Brett Surplus - 2024 Kootenai County Commissioner Seat 3 Primary Candidate
In an interview, Brett Surplus, a Republican candidate for Kootenai County Commissioner in District 3, discussed his credentials and vision for the role. A lifelong resident of Kootenai County, Surplus has a diverse professional background in law enforcement, banking, and real estate. He emphasized the importance of addressing public safety issues within the county, noting the significant financial losses incurred from the turnover of well-trained employees who leave for better-paying opportunities elsewhere. Surplus is focused on improving the compensation for these roles to enhance retention and efficiency.
Surplus also highlighted his commitment to fiscal responsibility, advocating for the prudent use of federal funds and the implementation of policies that prioritize grant money over taxpayer dollars. He criticized current practices that have led to financial overruns and operational inefficiencies, such as the Justice Center expansion going over budget and issues with the 911 center. Surplus promised to be accessible to constituents, emphasizing the importance of timely communication.
He argued that his unique combination of skills and experiences in relevant sectors positions him as an ideal candidate to address the county's challenges and to avoid past missteps involving real estate transactions and budget management. Voters, he believes, should choose him for a change towards more fiscally responsible leadership in Kootenai County.
May 9, 2024
MORE EPISODES
Cheri Zao - 2024 State Senate District 5 Primary Candidate
Cheri Zao, a retired medical professional and Republican candidate for State Senate District 5, presents her views in a recent interview. With an educational background in Chemistry and Biology from Stephen F. Austin State University, and a Medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Zao has been a resident of Kootenai County for 35 years. She criticizes Idaho’s current public education funding as confusing and insufficient, advocating for legislative improvements to make the system more understandable and equitable.
On constituent communication, Zao plans to utilize her website (cherizao.com), which she describes as informative and interactive, in addition to regular email correspondence, town halls, and speaking engagements. She emphasizes the importance of being responsive to constituent needs and concerns.
Addressing affordable housing, Zao identifies the issue as a key motivation for her candidacy. She points to the large-scale purchase of residential homes by private equity and hedge funds as detrimental to housing affordability and advocates for legislation to protect local interests and control.
Zao supports the Idaho open primaries ballot initiative, arguing that closed primaries unfairly restrict independent voters. She believes that open primaries offer a fairer choice to all voters, regardless of their party affiliation.
In her concluding remarks, Zao positions herself as a proponent of conservative values, civility, and community strength, urging voters to support her candidacy based on these principles.
May 11, 2024
Carl Bjerke - 2024 State Senate District 5 Primary Candidate
Carl Bjerke, a Republican State Senate District 5 primary candidate, has an extensive background in public safety and legislative roles, which he believes qualifies him for re-election. With an associate degree in Respiratory Therapy and a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Leadership, along with specialized training in incident command and management from prestigious institutions, Bjerke has built his career on a robust educational foundation. He moved to Kootenai County in 2017, drawn by family ties and retirement plans.
In terms of public education funding, Bjerke recognizes Idaho's constitutional commitment and suggests simplifying the funding formula while exploring creative funding methods to alleviate property tax burdens and enhance school choice options. Communication with constituents, particularly during legislative sessions, is challenging due to the volume of communications; however, Bjerke prioritizes accessibility via text and phone, encouraging engagement outside of session times for policy discussions.
On affordable housing, Bjerke sees a need for local solutions and possible legislative changes to support faster development processes, favoring a task force approach to address the mismatch between job availability and housing. He opposes the Idaho open primary ballot initiative, fearing it could lead to ranked-choice voting, which he views as detrimental.
Bjerke positions himself as a candidate dedicated to public service, touting his legislative achievements and ongoing commitment to improve Idaho through experienced and collaborative governance, making a strong case for his re-election based on a track record of service and a platform focused on practical, localized solutions to state issues.
May 10, 2024
Dave Raglin - 2024 State Representative District 4, Seat B Primary Candidate
In an interview, Dave Raglin, a Republican candidate for State Representative in District 4, discussed his extensive background and his plans for addressing key issues in Kootenai County. Raglin, recently retired, has a diverse professional history spanning 38 years across various sectors, including transportation, logistics, and rail industries. He also operates a local agency aiding developmentally disabled adults with his wife.
