County commissioners look ahead
COEUR d’ALENE — Kootenai County’s administrative structure could change in 2022 — and so could the makeup of the board of commissioners.
The seats currently occupied by Chris Fillios (District 2) and Leslie Duncan (District 3) are up for election this year.
Duncan has just announced she's running again but Fillios hasn't declared yet.
Meanwhile, since May 2021, the nine-member Optional Forms of Government Study Commission (OFGSC) has collected data to assess whether the county’s form of government should change.
Based on their findings, the commission has developed a preliminary recommendation to:
• Increase the number of county commissioners from three to five
• Hire a commission-manager
• Continue electing the assessor, clerk, coroner, prosecuting attorney, sheriff and treasurer, rather than making them appointed positions
All recommendations are allowed under Idaho Code 31-5001.
The OFGSC is expected to present recommendations to county commissioners for approval in January or February.
If commissioners approve changes, Kootenai County voters will have the final say during the November 2022 general election.
This isn’t the first time the county has contemplated changing its administrative structure.
In 1996, a study commission recommended changes to Kootenai County’s form of government, but county commissioners rejected the recommendation and it never went to a public vote.
The matter went to voters in 2012 but failed.
If the OFGSC recommends increasing the number of county commissioners, both Brooks and Fillios said they would support a public vote.
All three commissioners pointed to county staffing issues as a challenge that must be addressed in 2022.
The county has more than 80 job openings, Fillios said, which accounts for about 10% of the workforce.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is also understaffed, with jail staff and 911 operators in particularly short supply.
“Those people are working like dogs and they’re not getting paid very well,” Brooks said. “Many are saying, ‘I’m burned out — I can’t do it anymore.’ I want to change that.”
Providing competitive, livable wages to attract and retain county employees is a must, Brooks said.
Kootenai County employees could see a boost in pay through a wage study that seeks to address issues of staffing and turnover.
The study will analyze approximately 50 county positions. It’s expected to be finished by April 2022.
Growth is certain to remain a hot topic next year.
Duncan said preparing for sustained growth in the form of impact fees is a priority for her in 2022, along with examining land use policies and providing for infrastructure needs that accompany growth.
Meanwhile, a plan that would give cities a say in the Coeur d’Alene Airport’s future is still up in the air for 2022.
In August, Coeur d’Alene Airport Director Steven Kjergaard proposed a joint powers agreement to protect the airport’s continuity and political stability.
The agreement would create a five-member administrative board to manage the “business” side of the airport and oversee long-term planning.
Brooks and Fillios gave Kjergaard the green light to reach out to city leaders in November, while Duncan had reservations, including how the agreement would impact airport users and taxpayers.
Fillios said he believes the joint powers agreement is worth exploring, in part because it would spread both decision-making and costs among the communities impacted by the airport.
“Everybody has a stake in the successful operation of the airport,” he said. “It can be a complex operation. Having a joint powers board might not be a bad way to approach it, but that has to be determined.”
