Outgoing Kootenai County commissioner says farewell

COEUR d’ALENE — Bill Brooks never considered the District 1 seat on the Board of County Commissioners to be his. Not really.

Just last week, he got to chatting with a stranger at the grocery store and was asked what he did for work. 

“I have a temporary job at the county,” Brooks told the man. 

Even after six years as a commissioner, he views the seat he occupies as one that belongs to the voters of Kootenai County. 

“I believe if you are privileged enough to be an elected official or to work for the county, your job is service,” he said Tuesday afternoon in the packed boardroom in the Kootenai County Administration Building. 

A line wound out the door, made up of local leaders, current and former county employees and community members who were waiting their turn to wish Brooks the best as his tenure comes to an end. 

Brooks opted not to run for reelection this year. His successor, Marc Eberlein — who is also his predecessor — will take up the mantle next week, when he’s sworn back into office. 

“Thank you for everything you’ve done,” one man said Tuesday, shaking Brooks’ hand. “We’ll never forget it.” 

Commissioner Leslie Duncan was among the elected officials who bid farewell to Brooks. 

“This place will never be the same,” she said. 

Brooks was first elected in 2018. In a close Republican primary election that spring, he beat incumbent Eberlein, who said at the time that his decision to support an opt-out option on building permits likely helped push Brooks over the top. 

The following years were not without controversy. In 2021, Brooks faced a recall initiative from an online group that labeled him a “Republican In Name Only,” or “RINO.” The group pointed to Brooks’ support of a commission tasked with studying Kootenai County’s form of government and evaluating whether it should change, such as by expanding the board from three commissioners to five. The recall effort fizzled out, with organizers failing to submit any petitions to the county. 

“I was never nervous about it,” Brooks told The Press at the time. “I would like a couple of the signs for souvenirs.” 

The same year, Brooks unaffiliated from the Republican Party, citing concerns about the growing influence of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee over local elections, both partisan and nonpartisan. 

Reflecting on his time in office Tuesday, Brooks smiled wryly. 

“It was a completely new experience,” he said. “I have always looked at politics from the outside. To be on the inside — I’d like to say it was a pleasant surprise, but I can’t say that. It was about what I expected.” 

Brooks said he’s especially proud to have supported the county’s shift to streaming public meetings and archiving the recordings online — a big step forward in accessibility and transparency for county government. 

He also championed a 20-year memorandum of understanding between Kootenai County and the North Idaho Fair Board, which aims to keep the fair at its current location for the foreseeable future and give voters the final say in whether it moves. 

Brooks made an impact on the area’s veteran community through his actions as liaison to the county’s Veterans Services Office. 

Tom Freeman, who directs the office, worked closely with Brooks and forged a friendship with him. 

“Even though he’s a commissioner, I can talk to him like a peer,” Freeman said. “When I go to him with a problem, he listens — and not only does he listen, he acts.” 

Brooks, a U.S. Army veteran who served during the Vietnam era, has a special ability to connect with his fellow veterans. Freeman recalled times in the past six years when he struggled to build a rapport with certain veterans, but Brooks was able to get through to them and help them access the resources they needed. 

Freeman attributes this to Brooks’ down-to-earth attitude. 

“He’s very much a member of this community who happened to have the title of commissioner,” he said. 

Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said he was glad to have worked alongside Brooks during his tenure. 

“Bill was a commissioner who was approachable and had an open-door policy for discussions,” he said. “He was and is one of the most publicly accessible elected officials in Kootenai County. I admired and appreciated his approach to public safety and the fairgrounds. I wish him the best in his retirement.” 

Brooks hasn’t mapped out his next move just yet. He expects he’ll go back to writing — before entering politics, he penned this newspaper’s Consumer Guy column — perhaps on a blog. 

For now, he shared some final words of wisdom for elected leaders, which he said have guided him: Ego can’t come into play.

“If you’re here for the right reasons, the behavior follows,” Brooks said. 

    Kootenai County Veterans Services Director Tom Freeman, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris, former undersheriff Dan Mattos and Kootenai County Commissioner Bill Brooks share a laugh Tuesday during Brooks' farewell open house.