Commission candidates debate

COEUR d'ALENE - Kootenai County Commissioner Todd Tondee's two opponents in the upcoming Republican primary came out swinging at Thursday's candidate forum.

"The major issue right now in the county, I think, is the general populace thinking we don't have good elected officials," said Tim Herzog. The candidate forum was hosted by the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans at Fedora Pub and Grille.

The other challenger, Marc Eberlein, said the draft Unified Land Use Code produced by the county's consultant, Kendig Keast Collaborative, was a failure and rejected by the public. And the same people who were in charge of the update remain directing it, he complained.

"Though (the commissioners) say they hate it now, two years ago or a year ago they didn't hate it because they were pushing it," Eberlein said. "I have plotted and schemed to undo ULUC."

"I've gone to many of those meetings involving the ULUC and I wasn't openly verbal about it like some people, but I saw that plan as a failure," Herzog said.

Tondee, who has served eight years, said the commissioners' reaction to public concern about the ULUC proves they are responsive to public input.

Along with getting rid of Kendig Keast, the county has a new community development director. The county also has taken the land-use code update project in-house, handled by county employees instead of an outside consultant.

Tondee sought to also focus the forum on issues like overcrowding at the Kootenai County jail and the expense of transporting inmates to other jails in the region.

Additionally, he said, other county operations and employees are dealing with space limitations.

Herzog and Eberlein, meanwhile, also criticized Tondee for voting to pay former community development director Scott Clark $30,000 when Clark resigned.

"If he actually did resign, I don't understand why we had to give him a severance package," Herzog said.

Eberlein said he knows why the money was paid.

"I can't talk about it because I told a friend of mine I wouldn't talk about it," Eberlein said. He hopes to disclose what he knows in a couple months.

"It'll be a bombshell," he promised.

Tondee said he couldn't talk about it because it's a personnel issue.

Toward the end of the forum the candidates were asked how conservative they consider themselves - extra conservative, conservative or Moderate?

"I'm middle of the road," Eberlein said. "And I think George Washington was middle of the road, and Thomas Jefferson was middle of the road."

Eberlein said he believes the politics of the county commission have "swerved a little too far to the left," and added that somebody should replace Tondee who would work harder to curb spending.

When Herzog has run for commissioner in the past, he used the term 'fiscally conservative' to describe his political philosophy, but he thinks that term has become overused.

"Basically, I think, as an elected official you need to be fiscally responsible," Herzog said.

Tondee has no problem with using the words fiscally conservative to describe his philosophy.

"I believe in making sure that every dollar has a purpose," he said.