Our View: District 1 commissioner has earned another term

Incumbent Republican Todd Tondee and his chief challenger, Bruce Noble, largely agree on the substantive issues facing Kootenai County. Tondee says he has the experience advantage for the position. Noble says he would be a more forceful advocate.

Noble, a Democrat, is an engineer and land surveyor from Post Falls. He owns Noble Engineering and is a managing member of h2 Engineering & Surveying LLC. His main theme is improving government service by reforming its structure and hiring a professional administrator.

He would like to see county residents vote on a new form of government that would expand the number of commissioners from three to five, with each one serving in a part-time capacity for lower pay. He would like for commissioners to be elected by district rather than at large. He says such changes would modernize government in the face of population growth and give residents a go-to commissioner for problems. The administrator would be added to run the day-to-day operations and give residents and other governments a point person to communicate with.

Tondee, who owns Big Cheese Pizza in Post Falls, also supports an administrator position, but the other two commissioners are opposed. He would continue to push for that because he sees a significant efficiency benefit. He doubts the five-commissioner plan would be an improvement, because it’s a full-time job and the duties can’t be neatly divvied up. Plus, he’d rather spend money on services than expand the number of top-level officials.

The winner of the race will face enormous budgetary challenges, with a sagging economy that is slowing the flow of revenue from construction and other factors related to growth. Both support the two jail-related ballot issues, noting that the local option tax is the best financing mechanism. Both say the low pay of employees is hurting the county.

Tondee says his top priority would be to continue working on the comprehensive plan and making sure zoning ordinances follow it. He understands the importance of growth to the county’s budget but at the same time wants to head off sprawl. He was a leader in getting the state legislation necessary to pursue impact fees from development. He says the county will probably adopt those in 2009, which should take some pressure off the budget.

Voters in this race have two solid options, but we don’t believe Noble has made the case to remove the incumbent. Tondee has greater experience and has earned another term.