BCRCC selects three nominees for Bradshaw’s seat

PONDERAY — The Bonner County Republican Central Committee voted on nominees to send to Governor Brad Little to fill the District 1 commissioner seat Tuesday night.

BCRCC Chair Scott Herndon contends Steven Bradshaw has vacated that seat by moving to Texas with the intent to make it his permanent residence.

In response to a public comment at a BOCC business meeting Tuesday, Bradshaw said he was still a Bonner County resident.

Herndon said that the central committee had a duty under Idaho statute to send a list of names to the governor within 15 days of the seat being vacated.

Herndon called on several members of both the central committee and local government to attest to their interactions with Bradshaw that led Herndon to believe he has moved and does not intend to return to Bonner County. Several of them attested that Bradshaw told them that he was actively in the process of moving to Texas.

Herndon also provided a deed of purchase for a property in Texas that he said Bradshaw closed on in August and has since moved to. He said he also checked Bradshaw's Cocolalla residence and found it vacated and empty of any furnishings.

“I am profoundly disappointed that former commissioner Bradshaw chose to disrespect Bonner County taxpayers to the extent that he is living in Texas with a permanent plan to be there, is minimally attending to the job of Bonner County commissioner, and appears more concerned with collecting his $8,000 per month salary plus benefits until the end of this year instead of doing the honorable thing and acknowledging his change of state residency,” Herndon said.

Not all on the central committee agreed with Herndon’s characterization of the situation.

“It seems like a very broad overreach of the responsibilities of the chair to just determine that somebody’s vacant despite (them) showing up for meetings and despite the fact that the commissioner says that he is still living here — has a lease to be living here,” BCRCC Washington Precinct Committeeman Tom Bokowy said. “It seems very arbitrary that we are deciding that Bradshaw is a vacancy so we can fill his position for one month ... Saying ‘Oh, we now know that somebody intends to move,’ sure seems to be more of an opinion than a fact.”

In position one on the list of nominees for the position to be sent to the governor the BCRCC voted to nominate Brian Domke. In position two, the committee nominated Rick Kirschner. In position three, the committee nominated Doug Patterson.

The list will go to Governor Little who has 15 days to choose one of the nominees under Idaho law before the decision is passed back to the BCRCC, which then has another 15 days to pick one of the nominees to fill the seat.