Dose holds 'office hours' in Pinehurst

PINEHURST — Shoshone County Commissioner Dave Dose did something Monday that should make a lot of people happy.

He kept one of his campaign promises.

Dose, the chairman of the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners and representative of the board’s second district held informal office hours at Pinehurst City Hall Monday morning, making himself available to anyone who came through the door.

“I had promised when I ran that, once I got things going in Wallace, I would expand and spend some time in my own district,” Dose said.

Dose’s district is the westernmost part of Shoshone County, which means his constituents have a longer drive than most if they have to travel to the courthouse in Wallace to discuss anything with him.

Dose and his fellow commissioners have recently been under fire for their perceived lack of availability since they spend fewer hours inside the physical confines of the courthouse. However, his "office hours" Monday in Pinehurst were an example of what the new board has been trying to accomplish since they took office in January.

After being accused of working fewer hours for the same $50,084 salary that previous commissioners were paid, Dose explained that the new BOCC was trying things a different way in order to see if they could be more effective.

“Instead of working three to four days a week in the office whether there was work to be done there or not, we have organized to focus our meetings on three days a week at the courthouse and to spend the rest of their time as needed — where needed — including Mondays, Fridays and often on weekends,” Dose said previously. “This includes taking care of citizen needs, meeting remotely when efficient, answering citizen mail and email, conducting site visits, researching county issues, training, visiting areas of the county that don’t often see commissioners and working in their own districts on more local issues.”

He also mentioned that working conditions inside the courthouse were not always easy to navigate due to the busy nature of the building and the relatively cramped working quarters.

Throughout the morning Dose discussed everything from the county budget situation to checking on how folks' parents and grandparents were doing.

It wasn’t just regular constituents meeting with the commissioner either. Dose had the opportunity to visit with Pinehurst Mayor Russ Lowe as well as the city’s chief of police, John Richter, allowing him the opportunity to discuss how things are going with the people who have the best insights.

“I truly believe that the more people who can get out and come to something like this, the better,” Richter said. “Productive discussion is part of society.”

In Idaho, while each county commissioner represents the district they reside in, they are elected through at-large voting, which means that anyone residing in that county can vote for them regardless of district. This is an important thing in Dose’s opinion.

“I may go into some of the more remote areas of the county like Calder, Avery or Murray. The people there can vote for me too,” Dose said. “I can help them the same way I try to help the people in my own district.”

Dose plans to make these events a monthly occurrence and is open to inviting other county politicians to tag along, increasing exposure and transparency for the county’s elected officials.

“The way I see it, this has got to be less intimidating than going to Wallace,” Dose said.