The high cost of extremism
In “Don Quixote,” Cervantes stated, “When the head aches, all the members partake of the pain.”
What a fitting statement when one considers the overtake of Kootenai County’s Republican Central Committee (KCRCC) by a group largely consisting of libertarian-minded California transplants, angry about the oppression they endured down south.
This group, quite vocal and haughty, although claiming to represent the wishes of every single Republican in Kootenai County, is quick to vilify, slander, shun and assault a fellow Republican’s character should they dare hold to a different standard or vision from theirs in any way. At their annual fundraiser, Republican candidates not to their liking were excluded from mention. Their chair, Brent Regan, a California transplant himself, acts as though he holds the authority to dictate the direction of our county government. The questionable activity bred from within the KCRCC expands into many arenas.
Mr. Regan’s close friendship with two of our county commissioners, Marc Eberlein and Bob Bingham, has put into play an opt-out program for building permits with all three men ignoring the logical consequences of their actions. To the warnings from the county attorney and those of our Community Development director, they’ve turned a deaf ear. Listening to their rationalizations, freedom to these three comes at that expense of the public’s safety and our county’s economic well-being as a whole.
Liberty for them is license for substandard housing to be built. For them, those who would be housed in unsafe structures, be damned. Regan, Eberlein and Bingham have used their positions of power as a weapon against the residents of Kootenai County as seen in their shortsighted stance regarding building codes. Problems are already coming to light as a result of this ill-fated decision.
The building department by law cannot operate at a profit; how will the lost revenue of fewer permits be replaced? I anticipate one of two ways, or maybe both. Highly skilled and loyal staff will be fired, and citizens who do choose to obtain a permit will be charged a much higher fee. An injustice to those who would prefer to build a permitted building. With lawsuits likely to befall the county, the taxpayers will get saddled with the bill. Though Eberlein and Bingham were warned, they recklessly refused to heed the warnings.
Mr. Regan claims the Realtors have declared war on rural residents for supporting mandatory building codes. Once again, in his bloated arrogance, Regan purports to speak for others. If anyone has declared war, it was Mr. Regan against the county after he was defeated in 2004 at the Idaho Supreme Court for having a non-permitted airstrip on his property. I suspect the larger majority of rural residents are levelheaded enough not to be willing to gamble with the lives of their loved ones. They will choose to seek the assistance of the building department by participating in the county’s permitting process.
No more appropriate message could have been provided to the KCRCC, and the many in the audience at their annual fundraiser, than what Mike Baker provided. This is a group of folks that includes those who consider themselves exclusive and empowered by their position on the Republican Central Committee. They lack respect for the views and convictions of others.
It is understandable many people do not have the interest or the time to get heavily involved with local government affairs and local politics. But, when apathy sets in over a community, there are those willing to take advantage, as this current KCRCC has done under the direction of Brent Regan.
Governance is in place to keep and maintain social stability. In other words, to keep greed and self-indulgence from getting out of hand. Still, some will use their money and their friendships to change laws to suit them personally at the expense of others. If there ever was a time our county, including city voters, needed to rise to the occasion to take back our community from a small, extremist group, it is now with an election just weeks away.
As you prepare to head to the polls on May 15, consider how a vote for those who ideologically espouse “liberty” at all costs is having a deleterious impact on our lives. Extremism needs to be reigned in. Less bureaucracy is an honorable goal. Not, however, where safety is a concern. This change is bound to reduce property values countywide and will create a less-attractive environment for new businesses to our community.
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Deborah Rose is a Kootenai County resident.