St. Maries fills in for Boise for a day

ST. MARIES — Gov. Brad Little proclaimed St. Maries the Capital for a Day on Thursday, and traveled to the Benewah County city with an entourage of nearly his entire cabinet to work from the small town.

“I plan to visit and conduct business in every corner of Idaho during my administration,” Little said.

St. Maries Mayor Tom Carver welcomed the governor with a plaque of the St. Joe River by a local artist.

Attendee D’Lane Williams presented Little with a small keepsake eagle carrying an American flag to thank him for coming to their county.

The Capital for a Day gave people in St. Maries and nearby an opportunity to talk to the governor about what’s most important to them. And a few topics came up multiple times, many involving money.

“We’re getting to the point in our town where our community does a fantastic job of coming together, raising funds for whatever our kids need. It’s never a question,” city pool manager Becky Holder said. “But we’re beyond the maintenance phase of a lot of our parks, pools, recreation stuff. We’re in need of new facilities. My question is who do I contact regarding the grant money that’s available to us? What can we do as a community to meet the needs to get those grants and stuff going to keep our youth involved?”

The city pool is a community space where kids learn water safety, to swim and have fun with their friends, especially on 100-degree days like Wednesday, when the pool was packed. More than 5,000 people have used the pool since the beginning of summer Holder said, and there are only 9,900 people in the county.

“Right now, our city pool is in desperate need. When we drain it this fall, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare would like to inspect it,” Carver said. “And we’ve got some major leaks in it. And I’m afraid they’re going to shut us down.”

Carver has an estimate to repair and resurface the pool at roughly $500,000, but not enough money to dedicate to the facility.

“A pool is a service we offer, but it’s a money pit. We do everything possible to keep it up," Carver said. “If we ever had to shut that pool down it would be a disservice to the people of St. Maries.”

The governor connected Holder and Carver with Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation Director Susan Buxton.

“We do have some grants that are available,” Buxton said. “And that’s a 50% match … So that’s one source of funds.”

Some other popular questions surrounded education funding or curriculum.

“When I see what’s going on in various parts of our country and the things that were happening just before Hitler took power, there’s so many of those same things happening in this country,” St. Maries resident Leslie Shirts said. “And the indoctrination of youth is a big part of that."

Shirts said she knows it's a loaded question before asking the governor what Idaho is doing about that situation.

“In Idaho we don’t have a state curriculum,” Little said. “But we did in the last session of the Legislature pass a new optional curriculum on updating history and civics. And it’s available to all the school districts. But we don’t mandate a curriculum.”

Little also referred her question to State Board of Education Director Shawn Keough.

“That’s a question on top of many people’s minds right now,” Keough said. “And I agree 100%. It really is a local control state. Idaho is not what you see in other parts of the country. It’s local elected school board officials. We have the opportunity.”

A common theme in Little’s answers referred back to local governance. Some residents asked about solutions to corruption and problems with the prosecutor, but the governor had to refer them to the judicial branch or the attorney general. Others brought up frustrations with local commissioners, city council members or board members, and the governor referred them to the chain of command.

“I can’t do anything about local governance,” Little said. “I don’t have the ability to discipline a city council, county commissioner or a fire district. That’s the way our constitution is set up.”

While his hands were tied on a handful of local issues, the governor sought to make sure the people of St. Maries felt heard and sought to know what mattered most to them.

The founder of Veterans Outreach Center, Inc. Hank Thornton talked to the governor about his nonprofit, an outreach that works with veterans to reduce suicide. Thornton’s staff of three people reach 75 veterans a month and have contributed to dropping the suicide rate in Benewah County. Thornton asked for some support from the state.

“You can’t beat that local connection like what you're doing right here,” Little said.