Forum is tale of two counties

SANDPOINT — It was a tale of two counties during the Bonner County Republican Central Committee’s candidate forum on Thursday.

One version of Bonner County is being harried by multiple lawsuits, employee morale is tanking and leadership is questionable. The other version is that things at the county are actually quite fine and perceptions of discord are the result of a misinformation campaign by the media.

Incumbent county office holders largely pushed the things-are-fine narrative during the well-attended forum, while their challengers expressed dismay with the dismissal of longtime employees with blemish-free records, abrupt changes to the land use code and employees’ loss of respect in elected officials.

“It’s never been as low as it is now,” said Lewie Rich, a former District 3 commissioner looking to regain his seat.

Rich, who’s competing with Dan McDonald for the GOP nod in the May 17 primary, said there is talk of employees raising hostile work environment claims.

Incumbent District 2 Commissioner Todd Sudick disputed that characterization and said morale has never been better. Moreover, Sudick is confident the county will prevail in wrongful termination suits brought by Clare Marley and Dan Carlson, the planning department’s top two officials.

“None of them are true. I guarantee it,” said Sudick, adding that firing decisions are subjected to a rigorous legal analysis.

Jeff Connolly, a Priest River councilman challenging Sudick for the GOP nomination, isn’t so convinced that the county is sitting on winning hands in the litigation.

Connolly said he was disconcerted to see two employees turfed after establishing lengthy and exemplary work records.

“It just doesn’t seem to fit,” said Connolly. “There’s no black marks. There’s no flagging on the files.”

McDonald downplayed the litigation as a fantasy conjured by the media.

“It’s trial by the Daily Bee,” McDonald said.

However, the cases brought by Carlson and Marley are real and a matter of public record.

The Clagstone easement controversy also surfaced during the forum. Stimson Lumber Company seeks to obtain conservation easement to keep a massive tract of land in south-central Bonner County open to public access and managed as a working forest.

The proposal has bizarrely come under fire from candidates who profess to support private property rights and the timber industry.

McDonald said the proposal gave him “heartburn” because public funds would be paid to Stimson not to develop a massive housing project. The easement could also open the door further regulations being placed on the land.

“Commissioners were kept out of it,” said Sudick.

Rich, however, said he knew about the project when he was in office and even left behind records pertaining to the easement proposal when he left office.

Rich said he supported the easement, as did Connolly, who emphasized that Stimson should be allowed to develop its property as it wishes.

“There’s no tax dollars lost and it still gets to be managed as a forest,” Connolly said.

Incumbent Sheriff Daryl Wheeler, meanwhile, is also facing lawsuits from two former employees who contend they were unjustly fired.

Wheeler said employee conflict is an unavoidable aspect of the job.

“You have to be able to listen and you have to be a problem solver,” said Wheeler.

But Wheeler’s GOP challenger, retired Idaho State Police trooper Terry Ford, intimated that leadership at the sheriff’s office is flagging.

“You have to build the respect of the people you’re trying to lead,” said Ford.

The GOP central committee’s next forum is set for Wednesday, May 4, in Priest River. It starts at 6 p.m. at Priest River Junior High School.