Greg Edwards

1. I love this small town and the small-town atmosphere. I wanted to help maintain the small-town feel while working to upgrade the infrastructure for the future.

2. I’ve worked in the public and private sector for 35 years. In 2015, I retired from Waste Management as a business manager for the Sandpoint office that served all of Bonner County. The first 19 years of my career there was as a driver, and later, a lead driver. The last 11 years with the company, I was the business manager. During that time, I had one of the most successful operations in the company.

3. We have made great progress on the infrastructure, above and below the ground. One of the biggest issues is that many of our water/sewer system components are so old, they are failing. These systems, in my opinion, weren’t properly maintained by some past administrations. We’ve worked hard to do that, but these repairs/replacements aren’t cheap. Unfortunately, some costs have to be passed to the rate payers. These are difficult decisions that we’ve made.

4. We have upgraded the wastewater treatment plant, and are soon to begin work on phase 2 of this upgrade that will replace old sewer lines, pumps, and other related items. We have nearly completed a three-year upgrade on all but a couple city streets. Now, moving forward, we will implement a maintenance plan for these streets that should keep them from needing any major repairs for many years to come.

5. We are doing some great things here, presently. I am proud of the work we have done over the last several years. I just hope that it is appreciated, maintained, and upgraded in a timely manner, as needed in the future.

6. A typical workday is pretty much as needed. I work my regular job, take calls from residents and try to help with as many issues as I can. I recently was appointed to oversee the downtown revitalization. There were a lot of good people who worked very hard to make this project come together and though it consumed some time, I was very glad to be a part of it.

7. Continuing to work for the residents. That’s why I am seeking re-election. I enjoy the business aspects and working for the residents of Priest River.

8. Rate increases. Though I am not a fan of increases that I too pay, we are playing the hand we were dealt and the system upgrades were necessary. There have been some negative comments about the cost of the downtown project. Some people don’t understand is most of this money was grant money for projects such as this. Most of the money spent on this, by law, couldn’t have been used on the needed system upgrades.

9. Be part of the decisions that the council makes. We have countless public hearings and send out public hearing notices and rarely does anyone show up for or submit any public comment. Recently, we had a public hearing about the utility rate increases, and there was a great turnout. I think those in attendance will tell you that their questions/comments actually did make a difference, and we all learned something during that meeting.

10. Why are you running for public office? A good, honest answer should never include anything about personal gain.