Commissioners consider office shuffle, comment rules

SANDPOINT — County commissioners met for a business meeting Tuesday to examine a collection of items across county departments. 

One of the items was a motion brought by Board Chair Asia Williams seeking to begin the process of relocating the public defenders office. Bonner County cut the ribbon on a new emergency medical services headquarters and office building in South Sandpoint in September; a migration of some departments has freed room in the existing Bonner County Administration Building. 

Currently, Bonner County pays $1,400 per month in a month-to-month contract to lease office space for public defenders in a downtown building. Williams’ Tuesday motion sought to end the lease at the start of November with an intent to move the office into a county-owned building by the end of October. 

“My concern is we're not budgeting for it,” Williams said of the lease. “We have space here and we can accommodate the exact setup that they have in this building.”

Some in attendance wondered if moving the office to a county building would impact the building’s safety. 

While Bonner County’s public defenders don’t meet clients in their office, there was concern that relocating the office could present a risk to other staff members in the building. 

“Just because they don't schedule meetings in their current office does not mean that people don't just show up at their door,” Ron Stultz, director of Bonner County Justice Services, said of public defenders and their clients. “It’s just like at the probation office, people that don't have scheduled meetings still show up at our door that are upset, angry, frustrated with everything,” he added. 

The commissioners and county staff explored potential spaces within the Bonner County Administration Building that the public defenders could inherit and the security infrastructure the office would need. With no definite location identified and safety concerns lingering, the motion died after failing to receive a second. 

Later in the meeting, Williams brought motions to remove the current standing rules from future business meeting agendas and to revise the regulations surrounding public comment by online viewers. 

The standing rules were introduced by former board chair Luke Omodt in December 2023 to protect county officials from harassment, according to Omodt. Since his September resignation from the board, the rules have not been read at business meetings. 

“We keep skipping it since the last board change, and so I just wanted to officially motion that we remove standing rules from the Bonner County agenda,” Williams said. No commissioner seconded the motion, causing the item to fail. 

Williams then suggested removing the requirement for remote viewers of business meeting livestreams to sign up before the 9 a.m. start time to give comments during the meetings. The item wasn’t seconded and failed; during the meeting’s public comment period, five attendees expressed their desire to see the 9 a.m. deadline removed. 

The commissioners found common ground on a motion brought by Williams to allow comments from the public on agenda items as they’re presented throughout the meeting. In her first meeting as the board’s new chair, Williams implemented that protocol, which some praised.

“I think the way it's been going today with people commenting on the topics is fantastic,” said Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale, who was in attendance. “People can actually get questions answered before the vote. I think it's great.” 

The motion passed after all three commissioners voted in favor. 

The BOCC will hold its next business meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Bonner County Administration Building, 1500 U.S. 2.