Raglin expressed concerns about the current state funding for public education in Idaho, advocating for permanent solutions to improve the educational system rather than temporary fixes. He emphasized the need for community and legislative collaboration to address educational inequities and enhance the quality of education.
On housing, Raglin highlighted the local crisis where wages haven't kept pace with rising home prices, making housing unaffordable for many, including essential workers. He proposed a comprehensive strategy involving community leaders, local builders, and non-profit organizations to address this issue effectively.
Regarding constituent communication, Raglin plans to ensure transparency and responsiveness through regular updates, town hall meetings, and a robust social media presence.
Raglin supports the Idaho Open Primary ballot initiative, arguing that it promotes inclusiveness and reduces polarization by allowing independent and third-party voters to participate in primaries.
He concluded by emphasizing the need for unity and shared community values in addressing local issues, advocating for a collaborative approach to preserve the cultural and foundational roots of Coeur d'Alene and North Idaho.
May 10, 2024
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:22:13
Helo Hancock
All right. Well, we are now going to meet our next candidate for the Kooteani County Commissioners seat three. And that is Brett Surplus. Brett, thank you for being with here with us this evening. Why don't you take a minute and introduce yourself and explain why you're running for office?
Brett Surplus
Well, I appreciate you having me. like I said, my name is Brett Surplus, and I'm a born, raised native here.
00:00:22:15 - 00:00:52:02
Brett Surplus
I've seen a lot of growth, in my 50 years. I've seen a lot of mistakes that have taken place on the management level. I would say, normally I wouldn't. Wouldn't, go for this job. I'm pretty happy with the job that I have doing real estate. So, just watching everything that's taken place with the mistakes in the county, the wasteful spending.
00:00:52:04 - 00:01:11:11
Brett Surplus
The common sense mistakes and then also the question about, you know, the future of the fairgrounds. That's pretty much what got me into, you know, wanting to go ahead and step forward and, kind of protect the community and my heritage that I'm here. That's what's drawn these most people here is because of our heritage.
00:01:11:11 - 00:01:32:01
Brett Surplus
And I think at this time, it's we need somebody who's from that molded from that heritage.
Helo Hancock
So we've got three questions. You're going to have two minutes for each of these. And the first question that, we want to ask is name one thing that the county commission could do to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Kootenai County.
00:01:32:03 - 00:02:06:12
Helo Hancock
And what would you do to implement that?
Brett Surplus
Well, we have a I mean, in the last three years, we've got a huge problem with growth. You know, they talked about it in 2022. And it's to me, it's been it's been irresponsible growth. We're at a point now where it's bottlenecking with our infrastructure. I think that they've abandoned, sitting down with city councils and mayors and trying to, you know, come up with a comp plan, that's going to actually start to slow things down.
00:02:06:14 - 00:02:29:01
Brett Surplus
The only thing that we have really, you know, going on here right now, it seems like, is more, you know, traffic construction and homes being built. So I'd like to see some more industry stuff come into play to actually accommodate the people of this community, especially the ones who've been here their whole life and, and whatnot.
00:02:29:03 - 00:02:56:12
Brett Surplus
So I think we need to sit down and, get with the cities and this when it comes to the annexing, to be able to slow things down a little bit.
Helo Hancock
Okay. So the second question we have for you, and again, you have two minutes for this. this is a contested primary election. And oftentimes, you know, primary election, you have candidates from the same party running against one another.
00:02:56:14 - 00:03:21:15
Helo Hancock
And and it's a fair question to say, well, they're from the same party. How really are they different here? And what differentiates Brett from his opponent? Take a couple minutes and explain to the voters, what makes you differ from your candidate here. Excuse me? Your opponent and, you know, and why folks should vote for you.
00:03:21:17 - 00:03:45:18
Brett Surplus
Well, with my background, I've got a background from law enforcement, banking, and then real estate. And if you've, if the people have paid attention to what's gone on as far as the counties concerned, like the justice building, for instance, we went for 12 million over the incumbent. Never was, foreman for that. Took that responsibility on. And now we're 12 million over.
00:03:45:20 - 00:04:10:12
Brett Surplus
Hasn't garnered support of law enforcement. They keep talking about, well, we've got pay raises. They've had more pay raises. Well, pay raises is not putting us to the level of where we're losing. We've lost more money in training and people 3.5 million in 10 years. So that's not that's not, you know, doing favors that's doing catch up.
