Depot Vote Heats Up Commission Campaign Challengers Slam Panabaker For Approving Bnsf Proposal

Two Coeur d’Alene men chose to run for the Kootenai County Commission after it voted to approve a controversial railroad refueling depot near Rathdrum.

Dick Panabaker, the incumbent commissioner from District 3, acknowledged after the March 6 decision that his vote to approve the Burlington Northern and Sante Fe Railway depot could allow his election opponents to “hammer the hell out of” him.

“There was a time I thought that,” Panabaker said recently. “But I think people understand that we did what we had to do. I think we did the best out of a tough situation.”

Greg Wells and Rich Piazza are trying to unseat Panabaker. Both are 53, own a business in Coeur d’Alene and list the depot as one of their major reasons for seeking office for the first time.

“That got me perturbed, especially when I found out another site was available,” Piazza said of the BNSF depot site located over the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Praire aquifer, the sole source of drinking water for 400,000 people.

Wells, who primarily is running as a tax relief candidate, also ripped the commission’s depot vote.

“That upset me terribly,” Wells said. “Maybe it’s time for somebody with a little different perspective.”

The race features Panabaker - who was allowed to run only after an Idaho judge in March delayed the voter-approved term limits law until it could be reviewed by the Idaho Supreme Court - and two political newcomers.

All three candidates expressed opinions about the depot, funding a proposed jail expansion and keeping property taxes in check.

Wells and Piazza said they hope Panabaker’s vote on the depot will backfire, especially since two county hearing examiners recommended denial and residents opposed the plan by more than 2-to-1.

“Frankly, Panabaker is probably not the opponent he was at one time,” Wells said. “Panabaker defied the will of the people.”

Wells acknowledged, however, that Panabaker has Republican party backing.

“It’s tough sledding for a guy like me, because I don’t have party support,” he said. “Let me put it this way - if your party affiliation prevents you from listening to the will of the people, then you have a real problem.”

Piazza likes his chances of succeeding Panabaker.

“From the people I’ve been talking to, I think (my chances) are darn good right now,” he said. “I think enough people want a change.”

Piazza said the commissioners received enough comment from residents to know they didn’t want the depot. Commissioners also approved the depot over hearing examiner Jean Debarbieris’ recommendation of denial.

“I saw the Jean Debarbieris report. We had a person who was a professional to give them an opinion and then they disregarded that opinion,” Piazza said.

Panabaker defended his vote to approve the depot - which was approved by Commissioner Dick Compton but opposed by Commissioner Ron Rankin.

“That hasn’t been fun,” he said of the issue. “I believe there are a lot of people who don’t understand what really happened there.”

Even before the vote, Panabaker warned residents that a no vote against the 500,000-gallon diesel refueling depot could eliminate a chance for the county to impose a list of conditions.

Those included requirements such as paying for an aquifer guardian for 10 years, finding an alternate drinking water source and shutting down operations if diesel fuel contamination is discovered in the ground water.

“People have to understand what our job is,” Panabaker said. “If we had turned them down without good reason, they could have sued us and won.

“People don’t understand sometimes that we have to consider these things when we make a decision.”

Another of Panabaker’s decisions - to defy voter-approved term limits - has Piazza and Wells swinging away.

“People voted in term limits and he’s running again. He doesn’t have to run, but a judge says he can,” Wells said.

Piazza would not criticize Panabaker’s decision to run. But he attacked 6th District Judge Randy Smith’s ruling.

“I think we should abide by what we vote on,” Piazza said. “If (judges) change it, they should put it back on the ballot and let voters decide.

“I’m for at least the will of the people.”

Panabaker argued that term limits would eliminate institutional knowledge that is necessary for efficient government.

“We have term limits if people vote,” he said. “I just wish more people would vote.”

Another decision that voters must make at the polls May 23 is how to fund the expansion of the Kootenai County Jail.

The ballot measure will ask voters whether they want a half-cent sales tax increase to expand the jail by 335 beds.

The sales tax would raise about $24 million over five years. Of that amount, $12 million would be used for the jail and $12 million would be used for property tax relief.

Commissioners have said construction will proceed regardless of how the vote turns out. That means if the sales tax is voted down, the county will raise property taxes.

Wells does not support the sales tax.

“Fundamentally, this county is supposed to operate on a balanced budget. That’s the law,” he said. “But this group of commissioners have developed what I call a credit card mentality.”

Wells does not dispute that the county needs a new jail. “(Commissioners) should set money aside each year until there is enough money to build it.”

Piazza also agreed that it appears the jail expansion is necessary.

“I think the public needs to decide how to pay for it,” he said. “I think if people get the correct information, they will make the right decision.”

Panabaker would rather spend the money on programs to keep children out of jail.

“I would have preferred not to build new buildings and jails,” he said. “But the reality is that those things needed to be done. You either address them or let them go and eventually they will come up and bite you.”

Wells and Piazza want to increase the $50,000 homeowners property tax exemption, but they offered no solutions to make up the lost revenue.

Wells, who would double that exemption, also supports exempting senior citizens from property taxes for their personal residence.

“I think (Ron Rankin) has been prevented from going forward with tax relief because Panabaker and Compton have been holding hands behind him,” he said.

Piazza, however, says the current commissioners have “done their job” on property taxes.

“We have had inflation of property values, and that (homeowners) exemption has stayed the same for the last 20 years,” Piazza said. “I think it’s time legislators should look at that and increase that a little bit.”

Panabaker said he has fulfilled his promise to hold taxes down, pointing out that the property tax levy rate is down 20 percent since he took office.

“Property values could have raised, but that has nothing to do with what we do,” he said. “Other than the Juvenile Detention Center, which voters passed, and the jail, we have not got back to the voters for help.”

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