Rognstad elected AIC's District 1 director

SANDPOINT — Mayor Shelby Rognstad will represent the five northern counties in Idaho for the next year after he was recently elected director for District 1 by members of the Association of Idaho Cities.

Rognstad traveled to Boise last week where he took the oath of office on June 22. District 1 covers the Idaho Panhandle north of Plummer.

"It is definitely an honor and a privilege, and I’m humbled by the opportunity," Rognstad said.

AIC is a nonprofit organization out of Boise, with a mission to "promote excellence in, and advocate for, city governance, community leadership and service to citizens in order to strengthen Idaho cities," Rognstad said. AIC focuses primarily on education for elected and city staff, he said.

Rognstad said he became involved with AIC a couple years ago after attending a workshop when he was Sandpoint’s council president. In the spring and fall, workshops are held in each district. A one-day training session is held with about five classes, where AIC staff trains city leadership in everything from financial reporting, to new legislative updates to land use policy.

"Basically, every issue under the sun that is important and relevant to cities in Idaho," Rognstad said.

The three-day annual conference each June, he said, is similar to the district workshops, but is more in-depth and broad. About 400 representatives from Idaho cities attend the conference, though not all of Idaho’s approximately 200 cities are represented each year, Rognstad said. City leadership, as well as city staff, attend the conference. For Sandpoint, Rognstad, along with city administrator Jennifer Stapleton, city attorney Scot Campbell, finance director-in-training Sarah Lynds, and Fire Chief Ron Stocking.

"That’s pretty typical for Sandpoint to send down a contingency of about that many, and it’s pretty common for a lot of cities to have that much participation," Rognstad said.

The workshops at the annual conference are more intensive, Rognstad said, with around 30-40 different workshops and keynote speakers, among other happenings over the three days.

"It’s a great opportunity to really dive in deep on all kinds of issues and educate ourselves so that we not only create good policy here in Idaho, but we are up-to-date on what’s going on at the state level and that we are following the law, and all that good stuff," Rognstad said.

As director, Rognstad said, the district directors meet once a month, more or less, via teleconference to put together the district’s workshop series for fall and spring, contribute to the curriculum for the annual conference in Boise, and provide guidance for staff on finances and business issues related to the organization. AIC is a big player in advocating legislation that impacts cities, so the board of directors forms into subcommittees to focus on legislative issues. One "hot topic" for this year in legislation, Rognstad said, is sales tax allotment.

"If we can come up with a policy that we think is more equitable and more fair for cities, then we will propose that to the larger body, and AIC would lobby at the Legislature on behalf of the cities to amend that law," Rognstad said.

Rognstad said his election as District 1 director is a "great opportunity" for the city of Sandpoint to take a leadership role in state policy on a variety of issues that affect cities statewide.

"I look forward to working with my fellow mayors and city leadership throughout District 1," Rognstad said. "One thing that has been really obvious and impressive for me is to see how much commonality there is among city leadership statewide, and how much support there is for one another. We are all in this together and it’s just been great to work with other city leadership and see that we all willing and eager to work together to solve common problems."

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.