Burroughs seeking commissioner election

Bonner County resident James Burroughs is seeking the Bonner County District 1 commissioner seat, running against two other Republican candidates in the May primaries.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Burroughs has lived in Bonner County for over 10 years, working in Sandpoint since he moved to the area. Coming from a town of 300 people in Northern California, Burroughs said his background has helped him fully understand what small-town values are, as well as the feeling a small-town atmosphere creates.

“After college, I worked for the banking industry and then for the California Department of Corrections as a correctional peace officer,” Burroughs said. “After retiring, we moved to Bonner County and I am very glad to be back in a place where morals and values still mean something.”

Burroughs said he has watched what he said is a decline of the board of county commissioners over the past few years and decided to run to “bring back cohesiveness and team work to once again get county business accomplished.” A regular citizen like the rest of Bonner County, Burroughs said he wants to see county business get accomplished faster at the business meetings.

“We need to work through what differences we may have and complete the work of the county, create more opportunities for public discussion and interaction, speech being one of the most important rights a citizen can have,” he said. “We need to set aside plenty of time every week so our constituents can express themselves. We may not agree with each other, but we still need to listen to the concerns of anyone that wants to speak.”

Burroughs said he wants to focus on and address the county’s infrastructure regarding building and “urban sprawl.” If elected, he said he hopes to manage the continued growth of the county at a slower pace, with more thoughtfulness put into the issue, especially how the rapid expansion will affect current property owners.

Burroughs also plans to investigate the feasibility of a small consumer tax being required in Bonner County.

“[This] means every dollar spent by anyone shopping in our county would create revenue for county projects,” he said. “This will hopefully lessen the burden that property and business owners currently bear.”

Burroughs also believes that with the rapid growth of the county, two more commissioner districts should be created to give county residents more opportunity to be heard. Additionally, he would like to reevaluate the commissioner's salary, as he said it has increased from $56,000 to $96,000 in the past 12 years — a roughly $3,000 raise every year.

Burroughs’s name will be on the primary ballot May 21.