Zimmerman, Dose dispel paycut rumors
WALLACE — The two months between the General Election and when newly elected or re-elected officials take office in January can be a time of unrest as many people wonder what changes might be in store under new leadership.
Commissioner-elects Jeff Zimmerman and Dave Dose have been preparing for their upcoming terms by undergoing several different training courses that prepare them for the rigors of their new positions.
However, they both felt compelled to reach out to the community and attempt to dispel a rumor that has allegedly been circulating throughout Shoshone County Courthouse and the rest of the county.
“I have been hearing from county personnel and elected that there is a lot of concern about potential pay cuts in the new year,” Dose said. “They say they have been hearing unpleasant rumors to that effect. Those rumors were also circulating during the election, probably to try and persuade some voters, but I am not sure why they are circulating now except to disrupt county workflow and morale. I have talked with my newly elected colleague, Jeff Zimmerman at length over the past few months and I have talked with the current Commissioner, Mrs. Casady and nobody is talking about any pay cuts for county employees.”
Zimmerman was also not thrilled when he realized that these rumors had circulated during the election and then resurfaced again after.
“I have never expressed any plans to cut wages,” Zimmerman said. “I know the value of good employees, and the costs associated. I will have an open-door policy with all county employees and I believe teamwork is essential. We all have the same goal, and that is to do our best in serving the residents of Shoshone County.”
Both Zimmerman and Dose have plans in place for their first 100 days in office, and both them center around transparency for the BOCC.
Ideas like live-streaming BOCC meetings, improving and updating technology to allow residents in more remote areas of the county to improve accessibility.
“I also want to look into the website our Idaho State Controller has built that can contain all local government budgets, I believe we should take advantage of anything that will help the public access public records, especially if it is at no cost to our county,” Zimmerman told the News-Press. “The website is www.transparent.idaho.gov. The public can also monitor our state government spending as well. Kind of a one-stop shop that the public can use to see where their tax dollars are being spent.”
Dose also mentioned that he would like to, “help get county spending under control to the point we can hold or lower taxes next year; people are telling me they can’t afford to keep seeing increases in taxes.”
Dose served as a commissioner in the '90s and told the News-Press that while the job is still centered around serving the people of Shoshone County, many of the processes that are required to do so have changed — hence the large amount of training that both he and Zimmerman are participating in.
Both men are excited to hit the ground running, but Dose had a special message that he wanted to share with Shoshone County, especially the people employed by the county.
“I am excited to have the chance to represent the citizens once again in Shoshone County, for the next four years. Having grown up here, this unique place is important to me,” Dose said. “I am excited to work with this new team of elected for positive change and growth. I want to protect our special lifestyle that we have here and at the same time try to manage growth and tourism wisely. County employees need to rest easy and enjoy their Christmas holiday, knowing that there are no plans whatsoever to reduce their pay when the new commissioners take office in January. I am just sorry that the employees have been subjected to this unneeded worry.”
Dose and Zimmerman will be officially sworn into office on the morning of Monday, Jan. 9 at 10 a.m.
