Tim Tucker (IND), 71 Candidate for County Commissioner District Two Retired farmer
1. I want my children to be able to have the opportunity to have a job here in the County that pays a living wage. Currently most of the community’s kids have to move away after they graduate from high school in order to find a good paying job. Let’s grow good jobs here and keep our families intact.
2. I represent nearly every demographic in the county: taxpayer, parent, businesman, farmer, veteran, orchardist, timber ground owner, employer for 25 years, hunter, retiree and grandparent.
3. A) There are few good job opportunities for our young people. B) Residents of the restorium face continued rate increases. C) The county landfill is approaching being filled to its maximum limit. D) The PILT (payment in lieu of taxes) funds, which are federal funds currently used by the County to build roads and bridges, are continually threatened by the federal House of Representatives.
4. A) Work with Dennis Weed, our city’s economic development specialist, in order to improve our infrastructures to attract business to the County. Advertise our county and our many resources, such as the beautiful Kootenai river, the Selkirks and Purcells, and search specifically for new businesses which will employ people without destroying our “small town” environment.
B) I believe the taxpayers of this county will dig deep and help fund an ongoing tax levy to offset the rising costs of room expenses for our elderly Restorium residents.
C) This is a tough one. I don’t believe any taxpayers want to pay for the out of county shipment of our solid waste. This isn’t just happening here and we have to look at what other counties have done to handle this problem. We have to research and review and take public input on the matter.
D) Work with other county commissioners that have federal forest grounds in their counties in order to form a lobbying task force to pass legislation to make these PILT funds a permanent budgetary expense.
5. I hope to encourage many local citizens to become more active in county government to improve their futures. Hopefully we won’t always have a county commission occupied by “old, grey men”.
6. Show up and pay attention during regular scheduled meetings and then hold open meetings several hours a week so that county residents can have some input.
7. Rolling up my sleeves and getting to work.
8. Getting the county residents to help solve our main problems. I envision having a “vision fair”: a day at the fairgrounds where everyone is invited to speak up for how they want Boundary County to look in 10 years. I believe that people need to be stakeholders in their own future.
9. None of the issues are being argued or discussed, as there is no forum. The public is not used to being involved with county government. I hope to chage that by promoting public discourse.
10. That I am running non-partisan as an independent.
11. That I am running as an independent and that I will represent all county residents equally.
12. Why do you want to hold this elected office? To help make Boundary County and Bonners Ferry more family-friendly. To bring in better paying jobs and keep families together.