Kootenai County Commission

A Democrat and an independent are trying to unseat two Republican incumbents on the Kootenai County Comission.

Democrat Rob Beck, who spent 17 years as Coeur d’Alene’s personnel director, hopes to unseat Commissioner Ron Rankin, who is finishing his first, two-year term.

Independent Mike Stine, a building services specialist for Target, is challenging Dick Panabaker, who is completing a four-year term.

Commission terms are staggered so that two positions are up for re-election every other year. The third commissioner serves a four-year term. The Rankin-Beck race is for a coveted four-year term.

Beck, 51, says he will bring balance and perspective to county decision-making.

“To me, leadership demands respect. If I’m going to be in a leadership position, that means I need to respect my office, constituents and those who feel about things differently than I do,” Beck said.

Beck would like to bring more good-paying jobs to the county while preserving and protecting natural resources.

Beck says years in personnel management have taught him to effectively manage taxpayers’ money. After 17 years as personnel director, Beck ended his career by recommending his own position be cut to save money.

Beck has criticized Rankin for not cutting property taxes after promising to do so and for symbolically voting against a pay raise he knew he’d receive anyway.

Rankin, 69, responds that Beck is in no position to criticize him when he worked in a job for 17 years that “wasn’t necessary,” referring to Beck’s elimination of his former position.

Rankin says he’s proud of his record.

The anti-tax hound said his proudest accomplishment was helping to reduce property tax assessments by millions of dollars. He says he’s also helped the county cut costs on insurance premiums, pushed through the county’s official-English policy and stood firm when CrownPacific wanted to reduce its property tax assessment from $10 million to $3.5 million.

Rankin’s No. 1 priority for his next term, he said, is to overhaul the county’s growing criminal justice system to make it more efficient.

“Most of the people in this county have a feel for where I come down on any issue,” Rankin said. “I’m conservative and I’m consistent.”

Mike Stine became interested in public office when the commissioners changed the zoning on land near his house from rural residential to light industrial, paving the way for a storage facility to be built.

Stine was one of a group of neighbors angry about the move and said at the time that he’d “make sure the commissioners are not re-elected.”

Stine blasts commissioners for ignoring the comprehensive plan, saying they change zoning on whims from developers, ruining the rural lifestyle of county residents.

He says too much development is allowed before the infrastructure is in place to support it.

Incumbent Panabaker responds that Stine is a single-issue candidate who is unaware of the depth of the job. A third generation Idahoan whose grandparents came here in 1919, Panabaker says growth will inevitably force changes to the comprehensive plan.

Calling himself a “team-builder,” Panabaker said during his tenure the county’s new administration building has been built and the courthouse has been remodeled.

The airport is on its way to self-sufficiency and the county is working on solving its criminal justice problems.

“I’ve had a part in all of that stuff,” Panabaker said. “I don’t know what I could’ve done better.”