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Saturday, June 01, 2024
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Rich Harter

Harter

| April 30, 2022 1:00 AM

• Profession: Entrepreneur

• Party affiliation: Republican

• Educational background: High school

• How many years as a Bonner County resident: 10

• Marital status: Married 24 years with two daughters

• Family: Wife, two daughters

• Hobbies: Fire Department, shooting instructor, gunsmith/machinist

• Website: Harterforbonnercounty.org

  1. Transparency, the public deserves to know what their elected officials are doing. The BOCC has done the minimum necessary to inform the public, this is unacceptable. I would have all County business posted to the website. I would also move to have our business meetings moved to 5pm so that working people could attend. All special meeting/workshops should be moved to Saturdays.

I would work to put Planning and Zoning back together as quickly as possible. We need to look at the plans the local area sub-groups came up with, these are the people that spoke to the local residents, they know how they want Bonner County to grow.

I would do whatever I could to make sure we send all of the ARPA money back to the federal government. There are too many strings attached that could cause great harm to our county. I pray that our current commissioners do not put Bonner County in a position where we must comply with federal edicts that we find abhorrent or unconscionable.

  1. Transparency, planning and zoning, and taxes
  2. Transparency. The BOCC should post all county business to the county website, this would allow the hard- working residents to easily access this information at any time. I would also move to have our Tuesday 9am Business meetings moved to 5pm so that everyone could attend. All special meeting/workshops should be moved to Saturdays. For too long our county has operated behind a curtain.

Planning and Zoning. Those two departments should have never been separated. This is how government always grows. I don’t understand how making P&Z separate and larger would make them more efficient. Our county needs to grow but with a plan that the people agree with.

Taxes. Property tax needs to be abolished and the sales tax needs to be increased. I have spoken with several legislators; they agree that this possible and would provide protection to fixed and middle-income residents. This would also force visitors to our state to help pay for the services that they use.

  1. We need to put impact fees on new development. These developments cause added stress to all of the county services and the property tax always lags behind. It may take a decade for new developments to pay enough tax to cover the increase they cause to the county budget. I am flabbergasted that this is not being done in Bonner County. Why are the CURRENT residents footing the bill for developers to make money?
  2. The wrong direction! Actually, I am not sure what direction our current county government is going. It seems that every week we, the residents, find out about some new deal or contract that our commissioners have been working on in secret. Why are they ignoring or redacting FOIA requests? Why are they negotiating giving away county land in secret? Why are they hiring outside lawyers to defend personal lawsuits? Why are they constantly amending zoning? Why are they constantly ignoring or insulting the public? All of this needs to stop. Our government needs to be accountable to the residents. Transparency.
  3. Candidates that are pretending to be Republican. There are five people running and only two of us are actually conservative. The people of Bonner County deserve to know the truth about who we are and what we stand for. I will be speaking about this in the upcoming forums and posting videos on my website. I implore the voters to listen carefully to how we answer questions and what we say. We do not need any more RINO’s elected to represent us.
  4. It is what I mentioned above. Democrats calling themselves “reasonable Republicans” have already infiltrated our federal and state governments. They consistently vote in unison with socialists and democrats, taking away our freedom and destroying our culture. We cannot allow this to happen in Bonner County. The voters must look closely at who supports all of the candidates, please google “Idaho Sunshine” and see who is sending money to whom. Look at how the yard signs are clustered together, the Liberty candidates are easy to pick out. They are the real conservatives.
  5. I have been arrested. My response is always maximum disclosure with minimum delay. I addressed this is in the BCRCC forum in Priest River and the day my website went up I had a full accounting of all the details. I encourage everyone to please read my story on my website. My phone number is listed on my website.

Please give me a call if you have any questions. https://harterforbonnercounty.org/standing-up/

  1. Are you actually a Republican, a Christian Conservative who will honor your oath to our Constitution?

My answer is a definite YES. I have given my life to Christ and I have sworn an oath to the Constitution, I live my life by these ideals. I know the value and history of our culture and I cherish it. I know what a man and a woman is, I know that CRT is an abomination, I know that parents are responsible for raising their children. Government has grown out of control and needs to be reigned in. As Americans we are not subjects of our government, our government is supposed to be our servant. Remember the term “public servants”?

  1. You, the voter, needs to get to know who we are so that you can make an informed decision at the polls. I could tell you about my 24 years of running multiple businesses or my 10 years of volunteering in Bonner County. But I hope that the way I have answered these questions lets you know who I am and what I stand for. I will always put the citizens before the government, always. I will stand up for what I believe in, God the Constitution and the people of this country and county. I will always treat the residents of Bonner County with dignity and respect, even when I disagree with them. I will never go along to get along, I will always vote and fight for what I think is right.