January.

Term: Two years.

Annual salary: $15,646 a year, plus expenses for housing during the session and $1,700 for office expenses.

The races

Seat A

They both have served one term in the Idaho House, and they both want to do it again. So it’s up to voters to decide whether former Rep. Bonnie Douglas, a Democrat, gets the job to represent Coeur d’Alene in District 4, House Seat A, or if it Republican Rep. Marge Chadderdon should stay in the seat.

Chadderdon was elected in 2004 and signed on to all the major Republican legislation, especially supporting the August special session in which lawmakers approved property tax relief. That measure included removing school operation and maintenance costs from property tax rolls and replacing the money by increasing the sales tax by 1 cent.

Douglas opposed the session and raising the sales tax because she said it harms the poorest residents. She wants the increase overturned.

If re-elected, Chadderdon plans to back legislation by Republican lawmakers in neighboring District 5, which covers Post Falls, to average property values over five years to reduce assessment spikes. She also supports their push to increase the grocery credit, an alternative to the Democrats’ plan to eliminate sales tax on food.

She also wants to bring awareness to women’s cardiovascular issues.

Douglas lost her seat in the 2004 Democratic primary when Coeur d’Alene City Attorney Mike Gridley won. She said that her message revolves around working, middle-class families and that her big issues are affordable housing and health care, education and living wages. Douglas criticized Chadderdon for “rubber-stamping” anything the Republican Party backs.

Douglas wants the state to offer tax credits for tuition to help low-income people go to college and tax incentives for developers to provide more low-income housing. She said that poverty in Kootenai County has increased about 20 percent since 1994 and that the area is becoming bifurcated.

“It’s a sad day if downtown is all part-time residents, and the businesses are places where locals can’t afford to shop,” Douglas said.

Unlike Chadderdon, Douglas supports Proposition 1, which is also on the ballot and would force lawmakers to increase funding for schools by an amount equal to what a 1-cent sales tax increase would raise.

Republican Marge Chadderdon, 68, Coeur d’Alene: “I work well with most people, and I’m not opposed to listening to their side. It’s like being a juror. You have to weigh the issues.”

Democrat Bonnie Douglas, 58, Coeur d’Alene: “I have passion. There’s more to do than the bidding of the party. I’m a person who looks at each bill.”

Seat B

Property taxes are the buzz in this Coeur d’Alene race.

Rep. George Sayler, the only elected Democrat from Kootenai County in the Idaho Legislature, is firm in his belief that raising the sales tax wasn’t the best way to get property tax relief.

His Republican opponent, political newcomer Sharon Culbreth, advocates a California-style initiative to cap property tax increases at 1 percent a year – an idea that didn’t get enough signatures to get on the ballot. Now the Coeur d’Alene real estate agent wants to take the fight to the Legislature.

Sayler was the only North Idaho lawmaker to vote against Gov. Jim Risch’s relief plan passed in August. He backed Democrats’ alternative, which would have given property tax relief only to residential property owners, not businesses. That plan wouldn’t have required a 1 percent sales tax increase.

“I knew when I made the vote it would be politically risky,” said Sayler, the assistant minority leader. “But I still thought it was the right vote. I had to decide what was more important.”

Culbreth argues that businesses deserved property tax relief just as much as homeowners because they create jobs.

Sayler also supports eliminating the sales tax on food and reviewing all the current sales tax exemptions. Besides taxes, he said his main goal is to preserve and improve the quality of life, which he defines as good jobs, educational excellence and a clean environment.

He also supports increasing the minimum wage.

Culbreth supports the grocery credit option but is opposed to boosting the minimum wage.

Culbreth denounces critics who call her a one-issue candidate, but she admits property taxes are “her baby.” She’s also interested in protecting local water rights and fighting the methamphetamine epidemic by giving abusers treatment instead of just jail time.

She wants to work with Post Falls lawmakers to cap property taxes of longtime residents until they sell their homes or die. She also supports averaging property values over five years so homeowners are not taken off-guard by unexpected tax increases.

Republican Sharon Culbreth, 64, Coeur d’Alene: “To put these people in a position where they have to leave because of (high) taxes is a sin.”

Democrat George Sayler, 62, Coeur d’Alene: “I’m working hard to represent this area with openness, reason and balance.”