Kyle Schreiber

Background

Profession: Marketing

Educational background: B.S. Business Administration, University of Wyoming

How many years as a Bonner County resident: 6

Marital status: Married

Questions

1. • Amend the Multimodal Transportation plan to remove the “Couplet” project and remove the truck route designation from Superior St, 1st Street, and Pine Street east of 5th Street. The community has been clear that this is what they want. • Release an “upcoming decisions” outlook. Community members feel that they aren’t being made aware of City projects until it’s too late for them to voice any opinions. • Enforce our short-term rental ordinance. There are many short-term rentals operating without permits. Every short-term rental is a potential affordable home for a local worker who contributes to our community and economy every day.
2. The 3 main issues I see with City Council are: • Transparency and responsiveness. The people in our community have lost trust in their City government. • Spending our budget wisely by focusing on critical services first. Our critical services are failing, meanwhile the City has chosen to pursue several large projects that are questionably necessary. • The lack of affordable housing. Workers and long-time residents are being pushed out, causing harm to our economy and the fabric of our community.
3. The public must have the necessary information to give input about our City’s projects. A quarterly outlook should be published regarding upcoming Council decisions. When the public majority makes their preference clear, action must be taken; i.e., removing the Couplet and the truck route through downtown from the MMTP. Non-essential projects must be put on hold until essential services like sewer treatment, streets and sidewalks, and EMS services are properly budgeted for. I propose these additional measures to solve our housing crisis: enforcement of our short-term rental ordinance, a deed incentive program, and extending the homeowner’s exemption to help renters.
4. I have heard from several community members that City officials do not even respond to their emails. While it is impossible to make everyone happy, the least we can do is let them know that their concerns were heard. Discussions are certainly better at flushing out details than one-sided comments submitted, and we should strive to have those discussions. But the biggest way to show that residents’ voices are being heard and understood is to take action when possible.
5. I do not think the City Council is going in the right direction. While I do support some of the actions that City has taken, I believe that the City has trended toward being less responsive and transparent, and is failing to focus on providing critical services.
6. The most critical issue I see is the lack of transparency from the City. Many people in our community want change, and they are skeptical that meaningful change will be accomplished by electing the people who have helped put us on the path we are on. I have been very vocal about the need for change, and I will be the voice for those people in our City government. I will be responsive to Sandpoint citizens who do not want to see the uniqueness of Sandpoint lost.
7. Many candidates might identify housing as a problem to be addressed. But the important question is how to address it. Building more and more sprawling neighborhoods and giving concessions to developers will not solve our problem, because there will always be more than enough second-home buyers to outbid locals. That’s why the solutions I am proposing are targeted to helping those who live and work here.
8. On the contrary, I have seen residents of different backgrounds and ideologies come together to support - or oppose - local issues. The tension that I have seen recently is between residents and their elected officials, both City Council and School Board. As an elected official, I would seek to bridge that divide by being accessible, transparent, and responsive to residents.
9. The openness and welcoming atmosphere is by far my favorite thing about Sandpoint. Time and time again, I have seen people from across the political and ideological spectrum put down their differences and come together as a community. I have lived in other places that have the same fun things to do, but it’s the strength of our community that makes this place unique.
10. I enjoy the outdoors: Hiking, camping, biking, rock climbing, snowboarding, and kayaking/paddleboarding.
11. When I first heard of the second train bridge across Lake Pend Oreille, I was opposed. Our town is often disrupted by train traffic. But as I learned more about it, I found that it would actually reduce the interruptions to our town. Plus, a derailment into the water is much less likely from a brand new, modern bridge than an aging one. If constant train traffic in Sandpoint is unavoidable, let’s at least have the infrastructure to properly support it.
12. I was raised by a single mother who started college the same day I started kindergarten. I grew up watching her work her tail off 40 hours per week in addition to excelling in her studies - eventually earning a doctorate degree. She was taken by cancer when I was a teenager, but not before instilling her work ethic and lifelong love of learning in me.
13. Integrity.
14. Do you have a personal, professional, or financial relationship with any of the developers who are applying for permits in our community? My answer is no.
15. I don’t have a long resume in politics. I am a local worker who has been personally affected by the housing crisis in the past. I have studied the issues that we are facing, because they have affected me. I have studied other mountain towns similar to Sandpoint to see what worked and what didn’t. I want Sandpoint to be the kind of town where people can afford to live, they can safely walk or bike to work or on errands, and they can enjoy everything Sandpoint has to offer.
If you are frustrated with the direction that the City is headed and feel that we need change, and you agree with my ideas on how to make that happen, then vote for me, Kyle Schreiber, on Nov. 7.