BOCC meeting ends after just three minutes

SANDPOINT — Only one agenda item was passed during the three-minute-long Bonner County commissioners’ regular Tuesday meeting this week.

With only two commissioners present as Commissioner Luke Omodt is on vacation, the county’s administrative legal assistant’s job description was approved. Immediately following that vote, Commissioner Asia Williams moved to amend the order of the agenda to include time for public comment.

“We have historically been a community that encourages our public to give comments,” she said. “It’s the only time in which the public can actually address the board as a full board.”

While she said she was unsure why public comment was not placed on the agenda, she assumed it was a clerical error and hoped to fix the issue before the meeting proceeded. However, her motion did not receive a second and died on the table.

Commissioner Steve Bradshaw — acting as chair while Omodt is absent — stepped down from the chair and moved to approve the order of agenda.

“Here’s the thing, Steve, if I say no and you say yes, we’re done,” Williams said. “My question is — will you just allow public comment? We need to get on with the business of the county.”

Williams told him that without Omodt present, they were sitting at a stalemate with every vote they didn’t see eye to eye on, particularly allowing the public time for comment.

“The public is here in large numbers,” she said. “[And they’re] online here in large numbers.”

Despite Williams’ request, Bradshaw continued with the motion to adopt the order of agenda, which the District 2 commissioner did not second. Because the agenda was not approved, the meeting could not continue, and ended at 9:03 a.m. — just three minutes after it started.

In a post on her website, Williams said she hoped that county staff who had items on the agenda Tuesday understood her lack of a second. At some point, she said, the citizens of Bonner County must reevaluate the Declaration of Independence and ask themselves “some tough questions.”

“Do we need new guards for the future of our security in Bonner County?” she asked. “Bonner County residents — do not give up our sovereignty. We are justified in demanding to be meaningful participants in our local government. We must stand together for all of our rights as outlined in [the Declaration]. If we lose the right of free speech, we will have lost everything.”