Bonner County Commission Mueller, Suttmeier, Clark, Clemons, Stevens

About the only thing the Republican candidates for Bonner County commissioner have in common is a dislike for the Rock Creek Mine.

The proposed Montana mine threatens water quality in Lake Pend Oreille and is bad for Bonner County, the candidates agree.

But when it comes to economic development, the budget and the county’s image, their views diverge. Voters will decide on Tuesday which view they favor.

In the District 1 commissioner’s race, rancher and former policeman Tom Suttmeier is taking on incumbent Bud Mueller to represent the southern part of Bonner County.

Jesse Keller of Sagle also will appear on the ballot, but he’s pulled out of the race and thrown his support behind Suttmeier.

In candidates forums, Suttmeier’s said he’s fed up with the “kindergarten antics” of the current board, and has vowed to bring professionalism and leadership to the position.

“I have a vision of where employees of the county can work freely without fear of intimidation and firing,” he said.

Mueller said he’s running again to get government spending under control. But he said he won’t have much luck unless a conservative is elected in the District 3 race, too.

Suttmeier, who retired in 1994 as commander of the Richmond Police Station north of San Francisco, agrees that fat should be cut from the budget.

But what each candidate considers fat differs. Mueller opposes the county spending tax dollars to help attract business. His fellow commissioners just pulled $200,000 out of the county’s litigation fund to create a economic development line item in the budget.

That’s OK with Suttmeier.

“If you’re going to create a climate for better education and job creation, you have to put up the money to do that,” he said.

Mueller would prefer to attract business by eliminating certain forms of government oversight - such as planning and zoning; “We need to revamp government so people want to come here,” he said.

In District 3, which stretches from Clark Fork to Sandpoint, Mueller has a kindred political spirit in Tom Clark.

Clark narrowly lost to Dale Van Stone in the 1998 election. Now Clark, Jerry Clemons and Bill Stevens are running to see who’ll take on Van Stone in the general election.

Clark owns a equestrian clothing manufacturing business in Priest River, but he’s also a lay expert in local government. He hosts a conservative radio show called TUFF Talk. TUFF stands for Taxpayers United For Freedom, a local group that questions government spending.

Despite his desire for more living wage jobs in the county, Clark doesn’t think the county should use tax dollars to attract business.

“The government dabbling in business is counterproductive,” he said. “The private sector generally does well on its own.”

New development also means more demands on government and, ultimately, the taxpayer, he said.

Clemons, a commercial accounts manager for Rockstad Ford, takes the opposite tack. He stood in support of the commissioner’s vote to help fund infrastructure improvements for Idaho Airgroup, which plans to build an airplane manufacturing plant at the Sandpoint Airport.

“I have plans to help with that anyway I can,” he said. “There has to be a payback. You have to make it up somehow in property taxes, or wages and taxes coming in.”

Stevens, a Sandpoint native and current chairman of the East Bonner County Library Board, takes a middle-of-road stance on economic development.

Some assistance, perhaps in the form of a loan, may be appropriate to get the infrastructure businesses need, he said.

“I don’t think we should be giving them a total break,” he said.

Another issue that sets the candidates apart is that of human rights and the county’s racist image. Clemons has made the image issue a staple of his campaign.

“It’s hurt our economy. It hurts our spirits,” he said. He’s vowed to do whatever he can to change it.

Stevens, too, would like to see positive action to turn the image around.

“In Germany, 5,000 Nazis took over the whole country because people didn’t care,” he said. “We all gotta care. We all have to say `Enough is enough.”’ Clark doesn’t share his opponents’ concerns about the county’s negative image.

“Everybody seems to think it’s a big issue,” Clark said.

“Commissioners can write resolutions, then what are they going to do after that? Do we want to dwell on it?”