Bee announces candidate picks

Bonner County cannot afford to have a train wreck in our county commission.

For that reason, and many more, we strongly endorse Democrat Todd Crossett for District 1 county commissioner over Republican Bud Mueller, a former commissioner.

We also believe write-in candidate Republican Karl Dye is a far better choice than Lewis Rich for District 3 county commissioner.

Dye has been a leader for the county and recognizes that growth has challenges for government. He made the tough call to help bring EMS online, he understands the transportation challenges and has done a great job working with our local legislators. He was also a calming influence and often tried to smooth over differences between the commissioners' office and assessor's office albeit with limited success.

There is much more to be done and this county needs a communicator to work with county employees, county residents, state agencies and can address issues with an open mind.

Why is he running as a write-in after losing in May's primary? Dye recognizes the numerous problems a Mueller and Rich-led commission would cause and believes the county can't afford to go backward with planning.

The historically low voter turnout in May and many people asking him to run, pushed him to this.

Bud Mueller had an abysmal record as a county commissioner from 1998 to 2001. He proudly takes credit for axing the county's building department and has the same plans for the EMS system and planning and zoning.

Yes, that's right. Mueller is advocating no planning and zoning in a county that needs planning and zoning. He also sees EMS as a waste of taxpayers' dollars. He wants private firms to respond to medical calls. We have tried that here and it didn't work.

Rich would bring nothing to the commission but a mercurial temper and an inability to work through issues or hear opposing views.

Unfortunately, the Republican faithful hoped that Rich might be a calming influence on Mueller if they are both elected. Rich has proven to be nothing more than a puppet (or Homecoming party crashing date) for Mueller.

The county commission is a three-person board so owning two votes will virtually guarantee the public will be left out of important discussions and that the only people allowed at the table will be the far-right reaches of the Republican party.

Our local GOP knows that and that is why the party has distanced itself from these two extreme candidates. This is not the local face of the Republican party. In fact, Republicans tossed Mueller out in 2000.

Democrat Crossett is the antithesis of Mueller, even though the families are very close. Crossett has promised to look at EMS instead of bombing it. Crossett thinks it would be ridiculous to cut county supported EMS in a county where the majority of people have no health insurance but is open for other options that may arise.

Crossett is a businessman, and believed we have to work with the state to fix the property tax assessment issues. Mueller has proven he can't work with anyone who doesn't agree with him.

Crossett also advocates a friendly, open approach to government. Believe it or not, so do most Bonner County employees. The majority of these employees are scared to death of Mueller's history.

Just these promises by Crossett outdistance the damage done by Mueller.

In case you have forgotten, and Mueller is banking on it, during Mueller's last term in office:

? Within several weeks, Mueller dismantled the county's building department, fired the road superintendent and solid waste supervisor. He has already publically targeted the two heads of the road department and made a statement that the vast majority of county workers are vastly overpaid.

? His actions in just those three instances prompted numerous visits from the county's insurance carries. These actions substantially increased the county's premiums and our taxes. The numerous lawsuits that followed Mueller cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is a good chance state insurance will drop this county if Mueller is elected. When asked about this at a forum, Mueller shrugged his shoulders and said he would look for a new carrier or the county could self-insure.

? Mueller also withheld bulletproof vests from the sheriff's office during a political tug of war. The deal? He would OK funding for the vests if the sheriff's office would ask deputies to drop a lawsuit against funding levels. How about the time he told the sheriff he would fund the marine budget only if the sheriff fired a vocal Mueller opponent?

He hasn't mellowed with age, during the primary race this time around he made threatening gestures at his opponent, a woman. At the forums, sponsored by this paper, he twice shouted down the moderator by yelling "Shut up and sit down."

He's not a statesman, he's a bully. He's a divider, not a uniter and works through fear and intimidation instead of anything that resembles consensus building.

? Mueller also was on the radar screen many times for his bullying tactics, his private use of county equipment and many other embarrassing acts that made Bonner County the laughingstock of the state and thrust Bonner County onto the national spotlight when the Southern Poverty Law Center used this county as an example of a anti-government extremism. Attorney Edgar Steele also endorses Mueller.

Who needs that?

There are many other examples of what Mueller did to Bonner County, here's just one current one.

In last week's Newport Miner, Mueller was asked why he is running. His answer: "He said he won't work with (Republican county Commissioner) Joe Young, that Mueller and Lewis Rich will work together and if Young wants to work with them he can, otherwise he can just stay home."

That wasn't the question, but Mueller has proven time again he doesn't need a question to have an answer.

It would be enough to just vote against Mueller and Rich in an election and roll the dice and hope their opponents would do a decent job. That's not the case this year.

Karl Dye and Todd Crossett earn our endorsement more for who they are then who they aren't. Government needs to be open to solving problems and not creating them.

Mueller and Rich, if elected, would be the conductors on the biggest train wreck this county has ever seen.

We need to be on the right track.

? David Keyes is publisher of the Daily Bee.