Election today for city candidates

SANDPOINT — Voters in incorporated cities in Bonner County head to the polls today.

The polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in Sandpoint and Dover, and from noon to 8 p.m. in Ponderay, Hope, Kootenai, Clark Fork and East Hope.

In Sandpoint, voters will again be asked to support a bond initiative to pay for $17 million in improvements to its treatment plant on Lake Pend Oreille. Voters rejected the measure in May, but the city opted to put it back before residents in the hope that a greater turnout would bring a favorable result.

If voters approve the measure, the city will receive $5.1 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development funding to help pay for the upgrades.

City officials estimate the water users would see a 15-percent increase for the next two years, which amounts to a monthly increase of about $6.

Three of the council’s four-year seats are also on the line. Justin Schuck, Marsha Ogilvie and Jamie Davis are challenging incumbents John O’Hara, Helen Newton and Michael Boge.

Incumbent John Reuter is running unchallenged to retain his two-year seat on the council.

In Hope, voters are being asked to approve a permanent tax override levy to boost the amount of revenue it receives from property taxes.

“We’ve been addicted to timber sales,” said Mayor Larry Keith, referring to the money it generates from logging 120 acres of property it owns.

But with the tough timber market, a substantial harvest four to seven years away and increasing financial challenges via unfunded mandates, city officials are turning to property owners to help close the gap.

“For two years we’ve been working on this because we could see that this was all coming to a head,” said Keith, who’s not running for re-election this year.

Instead of the typical $25,000 it collects from landowners, the city is asking for standing approval to collect $45,000.

The measure needs 60-percent approval from voters to pass.

Joe Dean and Wendle Bergman are running for mayor in Hope. Phil Dreisbach and Robert Lizotte are running for council.

In Ponderay, four people are running for two of the council’s four-year seats. Jesse DeMers and John Darling are running, as are incumbents Steve Geiger Jr. and Sherry Blood.

Two candidates — Crystal Closson and David Sundquist — are up for two spots on the Kootenai City Council.

Paul Madden is running for mayor in East Hope, which also has two seats up for election. Dan Shanahan, Trecy Carpenter and Ed Butler are running for the council seats.

In Dover, Maggie Becker and David Darling are in the hunt for two of that council’s seats.

Jeff Jeffers and Linda Reed are on the ballot for Clark Fork’s mayor, while Vickie St. Martin, Russ Schenck and Roger Anderson are vying for the two four-year seats up for election.