Commissioners talk severance payment, Camp Bay trail, and Proposition 1

SANDPOINT — After the Bonner County commissioners completed a short list of action items in a meeting Tuesday, members of the board provided updates on ongoing issues and concerns.

One of the updates — regarding a $72,000 payment to outgoing county employee Jessi Reinbold — was shared by Commissioner Asia Williams. 

Williams first brought the matter to the public’s attention after an Aug. 1 board meeting, stating that she believed making the payment would be fiscally irresponsible. 

On Tuesday, Williams stated that the county had issued a payment to Reinbold on Aug. 16. 

Williams said she brought the concern to Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall, contending the payment qualified as a misuse of public funds under Idaho Code Section 18-5701 (10). 

The statute says that public employees should not use municipal funds for any purpose other than for the benefit of the governmental entity. 

According to Williams, Marshall passed the concern on to the Attorney General’s Office. 

“I think we just have to wait to see what the AG’s answer is on that payment,” Williams said. 

The commissioners also provided an update on the status of a public access path at Camp Bay of Lake Pend Oreille. 

According to Williams, the developer — M3 — has not updated the commissioners about the project’s latest progress. 

“You're at the mercy of the developer's slow response,” Williams told attendees of Tuesday’s meeting. 

“I can't make the developer answer, but I am making the visibility where it needs to be,” Williams added. 

In June, members of the public expressed their desire to access the lake shore at Camp Bay while the new path is under construction. Currently, public access is restricted. 

Commissioner Omodt expressed his perspective on the project's state. 

“I am not prepared to extend the grasp of government into a private property right without legal authority,” he said. 

“When our attorney says that our hands are legally tied, whether I like it or not, that’s what I’m going to do.” 

During the meeting, Williams also took an opportunity to emphasize the importance of informing voters about ranked-choice voting and open primary elections. 

The topics captured the attention of Idaho voters in July after Idahoans for Open Primaries collected enough signatures for a November ballot initiative known as Proposition 1. 

According to the initiative’s website, Proposition 1 aims to require primary elections to be nonpartisan and open to all voters. The top four candidates would advance to the general election, in which voters could rank their candidates in order of preference. 

“There's a lot to go into that, and a lot of people don't understand what that is,” said Williams of ranked-choice voting. 

“I've asked Secure Idaho to do a presentation that is not specific to a party, but just the topic, because when we talk about parties, it makes it difficult for people to hear the content,” Williams added. 

Secure Idaho Elections is a group that believes Proposition 1 puts elections at risk, per its website. 

Proposition 1 has seen opposition from some constituents and officials including Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, who filed a challenge with the Idaho Supreme Court on July 24 to block the initiative from appearing on the ballot. 

The court dismissed the challenge Aug. 13; Labrador refiled the lawsuit in Ada County District Court on Aug. 19. 

The county commissioners will meet Monday, Aug. 26, to consider adopting the 2025 budget. Their next regular meeting will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27, at the Bonner County Administration Building, 1500 U.S. 2.