Three have eye on Eastside Highway seat
Incumbent Terry Sverdsten will try to keep his seat with the Eastside Highway District in Sub-District 1 as he’s being challenged by John Austin and Mark Thyr in Tuesday’s election.
Austin is a 16-year resident of the district, with his family owning property in the district since 1975. He’s lived in North Idaho for 54 years, graduating from the University of Idaho with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. He worked at Bunker Hill Mine on weekends and summer vacations for three years to pay for college and was appointed finance director of Kootenai County in 1987 and treasurer/finance director for the city of Coeur d’Alene in 1991.
He was previously elected as a precinct committeeman in 1988 and worked to create Citylink in 2005 as a grant administrator for Kootenai County, bringing the county and Coeur d’Alene Tribe together for the only free transit system of its kind in the United States.
Since retiring in 2010, he has owned Austin Consulting, working with urban renewal agencies, water and sewer districts to fund infrastructure improvements throughout North Idaho.
If elected, Austin said he’ll attempt to increase funding for local projects without raising property taxes, acquiring Coeur d’Alene Lake Drive from Silver Beach to Higgens Point for the financial gain to the district to help control what happens to property owners along the drive, and imposing impact fees on new development, so growth pays for itself.
“I am semi-retired and want to give back to the community,” Austin said. “It’s a great district, but needs to increase funding from outside sources, like the Superfund money from Hecla and ASARCO (via EPA) to improve flood-prone areas in eastern Kootenai County.”
Austin has spent 30-plus years working with local governments.
“I’ve also funded $12 million to improve major arterials in the city, including Ramsey Road (1994), Kathleen (Avenue) south of the Fairgrounds (1995), Government Way (1996 and 2005), Neider (where Costco is now in 1998) and Northwest Boulevard (2001), all without raising property taxes,” he said.
Sverdsten has been a resident of the district all 84 years of his life, graduating from Pacific Lutheran College with a degree in Business Administration and minor in music.
He worked as a logging contractor, helping build roads in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as working on various other forest projects. He is a past Kootenai School Board Trustee and was a state senator in the 1980s. He is the current president of the American Lutheran Church in Kellogg.
Sverdsten has been a road district commissioner for the past 10 years.
“One of the biggest issues we have is the continued maintenance of the roads,” Sverdsten said. “We’ve got a lot of graveled and worn-out roads. They need attention and we’ve got a list of roads with need and need repair.
“We lost all of our forest funding, and will need $80,000 to $100,000 to maintain these roads. The bridges are a big concern of mine, and we need to look into grant money and try to get some funds to get stuff done.
“Another concern is the old bridge near Cataldo, which is condemned to 20,000 pounds. We’ve got the repository nearby, and we can’t get into it right now from the old highway because loads are too big. If the public wants me, I’d be willing to serve another four years. I still know a lot of the players in Boise and have a good liaison with the people down there.”
Thyr did not respond to phone or email messages from The Press.
Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.