Bradshaw announces bid for sheriff

Bonner County District 1 Commissioner Steve Bradshaw has announced his bid for Bonner County sheriff.

After serving on the board of commissioners for the past six years, Bradshaw said he feels he has been instrumental in maintaining fiscal responsibility for taxpayers.

“I have decided it’s time to change direction and bring my conservative fiscal responsibility to the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office by running for county sheriff,” he said. “I have proven myself as a sound fiscal conservative in my two terms as a county commissioner.”

The elected sheriff’s position is an administrative position that doesn’t require a background in law enforcement, he added, but rather, someone who can properly manage the day-to-day operations of the office.

“What most taxpayers don’t know is over the last 10 years, the current sheriff has more than doubled his spending,” Bradshaw said. “As some examples of the current sheriff’s overspending, the current sheriff boasts having 60 patrol cars, yet he only has three to four deputies on patrol per shift, with another five on call for backup. Why have 60 cars that need to be maintained and insured at the taxpayers’ expense?”

Bonner County has grown significantly in the past decade, and Bradshaw said the current sheriff has dramatically increased his management overhead “to a point where it is unsustainable.” Should Bradshaw be elected, he said he will shift priorities to put more deputies on the street and reduce what he said is a bloated overhead to better serve the county’s residents.

“I have a deep appreciation for law enforcement and was instrumental in paying our patrol deputies a wage that is consistent with other neighboring counties in an effort to retain these brave individuals who put their lives on the line every day for the people of Bonner County, and that won’t change,” Bradshaw said. “What will change is I will bring best management practices that will reduce the runaway spending and better allocate funds where it’s most needed, while doing away with the ‘good old boys network’ and drama that has plagued Bonner County with our current sheriff.”