00:04:10:14 - 00:04:43:07
Brett Surplus
Right. And then on the other hand, we're also jeopardizing the people of this community by not doing the appropriate pay to where we were down to nine dispatchers for 180,000 people and it took $200,000 to actually bring that back up to where we started having applications coming in. So it took money to resolve that problem. And it's an expensive mistake when we have to pay over $100,000 for two temporary, dispatchers for three months.
00:04:43:09 - 00:05:07:15
Brett Surplus
Now, if those people don't, if they're not able to go ahead and hit the floor because it's a high tense job, it's $37,000 or so per month to to keep them going. So these are these are costly mistakes that have taken place, you know, and then getting sued from, you know, the assessor when they went after their wages, that's to me is an old government overreach.
00:05:07:17 - 00:05:34:12
Brett Surplus
So all of these things are wasteful spending. It's not being, you know, you know, fiscally responsible. And it's common sense things that we need to get back to, and hold on to our money.
Helo Hancock
Okay. So you mentioned growth. as, as one thing that was affecting the quality of life here. Let's dig into that a little bit.
00:05:34:14 - 00:06:00:10
Helo Hancock
It's definitely something at the top of a lot of people's minds here in Kootenai County and how do we manage growth and what do we do about it in the long term? Tell us what what you would do in the long term and, and what are the kinds of things that the kinds of precise solutions that you would have to trying to to address the long term management of growth.
00:06:00:12 - 00:06:34:02
Brett Surplus
It comes back to that original question as far as bringing getting people to cities back to the table with the county. You know, the moment that the annexation takes place is when everybody's trying to help out their area, right? They're they're roads put in roundabouts, trying to accommodate, you know, different than like as far as. But Hayden, you know, having that new 103 or 412, housing complex, you have all of these things that now, you know, if you take, you know, two drivers per house.
00:06:34:02 - 00:06:58:06
Brett Surplus
Now we have 824 more vehicles just coming out of that roadway. We've had 37 fatalities in the last. I don't know how long. So trying to it comes to that bottleneck. You know, and there has to be a comp plan that needs to be done, and we have to get everybody under the same agreement. We can talk about as far as of the aquifers.
00:06:58:06 - 00:07:18:06
Brett Surplus
Great. Okay. But what's it going to look like in five years? What's it going to look like in ten years? What is our children going to be left with? And maybe we need to start looking at as far as going okay. Do we start making certain developments where maybe they're one acre parcels like Dalton Gardens? Or instead of trying to cram so many houses onto one parcel?
00:07:18:08 - 00:07:45:08
Brett Surplus
I know builders don't like to to, you know, hear that, but unfortunately, once you build it, you can't go back. It's there. So we need to have we need to think about as far as our area versus the dollar comes down to that.
Helo Hancock
Okay. Well, great. Brett. appreciate those responses. And you'll now have one minute to to give the voters of Kootenai County.
00:07:45:10 - 00:08:14:18
Helo Hancock
Your final closing statement and why they should vote for you.
Brett Surplus
You know, having been here my whole life, I've watched a lot of change. For a lot of you new residents that have been here, you've you you've been captured on as far as how the people are here, how we do things here. And I think that if you want to keep that, you need to have some sort of leadership that actually comes from that, that's molded from it.
00:08:14:20 - 00:08:39:08
Brett Surplus
We've had too many issues that have gone on, in the county that have cost us millions of dollars. We've had to pull from reserves to cover other things. These are common sense mistakes. And unfortunately, I'm at the point where I can't vote for the incumbent anymore. there comes a point where we have to separate friends, and we have to say it's just not working out.
00:08:39:10 - 00:09:04:19
Brett Surplus
So if you want growth to continue, then I would say you can vote for the incumbent if you want it to, some sort of planning that's going to actually reduce it. Then it'd be great to have your vote.
Helo Hancock
Great. Well, we sure appreciate the time with us this evening and and helping the voters here and in our community understand more about where you're at on these issues and help them in their decision about who to vote for.
00:09:04:19 - 00:09:08:12
Brett Surplus
I appreciate thank you for having me.
Helo Hancock
Great. Thank you.
Brett Surplus
Thank you sir.