An OpEd that the CDA Press Won't Print...

My OpEd response to the editor's attacks that the Press won't print. Wonder why...

“Put her in her place.” “She doesn’t understand how representative government works; she’s always going to be in the minority with this board.” was Councilman Gookin’s directive to Commissioner Brooks concerning Commissioner Duncan in a March 28th, 2021 email acquired through a public records request.

To fully understand how this exchange between two elected officials occurred we need some background information.

Our county justice system is critically short of space to house newly assigned judges and associated courtrooms. Without proper planning, the commissioners are being forced to shoehorn a new $20 million justice annex on the existing administration campus, further fracturing justice services into 7 separate buildings. This new facility will be saturated to maximum capacity the day it opens, putting the county back where it is today; short on space. There isn’t even a plan to fund this shortsighted facility. This move also fails to address other issues with services such as Planning and Zoning and Vehicle Registration.

Commissioner Duncan recognizes that one of the fundamental duties of the Board of County Commissioners is to plan for future growth. Planning ensures that infrastructure and facilities are adequate and can accommodate the growth without placing unnecessary burdens on the county residents especially as we face unprecedented growth. For two years, Duncan who is the Facilities Liaison, has pressed for a high level examination of the overall facility requirements of the county; from justice to administration, from airport to fairgrounds, and develop a plan with a minimum of negative impacts to deal with growth. Neither Commissioner Brooks nor Chairman Fillios have supported Commissioner Duncan’s attempts to formulate a long range facilities plan.

But what DO we get instead of common sense planning? We get Commissioner Brooks insisting that we spend time and resources to reexamine the fundamental structure of government, to do something no other Idaho county does and replace elected officials with appointed bureaucrats, replace three full time commissioners with a multitude of part-time commissioners, and to add an entirely new “County Administrator” layer to government at a cost estimated to be north of a million dollars a year.

Commissioner Brooks wants us to consider setting aside the problems we know how to deal with and replace them with an entirely new set of problems, spending millions of dollars in the process. Commissioner Brooks seems to be operating under a progressive fantasy where “change” means “better”, but the reality is that “change” just means “different”.

Never mind that this “change” has already been proposed to the voters and soundly rejected…TWICE before.

Why does Commissioner Brooks stubbornly refuse to consider long range facilities planning? Could it be the reason isn’t the merit of the idea but its source, Commissioner Duncan?

During a talk at a recent Republican Women luncheon, Brooks was openly derisive towards Commissioner Duncan and expressed his contempt for the Republican Women President and several of the members who were asking questions. Referencing Duncan, Brooks said that “she does her homework, but she’s wrong.” In a subsequent conversation, Brooks referred to Duncan as “just a housewife”.

Not only were his words and attitude sexist and demeaning, but the fact that the practiced politician would say and act that way in public was shocking.

As for Commissioner Leslie Duncan being, as Brooks says, “just a housewife”, it is true that Duncan is happily married and has raised and homeschooled two admirable children, but “just” doesn’t do her justice. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice, graduated top of her class at the Criminal Investigator Academy, was Acting Sargent and Rangemaster for the Montebello Police Reserve Unit, has owned and operated two successful businesses, raced and won motocross, won trophies in several triathlons and was Mrs. Idaho United States. Not bad for “just a housewife.”

The Public Records Request also shows that since 2019 Brooks and his committee appointee, Dan Gookin, have been having “private meeting- b invitation only” (sic) to strategize on alternate forms of county government. Brooks attempted to keep these records secret by invoking attorney client privilege, even though neither is an attorney or a client.

Was it because of this long collaboration that Gookin felt he could direct Brooks to “Put her in her place.”? Fanning the flames is not helpful.

As it stands, Commissioner Brooks and Chairman Fillios have formed a committee consisting of an elected city official (Councilman Dan Gookin), a county employee (Nancy Pluff), and a former County Commissioner (Marc Eberlein) and directed that committee to recommend nine members of a study commission that will then perform a third examination of the forms of county government. Brooks wrote in the draft commission bylaws that the objective is to consider implementing a County Administrator or Executive to oversee the six appointed (formerly elected) officials. This is the very same structure that was rejected by the voters in 1998 and again in 2012.

Rather than wasting time and resources on fantasizing about a rejected form of government, we should be working to improve what we have and engage in common sense planning for the future. That is the primary job of the Board of County Commissioners.