Elected officials sworn in
Jeff Zimmerman (center left) and Dave Dose (center, hand raised), were sworn in as new Shoshone County Commissioners on Monday morning. Swearing them in is commissioner Tracy Casady along with Shoshone County Clerk Tamie Lewis-Eberhard. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by an estimated 100 people at the Shoshone County Courthouse.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
WALLACE — Monday morning signified a major changing of the guard in Shoshone County as the recently elected county officials were all sworn in at the Shoshone County Courthouse.
Roughly 100 people packed inside the courthouse lobby, many to witness the swearing-in of two new county commissioners, Republicans Dave Dose and Jeff Zimmerman, by commissioner Tracy Casady.
Following their oaths of service, the three commissioners made the decision right then and there to elect Dose as the chairman of the board of county commissioners (BOCC) for the next year. As chairman of the BOCC, Dose was tasked with swearing in the other county’s elected officials, including Shoshone County’s re-elected coroner Rick Smith, clerk Tamie Lewis-Eberhard, treasurer Karey Eddy, assessor Jerry White and prosecutor Ben Allen.
The ceremony also featured the Kellogg High School Marine Corps JROTC Color Guard, a prayer and some delicious cake.
Outside from the BOCC, many of the county’s elected officials are not new faces — including Eddy, who was appointed to the position of treasurer right before the election.
However, the BOCC itself has undergone a major change in the past 12 months.
Dose and Zimmerman soundly defeated incumbents Jay Huber and John Hansen respectively in November’s General Election. The margin of victory was a surprise to many due to the incumbents already holding their positions for multiple terms.
They will join Casady, who was appointed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little to the position of District 1 Commissioner in August after Mike Fitzgerald resigned his seat and took a position with the city of Kellogg.
Both Dose and Zimmerman have already been in the public eye as rumors swirled during their campaigns and after their elections that they planned to cut wages and jobs at the county — something they both went on record to deny.
The new BOCC spent much of the day following the ceremony determining who would serve on the various committees that require the presence of a commissioner.
They are also exploring the possibility of moving the commissioners into separate offices — an issue that several people have brought up over the past few years.
The Shoshone News-Press looks forward to working closely with all of the county’s elected officials.