District 2 candidates speak at forum

COEUR d'ALENE — The two Republican candidates seeking to represent District 2 on the Kootenai County Board of Commissioners participated Thursday in a forum.

The forum, hosted by the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans during the weekly meeting in Coeur d'Alene, allowed attendees to write questions that were then fielded by Commissioner David Stewart and his challenger, Chris Fillios. One of the first questions the candidates answered focused on the importance of property rights in this election, and having both Stewart and Fillios provide a definition of the term.

"Where property rights are concerned, I believe that every use should be allowed unless forbidden by law," Stewart said. "In my opinion, the left believes that every use is forbidden unless approved. These are two fundamentally different positions."

Stewart went on to say county commissioners hold office in a "quasi-judicial" capacity, which requires them to set their prejudices aside and apply only the law to land-use issues.

During his allotted time to respond to the question, Fillios began by stating that, as a Realtor, he is under oath to protect property rights.

"The way we define property rights almost universally across this country is by what we refer to as 'The Bundle of Rights,' which is the right to own, to control, to transact, and to encumber," Fillios added. "We do have land-use law in the state of Idaho and essentially what it means is that you can do whatever you please on your lot as long as you don't inhibit or adversely affect your neighbor."

Another question revolved around the county budget, and asked the candidates if the budget could be reduced or "if it's as good as it can be."

Fillios said he believes the county budget, approximately $80 million, is in line with the growth rate.

"Where I have questions regarding the budget, is when you look at what we call the fund balance of $37 million," he added. "When you look at the $37 million, of which about $14 million is restricted, the argument that can be made is, 'Is the fund balance too large?' And if it is too large, have we been over-taxing our residents?"

Stewart told the audience that going through the budget for the first time after being elected was a "real eye-opener." There are numerous entities, including county courthouses and community development, that the county is required to fund under law, he added.

"Going through the budget season for the first time, you really learn to find out what you can and can't cut," Stewart said. "I feel that this board did an excellent job cutting the best that we possibly could."

Both candidates were then asked to provide the audience with one or two of the county's "pressing needs" that the state could address.

Stewart began by stating he believes the state should take control of the county's public defender office.

"The public defender isn't an elected official, but yet we really don't have much control over him because if the board gets involved in a case he is working on we could really change the course of a defense action," Stewart said. "Our hands are really tied as commissioners because we have to fund at the level he says he needs to defend his clients. I think it's a conflict of interest that the board of county commissioners is funding an elected office, the prosecutor, while also funding a public defender's office."

Fillios said he has two requests of the state, the first being a request for state officials to clarify some of the private property laws and land-use acts. Clarifying those laws and acts would help local officials better understand things when making decisions, he added.

"The second thing is the area of economic growth. A lot of people talk about economic growth and they talk about creating jobs," Fillios said. "Let me tell you where we are as a state — over 60 percent of transplants here also happen to be over the age of 60, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But we are not improving skilled labor that creates the labor pool so we can in turn attract the companies to Idaho."

District 2 voters will decide between Fillios and Stewart during the May 17 primary. Since there are no Democrats running for the position, the winner will likely become commissioner for the next four years, barring a write-in candidate winning the vote in November.