DFO: Say No To County Govt Change

I like efficiency in government. Therefore, I supported the county’s move to hire an administrator (Tom Taggart) many years back. Taggart, a former Kootenai County clerk who is now the finance director for the Lakeland School District, handled many day-to-day decisions for the county, while commissioners set policy. A good administrator is worth his salary and more in cost savings in other departments. An argument can be made for further streamlining county government by making the offices of clerk, assessor, treasurer and coroner appointive rather than elective — like city government. County government can be cumbersome as the result of having 8 elected officials and their egos potentially fighting one another for scarce tax revenue. I might trust the current county commission to appoint the clerk/assessor/treasurer/coroner. But I certainly wouldn’t want commissioners handling those critical appointments if two-thirds of the board came from the noisy Far Right in this community. The checks-and-balance system of county government may be cumbersome and cause duplication in services. But it ensures that a well-organized, radical group can’t take offer the courthouse by successfully promoting two of its members to the commissioners’ office in any given election — DFO.