Hamilton House fate no arbitrary call

There are two sides to every story. Such is the case with the Hamilton House.

The Hamilton (Romer) House could have been torn down in the fall/winter of 2017 without any public input at all. Since taking office in January of 2019, I have listened to dozens of hours of testimony, taken numerous phone calls, sat through public meetings and read dozens of emails. County staff has spent at least a hundred hours on issues related to keeping the house. At least a thousand taxpayer dollars have been spent on this issue since I took office.

The county purchased this piece of property with the sole intention of razing the home and using the lot for facility expansion, as we have outgrown our current space (particularly for legally mandated court needs). Having spent $425,000 of taxpayer money on that purchase, it is vital for us to use the property to its best and most reasonable purpose. The existing building is not sufficient in size or layout to be used to support county operations.

The building is currently vacant and, in order to lease the property to another organization, at least $200,000 would have to be spent to remediate black mold, outdated electrical connections, and other issues within the house, as it is old and in a significant level of disrepair. It simply is not reasonable to rehabilitate the house only to then have to spend even MORE money to meet our needs for facility and parking space. If the Board were to consider a lease, despite these issues, the law requires a unanimous vote of the Board of Commissioners, so all three would have to agree to that option, which will not happen.

I was not voted in by the citizens of Kootenai County to preserve one house. I was voted in to represent taxpayers in providing necessary services they cannot obtain elsewhere (i.e. justice services). I was also voted in to listen to constituents and I have made every effort to do that and respond as best I can to the neighbors who want to preserve the house.

This current Board did not purchase this property, and we have tried to do the honorable thing by opening up a bid period, allowing citizens the opportunity to save the house by purchasing it. Taking $425,000 of property tax dollars from those who are being taxed out of their homes to save a piece of history would be irresponsible.

Several people have reached out to with the message “Don’t pave paradise to put up a parking lot." I understand the frustration. I believe we all do. I drive by the house every day and enjoy glancing at the beautiful property. I do understand the outcry from those who call the home historic. I am not ignoring that plea and I do understand the age and history of the home – I just cannot, in good conscience, forcibly take money from my neighbors, friends, family, and all Kootenai County taxpayers to save this property.

At the end of the day, I was hired to do a job. It is a job I love and that I take very seriously. A main priority of that job in the days to come will be making tough calls about the facility needs of our employees and our customers. I intend to keep my eye on the goal, not to upset taxpayers but to be accountable to them. Any other consideration is secondary, as difficult as that may be. You elect officials planning on those individuals to make the tough calls. This is one of those times.

Leslie Duncan is a Kootenai County Commissioner.