Johnson, Panabaker Lead Commission Race Johnson Decries Flier Endorsing Krieg

Gus Johnson and Dick Panabaker were leading races late Tuesday to fill two of three seats on the Kootenai County Commission.

With ballots from several precincts still uncounted, incumbent Panabaker was leading challengers Rich Piazza and Greg Wells to hold his seat on the three-person commission.

With 47 of 53 precincts reporting, the vote was:

Panabaker, 45 percent.

Piazza, 37 percent.

Wells, 18 percent.

“I’m very happy,” Panabaker said. “It reaffirms my faith in the voters. Because of the misinformation over the railroad depot, it scared me.”

In the other race, Post Falls Mayor Gus Johnson was leading a fourman race to replace Dick Compton, who chose not to run.

With 47 of 53 precincts reporting, the vote was:

Johnson, 43 percent.

Kevin Krieg, 33 percent

Merlin Berger, 18 percent

Bob Hunt, 6 percent.

Johnson said he ran his race on issues and he denounced a flier sent out this weekend endorsing Krieg and a list of other conservative candidates. That flier is now under investigation by the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office.

“I feel (county voters) have responded to a lot of the things that happened in the last few days,” Johnson said. “Kootenai County residents are telling the other faction that they are not going to put up with this anymore.”

Johnson praised Berger’s campaign for taking the “high road.”

“(Berger) lives in Post Falls. I wish he would look at coming into city government,” Johnson said.

Panabaker’s challengers opposed the controversial vote by the commission to approve the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway refueling depot near Rathdrum.

The commission’s 2-1 vote this year went against several thousand residents who signed petitions opposing the depot and two hearing examiners’ recommendations against it.

Both Piazza and Wells said the vote spurred them to challenge Panabaker, a former Hayden mayor who was only able to run because of a judge’s ruling in March that delayed the effects of voter-approved term limits.

Panabaker said the votes Wells received made the race close.

“I think (Wells’ votes) were pulled off me,” he said. “I think they were people who probably would have voted for me if it wasn’t for the railroad thing.”

In the District 1 race, Johnson raised the most money and earned the endorsement of the powerful business group, Concerned Businesses of North Idaho.

Johnson, a locked-out Kaiser Aluminum employee, faced a spirited challenge from Krieg, who works as a Kaiser replacement worker.

Neither candidate made Kaiser a campaign issue, but unsigned letters were circulated in the Post Falls area labeling Krieg “a scab” who could not be trusted.

Berger also earned the support of many prominent businesses and received Compton’s endorsement.

Hunt, who did not receive campaign donations, was on his way to losing his sixth election in six tries.