Candidate forum packs KRI conference room

BONNERS FERRY — As many as 150 people packed into the Kootenai River Inn’s Ktunaxa conference room Oct. 7 to hear from all but one of the candidates for contested local and state offices.

Rick Braun organized the event, which brought more candidates and attendees than a popular 2012 candidate forum he organized.

Not affiliated with a party or group, Braun says he will continue to organize candidate forums for Boundary County.

“I want everyone to find out what these people (the candidates) are really about,” Braun said. “I don’t want them to just vote for an old family name, or one they recognize without really knowing who they’re voting for.”

All the candidates up for District 1 state representation attended the event, with the exception of Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who had a previously scheduled conflict. Keough’s challenger, constitution party state senate candidate Christian Fioravanti attended the event, as well as Republican Heather Scott and Democrat Laura Bry for state representative position A, and Democrat Andrew Sorg and Republican Sage Dixon for state representative position B.

The six candidates for Boundary County’s highly contested commissioner race were at the forum as well, including District 1 Republican incumbent LeAlan Pinkerton and Independent challenger Ron Smith and District 2 Republican incumbent Walt Kirby, Democrat challenger Tim Tucker and independent challengers John White and Terry Capurso.

Local pastor, firefighter and chaplain Len Pine was the event moderator, a role he carried out with even-handed authority as the forum became at times raucous and contentious.

“My job has three goals,” Pine told attendees and candidates at the 6 p.m. opening of the forum, “to keep this orderly, respectful and moving. I will interrupt if needed to achieve these goals.”

The purpose of the forum, Pine told the crowd, was not to solve every question or delve into the deep, dark recesses of the candidates’ minds. He wanted people to ask questions that would be helpful to their fellow citizens, and strived to provide information. He warned against airing personal griefs or gripes with the candidates.

Each candidate was given four minutes for an opening statement to introduce themselves and their platform. Candidates were randomly chosen out of a hat (a nice black bowler style hat was used for the occasion) by timekeeper and ‘general strong arm’ Caleb Davis.

The random order of candidates ended up presenting Pinkerton first, followed by Sorg, Fioravanti, Tucker, Scott, Dixon, Smith, White, Kirby, Capurso and Bry. The lineup mixed the races in a way that no one had to follow their opponent until District 2 commissioner candidates White, Kirby and Capurso towards the end of the lineup.

Pinkerton opened the forum by saying he had been praying not to have to go first, bringing a laugh from the crowd. He urged voters to look at his record, saying that decisions in his position were often hard to make. He wanted voters to weigh his decisions and vote him in for the four-year term.

“I have a long list of things to accomplish,” he said, “and I’m not done yet.”

Democrat Andrew Sorg from Sandpoint went next. He came in the proud tradition of Idaho democrats, he said, referencing long-time governor Cecil Andrus and other famous Idaho Democrats. He described a youth spent in eastern Montana, learning to ride a horse and shoot a gun on the family farm and ranch. After receiving a degree in agriculture, Sorg went to work for Coldwater Creek for 14 years.

“Like so many, I am unemployed looking for a livable wage up here,” he said. “So many people are living day by day, trying to get by.”

Sorg said education and jobs were among his highest priorities. Holding up an I-phone, he described how Germany makes the most money off every phone, because it holds the patents on crucial parts.

“We need to reinvent and push the strength of North Idaho,” he said. “We need to reinvest back into the state.”

Fioravanti followed Sorg, describing how government regulation destroys small business. Though in his early 20s, Fioravanti has been a business owner for seven years, he said.

His platform included themes that were repeated by both Heather Scott and Sage Dixon: The repeal of the Idaho Healthcare exchange, opposition to Idaho Common Core and fighting the Federal Government to bring Idaho land under federal control under the control of the state.

Commissioner candidate Tim Tucker followed Fioravanti, describing his farming roots and his long record of service on the Wheat Commission, as a state house representative and state senator.

As commissioner, his three most important issues are funding local emergency medical services and the Restorium, and creating jobs for Boundary County residents.

“We’ve lost 120 people in the last five years,” Tucker said. “We have a lack of jobs with living wages. I want to focus my attention on infrastructure for job creation.”

