BCRCC chair calls on Bradshaw to resign

Saying he was unsurprised by allegations of threats against one county commissioner by another, Bonner County Republican Central Committee chair Scott Herndon called on Commissioner Steve Bradshaw to both repent and resign.

A temporary restraining order was filed against Bradshaw by Commissioner Asia Williams last week. The details of the order are mostly unknown as Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said restraining orders are generally excluded from the public under Idaho Administrative Rule 32. As a result, the details about the alleged comment are not being released to the public.

The order prohibits Bradshaw from being in the Bonner County Administration Building and from being within 100 feet of Williams. The chairman’s duties were also temporarily turned over to District 3 Commissioner Luke Omodt due to Bradshaw’s inability to physically be in the county building.

“Late last Friday, I was informed that there is an allegation of a personal threat against Bonner County Commissioner Asia Williams by Bonner County commissioner and chair, Steve Bradshaw,” Herndon said in a press release. “The nature of the threat against Commissioner Williams regards harm to her personal safety.”

Herndon said he expects that the legal system will work hard to find the truth, although he finds the allegations against Bradshaw unsurprising. According to the committee chair, Bradshaw “exhibits zero ability to control himself next to” Williams.

Herndon also accused Bradshaw of being unable to conduct meetings in a respectful manner, claiming he continuously breaks Robert’s Rules of Order, procedural guidelines recently adopted by the commissioners to structure their meetings. Bradshaw’s recent conduct, he said, is an embarrassment to Idaho’s Republican Party.

“I hope that there is no real threat to Commissioner Williams as she continues to strive to faithfully represent the people of Bonner County and as the court adjudicates the current allegations that give rise to the restraining order against Commissioner Bradshaw,” Herndon said.

The BCRCC chair, who also serves as the District 1 state senator, demanded a change in the Bonner County commissioners’ conduct in their meetings.

“In my mind, we are at the point where Commissioner Bradshaw should resign,” Herndon said. “If he refuses that, then the second option would be a public apology to Commissioner Williams and to Bonner County for how he has conducted the county’s business for the last eight months and then I think it is absolutely necessary that he resign as chair of the Bonner County Board of Commissioners. What I am calling for is repentance — a 180-degree turn in his conduct by Commissioner Steve Bradshaw.”

However, Herndon also expressed concerns about Commissioner Luke Omodt taking over as board chair.

“It is important that both Commissioners Bradshaw and Omodt know that what is at stake here is the reputation of Bonner County and the reputation of conservative Republicans throughout the state,” he said. “We Republicans absolutely expect decorum, the rule of law, orderly conduct of business, and a high regard for all elected representatives. If Commissioner Asia Williams is being disrespected, and even threatened, then the people of Bonner County are being disrespected and threatened since she is there in our stead.

“All human beings are made in God’s image. We ought to faithfully love each other and respect each other’s inherent value, and treat each other with dignity, especially in the conduct of the public’s business. It is dire that Commissioner Bradshaw consider the two options that I have presented in this letter.”