Bouner County Commission Seth Batt, Tom Suttmeier; Jerry Clemons, Craig Mooney, Dale Van Stone

Newcomers to Bonner County politics are promising to help shape up the county’s image and infrastructure.

In both races for Bonner County Commissioner, voters can choose between the new faces, or long-time county residents.

In the District 1 race, voters are assured a new commissioner. Former Sandpoint Police officer Seth Batt, a Democrat, is taking on Republican Tom Suttmeier, a retired commanding officer of the police department in Richmond, Calif.

Batt worked in commercial construction after policing, and spent 20 years as a construction superintendent in North Idaho. That experience prepared him for making decisions about county roads, infrastructure and big budgets, he said.

“I’ve driven all the county roads,” he said recently. “`I feel like I know what we need.”

Batt said he favors enforcement of land use ordinances to protect property owners, but he doesn’t support adding new land use laws to the books.

Suttmeier spent 25 years in public safety, much in an administrative role, and moved to Bonner County in 1993, where he operates a horse ranch.

Suttmeier defeated incumbent Bud Mueller in the primary election, helped in part by cross-over votes from Democrats.

Suttmeier proposes a bond issue to help get Bonner County roads paved, saying that the county can’t get ahead at the current rate of paving and repair.

“Fix ‘em once. Fix ‘em right,” he said at a recent forum.

He’s also a big proponent of economic development efforts and doesn’t oppose spending county money to attract clean industry. He also wants to require building inspections for homes, but not by reinstating a building department.

The District 3 race is a three-way contest between incumbent Democrat Dale Van Stone, Republican Jerry Clemons and independent Craig Mooney.

Mooney, a 20-year resident, was motivated to run by the problems he’s had trying to influence county government. Mooney was an outspoken opponent of placing a Dumpster site at Denton Slough, a location that Van Stone favored.

Mooney’s also worried about runaway growth in Bonner County and thinks the county should have a broad-based citizens committee rewriting the county’s comprehensive plan - not an engineering consultant.

Clemons was motivated to run initially because of his concerns about the county’s racist image. He moved here nearly four years ago following a career of real estate management and construction in the Chicago area.

He touts his business background as the perfect primer for being a commissioner.

Clemons wants to hire a grant writer for the county to bring state and federal money in for public projects. He wants to crack down on violations to planning and zoning violations, and streamline government.

And, like Suttmeier, he’s interested in economic growth; “You can’t eat the scenery here in Bonner County.”

Van Stone, a Hope-area farmer, is a lifelong county resident seeking his third term in office. He takes a realist approach to many issues, such as regulating growth.

“You can’t keep people out,” he said recently. “Development is probably the prime real estate value in the county.”

He also defends his efforts to upgrade county roads, which includes supporting a more than $400,000 increase in the county road and bridge budget last year.

And while many county residents worry about the county collecting and spending too much money, Van Stone points out that the county’s tax rates are among the lowest in Idaho.

“I’ve felt we’ve done a good job by keeping our taxes at a reasonable rate,” he said.