Scott followed Tucker, though moderator Len Pine nearly missed her.

“I’m so short, I sometimes get forgotten,” Scott quipped. The fiery Republican from Blanchard is very unforgettable, though, and brought the most supporters to the forum, some wearing Vote Heather Scott T-shirts. She echoed Fioravanti’s sentiments on the state exchange and federal lands, saying she wanted to strengthen state sovereignty. She talked about her issue teams, designed to get people talking about issues at a local level. Not thinking much about the political color significance, she chose blue for her signs, she said. This brought a fair number of democratic voters to talk to her at events around the district.

“I have a lot of Democrats on my issue teams!” She said.

Sage Dixon followed Scott, echoing the same anti-federal government sentiment and desire to deed federal lands to the state of Idaho. Through proper management, the federal lands can be used for the benefit of locals, he said. He also talked about improving Idaho’s economy through tax reform.

In regard to tax rates, “Idaho is last out of the six neighboring states,” he said. “We don’t measure up.”

Commissioner candidates followed Dixon. Ron Smith for District 1 talked about the 76 percent rise in the cost of a room at the Restorium, an issue that became important for every commissioner as Steve Tanner questioned each of them on the issue during the question and answer period.

Tanner asked why the county was subsidizing 30 people at the expense of all the others. Smith took issue at the idea that county was subsidizing anything, saying that it wasn’t a subsidy but an obligation voted on by the county.

John Levi White came next, describing his no-ad District 2 commissioner campaign and saying that life in Boundary County has shaped his opinions and decisions. He also described anti-federal sentiments, saying the federal government has no rights unless given them by the states, that the states have no rights unless given them by the counties, and that the county rights stem from the electorate.

Incumbent District 2 commissioner Walt Kirby followed White, saying that if elected, he will continue to serve the same way he has for the past 10 years. He comes in every day to solve today’s problems, he said.

“Most of them aren’t as earthshaking as what has been talked about tonight,” he said.

He was proud of the fact that the commissioners were able to fund the county’s obligations, give raises to county employees and still not use the entire three percent property tax raise the commissioners are legally allowed.

The fourth leg of the District 2 commissioner race, Terry Capurso followed Kirby. After voting for 44 years as a Republican, Capurso registered himself as unaffiliated. Though the Republican party has a great platform, many republicans aren’t sticking to it, he said.

“The republicans left me, I didn’t leave the Republicans,” he said.

Capurso is also a strong anti-federalist, looking for more local control of Boundary County’s natural resources.

He has been attending commissioner meetings and spent time as board chair for the North Bench Fire Department.

“Do what you’ve always done, and you will get what you’ve always gotten,” he said.

The final candidate in the lineup was Democrat Laura Bry, who is running against Scott for the District 1A representative position.

With a background in technology as an Apple device consultant and mobile DJ, she has a lot of experience in community planning, she said. Her major issues include education, and support of families with special needs children, the economy and stewardship of land resources.

After the introductions and a short break, candidates lined back up to field 10 minutes of questions from voters. Major themes included the issue of gaining state control of federal lands, taxes, education and jobs. Commissioners all had to tackle the Restorium issue, some more supportive than others. Look for more in-depth coverage of the Boundary County Commissioners’ race in the weeks leading up to the election.

As the night wound to a close, the crowd dwindled to the most invested voters.

Questions became loaded and pointed and moderator Pine had to step in on a few occasions. Bry stood up for the final question and answer session, greeted by a line of mainly Heather Scott supporters.

After the first pointed question challenged Bry on her stance on logging, she asked the room if there was anyone left that had not made up their mind over her or Scott. No hands were raised.

Bry said she did not support suing the federal government and that the money spent on lawyers could be better spent on schools, healthcare, roads and bridges. She said she did not agree that the state would be able to gain back the federal lands.

After a second pointed question referred to Bry’s now private facebook page, saying she was a social leftist and supportive of gay marriage, she became defensive and the forum dissolved into a hubbub. Bry sat down, refusing to answer any more questions. Pine closed the evening’s event so voters could meet with candidates one-on-one around 9:30 p.m.