Taggart A Good Choice, But …

Clerk Tom Taggart should do an excellent job as Kootenai County’s first administrator. The Democrat’s office functions as well as any at the courthouse, and he was a key force in holding the fiscal 1996 budget line. But that doesn’t mean the process used to select him was a good one. In fact, there was no process at all. The all-Republican County Commission didn’t seek applications for the position. Nor did it wait until next year when voters will decide how to redesign county government. The commissioners simply felt a $53,000 administrator is needed to handle the office’s day-to-day operations. And Taggart was their man. The commissioners could be right. A good administrator can save his salary many times over. Now, residents should decide whether the county needs three full-time commissioners, at $41,000 apiece, simply to set policy.

‘The Fiddlers Three’ shock GOP partisans

By the way, county Republicans aren’t as thrilled as local Democrats by the bipartisanship shown in Taggart’s selection. In fact, they feel betrayed. Apparently, Commissioner Dick Compton let Republican Chairwoman Kathy Sims know about the move in a phone call late Friday morning - shortly before Taggart announced the change at the very partisan Democratic Club luncheon. Republicans can’t believe “The Fiddlers Three” allowed Democrats a bigger toehold in the courthouse - Taggart by appointment and his Democratic replacement in the clerk’s office. (Former state Sen. Barbara Chamberlain has been mentioned as one of three who might make the Democrats’ short list for the post.) Of course, Taggart swears on a stack of Bibles he’ll be non-partisan as long as he’s administrator. We’ll see. We’ll also see during spring’s Republican primaries, involving Commissioners Compton and Bob Macdonald, if their party is willing to let bygones be bygones.

United Way drive exposes state fat

Ol’ tax bulldog Ron Rankin is right: The state has no business loaning employees to work on a United Way campaign. Said Rankin: “It’s bad policy. It’s nice. But it’s wrong. And I don’t think it’s legal.” Legal or not, state taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to underwrite non-profit fund raising - no matter how noble the cause. Yet, the state of Idaho annually loans two or three executives for two months to the Ada County United Way drive. To be fair, the state should loan employees to United Way drives in all 44 counties as well as to other worthy charities. Of course, then taxpayers might question the value of a state employee who isn’t needed two months per year.

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