Candidate forum: Shoshone County Commissioner District #3

The following content is part of the Shoshone News-Press’s local political coverage of the upcoming General Election.

In the absence of an in-person forum or debate, we’ve asked the candidates in the three contested races to answer a series of questions with their answers being published entirely and without any edits (with the exception of minor punctuation and formatting).

The candidates were asked to keep their answers to each question within a 250-word limit.

Each question will be printed, followed by the answers of the candidates.

The position of the answers will be rotated for each question and we will allow the incumbents to have the first answer to the first question.

The race for Shoshone County Commissioner in District #3 features incumbent John Hansen (D) and Jeff Zimmerman (R).

What do you believe is the most pressing issue facing Shoshone County currently?

John Hansen: People not checking facts on issues, but listening to social media and others who believe they know all the answers, should go to the source first to get the facts.

Jeff Zimmerman: Property taxes are going up due to county budget increases, coupled with the cost of living increase has residents worried about being able to continue to live here. We are also facing a shortage of homes, which has driven up home prices as well as rent. Interest rates are also on the rise, which will drive down prices. The way to combat this would be to build more homes, which could change our small-town environment. We need to hold public workshops and meetings to work through this. Not everyone wants growth, and that is apparent with the new mountain overlay district in Wallace.

The Shoshone County Budget increased by $2 million for the upcoming year. Much of the increase was attributed to county employee raises and the rising costs of fuel and other materials. Why do or don’t you support the recently approved budget?

Jeff Zimmerman: Budget increases usually cause an increase in property taxes, unless the county starts to look for other means of funding. This year’s wage increases were 17% in the roads department, and 17-22% in the sheriff’s department. Both the sheriff department, jail and the roads department employ about 75% of the county employees. The rest of the county employees received a 7% increase. We need to be competitive, but also fair with all employees when it comes to pay raises. The county budget reflected that we had a surplus of $2 million from last year, which indicates we over-budgeted and collected more taxes than we needed. I am not a proponent of property taxes, and believe we can do a better job at generating revenue outside property taxes. Like helping current businesses expand, recruiting new businesses to the area etc. We should also be questioning why the PILT (payment in leau of Taxes) payments on federal lands is only .50 an acre here, and 2.60 an acre in Kootenai County. These funds are to replace what we lost in logging, and this doesn’t even come close.

John Hansen: I support the budget as presented, all elected officials and dept heads were very careful with their budgets and worked very hard to keep them as close as possible. The budget mentioned was for 11 months and did not include the last month of the year in which expenses for raises, fuel and other expenses were not accounted for, which made the budget amount high.

How should a board of county commissioners handle situations concerning access into and through public lands, especially as it concerns nearby or neighboring private land?

John Hansen: Commissioners should, and they do, listen to all parties in regards to public lands. They make decisions based on the facts presented to them. You cannot make everyone happy, but facts are facts and that’s what they have to go by.

Jeff Zimmerman: There is a fine line with private property and public access. Both are equally important. We have laws set forth in the Idaho code that gives us direction, as well as case law. It’s important that we seek legal advice so we do not put the county in jeopardy with lawsuits, which could cost tax payers. We also have a duty to our tax payers to insure costs associated are in their best interest.

Like many other places across the country, Shoshone County is amidst a housing crisis. What do you believe the driving factor is in this crisis and what can we do to rectify the situation locally?

Jeff Zimmerman: (Mr. Zimmerman informed the News-Press that his answers for questions one and four were the same) Property taxes are going up due to county budget increases, coupled with the cost of living increase has residents worried about being able to continue to live here. We are also facing a shortage of homes, which has driven up homes prices as well as rent. Interest rates are also on the rise, which will drive down prices. The way to combat this would be to build more homes, and which could change our small town environment. We need to hold public workshops and meetings to work through this. Not everyone wants growth, and that is apparent with the new mountain overlay district in Wallace.

John Hansen: The crisis is due to people in other states wanting to move away from

from the trouble in their cities, COVID, unemployment, etc. They want to move to a quiet place. Having said that, people sell their places for cash in other states, purchase places at a inflated price here, or they cannot find a place here due to inventory being so low there’s nothing to buy. They try to rent and rent is so inflated due to no available rentals, it just goes around and around.

What is the path for Shoshone County to maintain or improve the levels of service that they currently offer?

John Hansen: Both the Sheriff’s Dept. and Road’s Dept. budgets increasing are due to raises including merit raises from different classes or job duties, the better trained and or skills the more they increase, and the more they make the longer they stay, its a no brainer. Happy employees means longer employees.

Jeff Zimmerman: To maintain and improve our levels of service in Shoshone County, we need to be more transparent with the public. Utilizing online services such as the county website, and other social media to inform and connect with the public. The use of zoom meetings would be a useful tool to connect with residents in rural areas, so they can participate in public proceedings. Citizen comment is an essential part of being a government by the people for the people. We need to strive harder as a government to make this connection.

What should the board of county commissioners' relationship be with the local media?

Jeff Zimmerman: I believe the BOCC and the local media should have a strong working relationship. The media and BOCC both serve the public and need to keep the public informed.

John Hansen: OPEN DOOR as with all residents of Shoshone County. If you want facts, don’t go to the gossipers, come right to the source, THE COMMISSIONERS, if they don’t know they will find out and let you know.