CODE: Look through local lens

Let me see if I have this right: The Kootenai County commissioners hire a big city, urban-focused firm to prepare a land use code revision for our rural county and are surprised when the firm provides an urban, big city-focused product which does not work for our rural county. After our local citizens raise substantial complaints regarding this “square peg” into “round hole” product, our commissioners decide to pay another $103,000 to the same big city urban focused firm to redo the product, apparently using the same contract language specified the first time. Why do they expect a different result?

It seems to me that starting all over with a rural county focused firm with experience for land use codes in areas like ours would be the better choice. Having our own internal county staff perform the update would also make sense. With this latest decision, our commissioners seem to only be throwing away more of our tax dollars. Nevertheless, I am willing to be amazed and corrected if and when a satisfactory product and result appears.

TOM STUBER

Hauser