Idaho’s Kootenai County can be compared to an ordinary teenager who suddenly becomes a singing idol or an acting sensation. Its popularity is off the charts. From 1996 to 2006, its population grew 36 percent, from 96,590 to 131,507, and median housing prices increased from $120,000 in 1999 to $226,000 in 2006. In the next decade, 60,500 new residents are and 19,900 more homes are projected.

Many citizens hold strong opinions on how the county should manage its increasing popularity. That’s one reason that five people are running for Kootenai County commissioner district 2.

Incumbent Rick Currie has two challengers in the May 27 Republican primary. The winner will face Democrat Stephen Caires and Independent Bob MacDonald in the Nov. 4 general election.

In that Republican primary, Jai Nelson, 46, is running for public office for the first time. The Coeur d’Alene native is a nurse and interior design consultant is active in efforts to preserve the county’s 70 percent rural character. She’s been an articulate voice for rural residents who believe that development should center on the core where density already exists.

Tom Cronin, 62, served as police chief for Coeur d’Alene and then for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, after more than three decades in leadership positions with Chicago law enforcement. Cronin believes the current system of county government is antiquated and inefficient. He supports hiring a county administrator so commissioners don’t waste time deciding on the minutiae. Commissioners need a “30,000-foot” view of county government, he says, and he believes he offers a decisive and visionary alternative on the commission.

Incumbent Currie, 60, gets good marks for traveling to every corner of the county to listen to constituents. He was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2004, and is seeking a third term. In 2006, two incumbent commissioners were ousted by voters, in part because of concerns over haphazard development standards. Currie has the most tenure on the board. The county’s comprehensive plan is being updated for the first time since 1994; public hearings are under way. The document has the potential to become the road map for all future land use decisions in Kootenai County.

Currie often is criticized for his less-than-dynamic leadership style. He’s a halting public speaker and, unlike Nelson and Cronin, he doesn’t talk much about a long-range vision for the popular county. But he’s done the sleeves-rolled-up work on the county’s budget and, more importantly, its comprehensive plan. And he pledges to help implement the zoning changes needed to make the document a clear guide to land use.

In a county commission with two neophyte members, Currie’s experience is an important asset and gives him the slight edge for our endorsement in the Republican primary.