Press salutes change of guard

Change is good.

Certainly, it's your right to refuse to embrace change, but if you do life has a tendency to cram it down your throat anyway.

You could ask Rick Currie and Rich Piazza, who were beaten at the polls last year and today may no longer feed from the public trough. Taking their places are Jai Nelson and Dan Green, two political neophytes who already find themselves fully engaged in the business of running Kootenai County.

But before they sink their teeth too far into important issues like restructuring county government and finding cures for what ails the sheriff's department, we wish to bid a respectful adieu to Currie and Piazza.

You can criticize both men's record in office, as we often did. There were times this newspaper's editorial board struggled to find something to agree with the commissioners about, so abundant were the matters of disagreement. But the differences of opinion never crossed the line of personal respect.

Piazza's effectiveness was blunted by the loss of his wife, Mary Lou. She was a bright light in the community and when cancer claimed her in January 2009, part of Rich's light went out, too.

Some saw Currie as a contentious cuss, and at times he was. But he was also one of the most honest, accessible and hard-working elected officials we've ever encountered.

Here's the Currie we knew: The morning after he was first elected, he was in The Press lobby first thing, asking to speak with the editor - the same editor who had endorsed Currie's opponent during the campaign.

Currie met the editor with hand outstretched and explained that even though the paper had backed the other guy, Rick would work just as hard for those who opposed him as those who supported him. To his last day on the job, Rick Currie was as good as his word.

Green and Nelson bring certain strengths to the table and we have high hopes that both will prove to be among the county's finest commissioners of all time. They're smart and possess some managerial skills that perhaps their predecessors lacked.

We see great things ahead for Kootenai County but respectfully remind elected leaders at all levels that there is no firmer foundation for success than honesty, hard work and accessibility.