BOCC fields fairgrounds, IT questions

SANDPOINT — “All summer long, I’ve heard Mr. Wheeler accuse the board [of commissioners] of their obsession with the fairgrounds,” said county resident Amy Lunsford at the Bonner County commissioners’ Tuesday morning meeting. “My question is — what is his obsession with the fairgrounds?”

During the public comment section of the meeting, Lunsford asked the commissioners to clarify questions she had regarding IT departments in the county. According to Lunsford, she heard that the Bonner County Fair Board had been told by an unspecified county employee that there is only one IT department they are allowed to use — the sheriff’s IT department.

Lunsford submitted a public records request with the county for emails regarding the IT department, which resulted in emails between Bonner County Commissioner Luke Omodt and Bonner County Sheriff Daryl Wheeler. Lunsford read one of those emails from Wheeler out loud during the meeting.

“Neither Sgt. Marcus Robbins nor any of his team members will be needing you or county IT personnel at our locked, secure area today, which is located in the basement of the courthouse,” she read. “Permanent access to this location will never be granted to you or to county IT staff.”

Lunsford went on to read Wheeler telling Omodt that his IT team had been in touch with county IT the week prior and had sent photos of the servers that were located in the basement. Wheeler also mentioned in the email that the departments had begun discussing the relocation of the servers to a secure, upstairs location at the courthouse.

“After this is completed, there will be no reason at all for county IT staff to need access to this area again,” she read from the email.

According to Lunsford, there was no doubt in her mind that someone had told the fair board that they had to use the sheriff’s IT department — and it wasn’t for the right reasons.

“What is [Wheeler’s] obsession with the fairgrounds?” she asked. “Why does he want control of their IT? And this clearly states he feels he has his own IT. Why does he have his own IT?”

Lunsford asked the commissioners if anyone else had access to the sheriff’s servers to keep things in check or if they were completely closed off to everyone but the sheriff himself.

Commissioner Asia Williams offered some clarification on the subject, saying she believes the entire conversation sprouted from a general misunderstanding of how the IT department runs in the county.

“Sheriff has a different type of system that requires a certain type of clearance,” she said. “And that could be why he uses the term ‘my IT’ versus another; it has to do with the clearance on it.”

Williams said it is normal for not everyone to have access to the data and servers the sheriff has access to as a lot of it deals with confidential information regarding the jail. When the original memorandum of understanding between the fair board and the county was drafted, she said, there was a request in the MOU that the fair board be placed on the “sheriff’s IT.” However, Williams said she asked to remove that phrase because the county only has one main IT department, the sheriff just happens to have different secure servers.

“There’s no such thing as one IT versus another,” she said. “It’s technology. There are people that are dedicated on one side or another, but it’s still technology.”

Williams also said that another misunderstanding she was made aware of was that the fair board had requested to be placed on the sheriff’s servers. This, she said, was incorrect, and they had merely requested to know who their IT liaison would be should they run into technological issues.

Lunsford asked a follow-up question — if she, or anyone else, wanted to file a complaint that they had suspicions the sheriff was hiding information on his private servers, who would they complain to? Williams told her the Attorney General would have to be contacted for a complaint of that nature.

Lunsford said she still has suspicions about why the sheriff seems incredibly involved with the fair board.

“After the fair board’s press release yesterday, it just makes it seem like the sheriff is obsessed with the fairgrounds and I really would like to know how that’s all coming together and why there is that obsession,” she said. “Why is his name all over everything?”

Williams said she understood Lunsford’s curiosity and tried to answer her questions as best as she could.

“I think it’s reasonable for our county to sit down and have a plan,” she said. “Something happened; we know it happened. So what are we doing to protect not just the staff but also the people and their donations to the fair? What are we doing to make sure something like that doesn’t happen and not siloing our information?”

Omodt — referencing the fair board’s press release that was issued late Sunday night regarding recent issues with public records requests — said it has been interesting watching the “girations” of recent press releases stating the board has no authority, then claiming they do have authority, then once again have none.

“However, speaking only for myself,” he said, “the appropriate way to handle that is not in the public sphere, but it is to handle it in a manner that actually serves the county and the taxpayers, and that will be forthcoming.”