Commission Scuttles Vote On Reforms Officials Kill Proposals Of Citizens Advisory Group

Voters won’t see a proposal for expanding the Kootenai County Commission and appointing, instead of electing, six major county officials on the 1998 general election ballot.

Kootenai County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously killed a proposal advanced by a nine-member citizens group, citing legal problems, public opposition and too little time to consider the complexities of the issue. The commissioners may use the proposal as a guideline for future changes in county government.

“I think we ought to back off a little bit and look a little closer” to make sure whatever advances to the ballot is legally defensible, Commissioner Dick Panabaker said.

Commissioner Ron Rankin was more blunt. “It was ill-conceived, ill-advised, ill-timed and illogical,” Rankin said. “Their conclusions defy all reason…they (the citizens group) didn’t spend five minutes in any county department.”

Members of the Optional Forms of Government Study Commission are angry and disappointed.

“The self-interests and the interests of the current political structure have prevented the broader interests of improving county government,” said Mike Anderson, a retired telecommunications executive who was chairman of the group. “Apparently the commissioners feel that they are better able to decide the viability of our proposal than are the citizens of the county.”

Legal problems are hard to believe, considering the citizens group presented options for changing county government offered by the Legislature, Anderson said. The citizens group initially was told its proposal would be forwarded to the voters without alteration.

“We’ve been, frankly, squashed and made to look like the naive people we were for believing it,” he said.

The proposal could be put on the ballot by citizen initiative. That would require petitions with signatures from about 8,150 registered voters.

The citizens group was appointed a year ago, on the heels of a 1994 statewide ballot initiative and subsequent laws passed by the 1995 Legislature. After nine months of work, the group recommended Kootenai County have five county commissioners instead of three.

The proposal also called for hiring a county manager who, in conjunction with the commissioners, would appoint the sheriff, prosecutor, assessor, clerk-auditor, treasurer and coroner.

Several voices emerged against the plan, including county Prosecutor Bill Douglas.

“County prosecutors, like judges, have broad criminal jurisdiction and discretion, and must never be placed in a position where the prosecutor’s accountability lies with a local appointing body which has the power to hire, supervise and fire the county prosecutor,” Douglas said in a letter to county commissioners.

Some 50 people called the commissioners about the issue, most in opposition to the proposed changes, said commission Chairman Dick Compton.

Conversely, a powerful area lobby, Concerned Businesses of North Idaho, weighed in to support putting the measure on the ballot as proposed. Concerned Businesses President Tom Richards declined comment after Tuesday’s vote.

The county commissioners had 30 days to decide what to do with the proposal. They intended to hold a public hearing, but hearing property tax appeals and conducting the regular county business interfered, Compton explained.

The issue is just too complicated to deal with in 30 days, he added.

Compton lauded members of the study group “for their dedication and willingness to serve their community.” But “changing the status of the top management while leaving the rest unchanged doesn’t appear to address the real potential for improvement.”

, DataTimes