County hopefuls debate at forum

CLARK FORK — The Farm Bureau’s Bonner County candidate forum on Friday was a mostly cordial affair, although not without a view zingers here and there.

Incumbent Republican Sheriff Daryl Wheeler arguably had home-field advantage at the VFW Hall, but was subjected to some of the forum’s most barbed remarks.

“It’s a good thing I wore my protective vest tonight,” said Wheeler, who is being challenged by Ponderay Police officer Tim Fry in the primary and former deputy Rocky Jordan in the general election.

Jordan declared that corruption and cronyism is still rampant at the sheriff’s office and criticized Wheeler’s involvement in the murder-for-hire investigation of Edgar Steele, former defense counsel for the Aryan Nations.

“There’s no reason his constitutional rights should not have been protected,” said Jordan, a Constitution party candidate.

Wheeler said he was confident the federal government had a good case against Steele, who was ultimately convicted and imprisoned for attempting to assassinate his own wife.

Fry, meanwhile, sidestepped personal attacks, but conceded there was room for improvement at the sheriff’s office. The department’s ties to the community are faded, according to Fry, who took stands against data aggregation of citizens and warrentless, forced blood draws against suspects in impaired driving investigations.

“That kind of thing is not consistent with the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution,” said Fry.

Wheeler said forced blood draws have been upheld in the courts and supports the practice if it helps protect the public from intoxicated motorists.

A third candidate seeking the GOP nod for sheriff, white supremacist Shaun Winkler, did not attend the forum.

In the hotly-contested, three-way race for the Republican nomination for the District 3 seat on the county commission, incumbent Lewis Rich said his record as commissioner speaks for itself.

“I’m consistent. I believe I operate in a manner that avoids bias,” he said.

But Rich took heat from a landowner who accused Rich of being unresponsive to road issues at Oden Bay and then vindictively nearly doubling the assessed value on his home.

Rich responded that the Oden Bay issues were considered by the board and the assessed valuation was a product of Idaho tax laws, not spite.

Cary Kelly, who is challenging Rich for the nomination, said he would be a unifying force on the commission, which is deeply divided and sparring with other elected officials. Kelly said he never gave much thought to running until commissioners entered mediation last fall.

“The situation since then has only gotten worse,” said Kelly, who is concerned the discord is becoming too time consuming and expensive.

Sage Dixon, a member of the county’s Property Rights Council who’s also in the hunt for the District 3 seat, said he has the financial and management background to protect taxpayers.

“It’s the public’s money and it’s important to be a good steward of that money,” said Dixon.

Incumbent Republican District 1 Commissioner Cornel Rasor urged voters to keep him in office to sustain the board’s momentum in fiscal transparency, and push-back against federal mandates such as critical habitat designation for Selkirk Mountain caribou.

“For the first time in history, Bonner County invoked coordination with a federal agency to help protect the social, economic and recreational interests of its citizens from being trampled,” said Rasor.

But Joyce Broadsword, a former state senator who is also competing for the District 1 GOP nod, questioned whether that push-back is too uncompromising to produce favorable results.

“You’ve got to give a little to get a little,” said Broadsword, who pledged to use her eight years of legislative and budgeting experience to benefit the county.

The winner of the District 1 primary will face Steve Johnson, an independent, in the general election. Johnson did not attend the forum.

Also absent from the forum were incumbent Prosecutor Louis Marshall, a shoo-in for the GOP nomination in the primary, and Michael Waldrup, who’s running as an independent.

A second independent candidate for prosecutor in the general election, Tevis Hull, is a non-partisan candidate because he believes all elected county offices which do not act in a legislative capacity should be non-partisan. Hull was elected to be the first full-time prosecutor in county history in the 1990s.

Hull related a quote from Founding Father and author Thomas Paine, who once said that as societies values decline, the need for government increases.

“It is a horrible chart to follow,” said Hull.