Candidate selected as interim sheriff

The Boundary County commissioners, by a split vote, appointed Greg Sprungl on Wednesday to be acting sheriff for the rest of the year even though Sprungl is in a contested three-way general election for a four-year term as sheriff.

The commissioners chose Sprungl from a list of three candidates the Boundary County Republican Central Committee presented to replace Sheriff George Voyles, who lost to Sprungl in the May GOP primary and abruptly left the country in late August. He resigned with four months left in his term to take a job in Kuwait.

The others nominated by the Republican Central Committee were patrol Cpl. Dave Schuman and Chief Deputy Charlie Dennis, for whom Voyles had lobbied in a letter of resignation delivered to the commissioners after he already had left.

Sprungl said, “This is absolutely the last thing I’d like to have had happen right before the election. I’m not happy George left early and created a situation where they needed to fill it.”

Sprungl defeated Voyles by 23 votes in a GOP primary that drew a record turnout. He is running in the general election against probation officer Kevin McDonald, a Democrat, and former Arizona and Alaska law enforcement officer Geoff Palmer.

Palmer, a Republican, is running as an independent. He had considered tossing his hat in the ring to fill out the remainder of Voyles’ term, but withdrew last week and challenged Sprungl to do the same, telling a Bonners Ferry newspaper, “I feel it is unfair for a candidate to gain office in this manner.”

“The thought went through my head,” Sprungl said. “But the other side is, it’s very important to show you want the job. If you ignore an appointment process then maybe people will think you’re not that interested.”

Palmer was not available for comment Wednesday. McDonald said he didn’t wish to comment.

“It’s only a process that’s in place for replacement. The voters will decide what’s fair or not,” McDonald said.

Sprungl, Dennis and Schuman were interviewed by the commissioners Wednesday morning.

“All three would have been qualified to be sheriff. The one that I thought to be most qualified is Greg Sprungl,” commission chairman Ron Smith said.

Smith and Commissioner Dan Dinning voted for Sprungl, who was appointed Boundary County sheriff in similar circumstances 10 years ago and then was elected to the post before losing to Voyles in 2000. In recent years Sprungl joined an international law enforcement agency and spent two years working with a police force in Kosovo. Since returning to Idaho, he’s worked for the city of Bonners Ferry Police Department, quitting that job Wednesday to be sworn in as sheriff.

Walt Kirby, who said he also thinks Sprungl is the best-qualified, cast the dissenting vote, citing the appearance of fairness with the general election just six weeks away.

In a prepared statement, Kirby wrote “… to avoid even the slightest appearance of political chicanery, we should take a neutral position and appoint the current chief deputy, Mr. Dennis, … to serve the remainder of the vacant term.”

Smith said he realizes the election is approaching. But, he added, the commissioners’ choices were limited in the partisan process of filling vacancies in elected offices. If the commissioners didn’t select any of the three choices presented by the GOP central committee, the party would name the replacement and it is clear they would have chosen Sprungl, said Smith, who is Republican as are all the county commissioners.

Choosing Sprungl validates the choice of voters who cast ballots in the GOP primary, Smith said. “There is a sentiment that this is who the Republicans wanted. If we selected one of the other two, do we send a message that we think Greg Sprungl is not qualified?

“We are charged with putting the most qualified one in there, and that’s what we did. Whether that’s fair or not, that’s not our perception,” Smith said.

Dennis Swenson, chairman of Boundary County’s seven-member GOP central committee, said the partisan replacement process for elected officials is not always seen as fair, but it works.

“Fairness doesn’t enter into this. This is a political appointment, that’s the bottom line. But it is a process in place that works,” Swenson said, noting the Democrats appointed a replacement for Boundary County clerk and the GOP for the county prosecutor in recent years.

Neither of those appointees was near the end of a contested election. Replacing the sheriff “just prior to the election probably makes it look more political,” Swenson said. But “When Voyles resigned it took a lot of people by surprise. It was a no-win situation for everybody. It was a tough decision to make.”

Sprungl said he was busy swearing in deputies Wednesday and was looking forward to being in on the beginning of 2005 budget negotiations for the sheriff’s office.

“I don’t know if this is an advantage or disadvantage. It’s not convenient for anybody,” he said.