County doesn't need a building department

Although not a subscriber to your paper, I occasionally read it online. While I am not naive enough to believe that papers are unbiased, it sure would be nice if they were so. As an occasional reader, I see a clear bias by your paper toward the county having a building department, and toward the city allowing taller buildings. A person who had some credentials and experience to speak out against a building department had his dirty laundry researched and aired in yesterday's edition, almost as if it were an attempt by the paper to show that all opposed to a building department might be of the same lot. I have not seen a similar effort by the paper to research such individuals as Jeff Bond and Debbie Ferguson, both proponents of a building department (not to imply that there would be any dirty laundry to air on these individuals, as I do not know them, and they may in fact be far more upstanding than I am).

Credentials and dirty laundry aside, I challenge the county commissioners to put the issue of a building department to a binding vote of the people of this county. I moved to Bonner County a year ago in part to get away from governmental oversight of things that really are an area of private enterprise and personal responsibility. Government is a poor and inefficient substitute for personal responsibility. For an example, look at the current wait times to take out a building location permit (in excess of a month). For those that want the protection of building inspections, there are plenty of experienced and trained home engineers and inspectors in the area that are more responsive and more highly trained than we can ever expect from a government agency. Furthermore, the cost of such an inspection or series of inspections and building oversight is much lower and is paid in full by the person desiring the inspection and no one else. I suspect that a vote of the people would confirm that most in the county feel the same on this issue as I do. Let the issue of inspections and conformance to standards remain in the realm of the buyer and person contracting to build structures in this county. We'll all be a lot better off. If in doubt, let the people decide, and not just the commissioners.

PAUL HERNDON

Sandpoint