County moves levy voting out of schools

SANDPOINT — Bonner County is shifting levy elections out of local schools to provide impartial locations for voters to cast ballots.

“It’s such an emotionally charged issue, so we thought we would try to put everything in a more neutral location. Obviously, the schools are very pro-levy so it’s not a neutral place for a levy vote,” said Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale.

The shift also has the tertiary benefit of eliminating student safety concerns related to the general public coming through the schools during levy elections, Rosedale added.

Residents in the Lake Pend Oreille and West Bonner County school districts will be heading to the polls to vote on levy requests on Tuesday, March 10.

However, not everybody will be voting at their usual polling precincts. Voters in these precincts will be directed to the following alternate locations during levy elections:

• Baldy — East Bonner County Library, 1407 Cedar Street.

• Grouse Creek — Northside Christian Fellowship Church, 4400 Colburn Culver Road.

• Priest River West City — Priest River VFW Hall, 113 Larch Street

• Sagle — Sagle Senior Center, 650 Monarch Road

• Southside — Cocolalla Community Club, 4296 Cocolalla Loop Road

• West Priest River Bench — Priest River VFW Hall, 113 Larch Street

The only exception to the shift during this election cycle is the Lamb Creek precinct. Voters will continue to cast ballots at Priest Lake Elementary School.

Rosedale said efforts were made to find an alternate location for Lamb Creek voters but they did not pan out, partly due to time constraints.

The Priest Lake Golf Course was considered, but it was ruled out because the course has a clubhouse that serves alcohol. Rosedale said the county did not want to ask the business to stop selling alcohol for a day because it would have impacted its revenue.

“Basically, that’s the only place we’ve got,” Rosedale said of Priest Lake Elementary. “If anybody knows of a great location for voting up there, by all means let me know.”

Voters in the Lake Pend Oreille School District are being asked to support a two-year, $7.9 million supplemental levy totaling $15.8 million. The West Bonner County School District is also seeking a two-year, $3 million levy totaling $6 million.