Currie opponents want to hire administrator

District 2 Kootenai County Commission Chairman Rick Currie will defend his two terms in office against a retired Coeur d’Alene middle school principal and a former city and county politician.

Currie, a Republican who touts his lifelong residency in the county, said he’s been a good steward of taxpayer dollars and wants to continue serving the citizens. He said he has a good read on the needs of taxpayers throughout the county due to his regular visits to City Council and other municipal meetings from Spirit Lake to Harrison.

Although land-use decisions attract the big headlines, Currie said running the county involves everything from helping poor residents to managing waterways to overseeing juvenile probation.

But Bob Macdonald, who served as a county commissioner from 1991-96 and as a Coeur d’Alene City Councilman for two terms before that, said he feels the current commission is letting things “slip through the cracks.” He said the commissioners need to complete some long-range planning, including getting the comprehensive plan back in place with implementing ordinances.

“I don’t think they’re taking care of business over there,” said Macdonald. “They’re not taking decisive action on things. They’re kind of like Pontius Pilate and they wash their hands and say we’ll turn it over to the people to vote on it. I think the commissioners need to … stand up for what needs to be done.”

Macdonald said the commission should probably hire an administrator. He was a member of the commission that hired the county’s first and only professional administrator, Tom Taggart, in 1995. Taggart was fired in 2001, when a different commission, citing budgetary problems, cut the position, according to news reports.

“I don’t think they cost you money,” Macdonald said. “I think they save you money.”

That’s a sentiment shared by Stephen Caires, a recently retired assistant principal from Lakes Middle School, who said his years as an educator have instilled in him a desire to “give back” to the community. Hiring an administrator, he said, “would be cost-effective in the long run and save the people of Kootenai County money.” Also, citing a study completed by the county on alternate forms of governance, Caires said he’d like to explore expanding the board to five, part-time positions, a desire shared by the Democrat running against Commissioner Todd Tondee.

“I’d like to see the salary reduced a little bit, but still make it attractive enough for future candidates,” Caires said. “But having that county administrator is of utmost importance. That’s my primary issue.”

Currie said candidates who want to hire an administrator shouldn’t be running because it means they don’t want to work hard. He said hiring an administrator adds a layer of government in the form of a person who is not directly responsible to the people.

“There is no other county in the state of Idaho that has an administrator and there’s a reason for that,” Currie said, adding that the commissioners have department heads working for them who assist in management. “From a business standpoint, the business community would like to see it, and sometimes I think that is so that they can maybe get around some things, I don’t know. We are the elected individuals; we are responsible to the people that elect us. An administrator is not.”

Currie said when he first campaigned for the position six years ago, he promoted the idea of having an administrator, but once in office, he said he changed his mind on the issue.

Though all three candidates in the race for District 2 say they support expanding county building and supporting law enforcement, all oppose the facilities bond and sales tax measure on the ballot. The measures would expand the county jail and update other public safety buildings using property taxes then offset those taxes with a half-cent sales tax increase over 10 years. All three acknowledge the need to support the sheriff and expand public safety facilities, but they all feel the price tag is too high and the proposal was not well-vetted.

Currie and Macdonald both said the measure goes against one of the goals of the local option sales tax – property tax relief. Currie said he didn’t want to put something before the voters that’s “doomed to failure.

“Do I think the need is there? Absolutely.”