Critical Issue 1:
Health Freedom
Among our inalienable God-given rights, is the sacred right to bodily integrity An individuals right to make their own choices regarding health and wellness - free of coercion or constraint. COVID 19 health policies and mandates represent a clear and present threat to this fundamental right.
Local and federal governments, elected and unelected officials, and a vast majority of public and private institutions are ignoring evident risks and pertinent facts related to the COVID 19 policies. Where there are risks, there must be choice. Health Freedom is a human right, not variable in public health policy. These risks and facts should be front and center in community discussion between constituents and their elected officials.
I stand firmly opposed to health and vaccine mandates. I reject public policy that segregates free individuals. I will fight to protect our individual liberty and safeguard the right to health freedom.
Critical Issue 2:
Housing
It is enumerated as an individual right for acquiring, possessing and protecting property. How does one exercise this right without the financial wherewithal to do so, as so many find themselves in the current market? Not a simple question. Therefore, not a simple solution.
Some say the dynamics at play in the Sandpoint residential market are simple: demand is currently outpacing supply. Idaho saw the largest margin of year over year medium home price growth out of all US states.
According to the 5-year update by the US Census in 2019, 51% of residents in Sandpoint city limits own versus rent. The large appreciation in home value has benefited many residents. But many are being priced out of the market. As a result many jobs remain unfilled and the city’s primary service economy suffers.
The big question is what to do next. The community and its elected officials need to take a pause and have several difficult conversations.
The city’s public position is to increase the residential density within city limits, and that the community embraces this goal. Why is it a goal to increase residential density in Sandpoint?
To preserve and improve on the culture of Sandpoint, dramatically increasing the density of the area is not an appropriate route forward. A Land Use Plan that positions most of the non-industrial land in Sandpoint as high density needs to be re-examined.
The burden of proof is on elected officials to show how they deduced that increased density in Sandpoint is supported by most residents, and identify where in the US increased density in a city has improved general wellbeing.
Critical Issue 3:
Infrastructure
Much of Sandpoint’s critical infrastructure is at max capacity and/or in drastic need of capital improvement. The unpopular reality is that an overwhelming portion of the City’s future capital outlay needs to go to upgrading and repairing in-place infrastructure. The city must address critical infrastructure needs before large scale development and rezoning, residential or commercial, moves forward.
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Sandpoint’s plant is well beyond its useful life. The estimated cost to bolster and update the plant will be between $50 and $70 million. The longer-term solution, which requires building out new infrastructure on property owned by the city on Baldy Mountain Road, is projected to cost up to
$110 million.
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has notified the city it is out of compliance with the quality of the plant’s water discharge into the lake/river. Per a permit issued by the FDA in late 2017, Sandpoint is required to significantly upgrade its existing facility to meet the discharge requirements within five years, quickly approaching, or build a new facility in ten years.
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The city is currently considering regionalization to share the burden. However, this method will place the burden to fund infrastructure on individuals who do not directly benefit.
If elected officials and residents are for protecting the local environment, as claimed, this should be the city’s highest priority and all other non-essential spending be redirected. Elected officials must stop prioritizing beautification over real baseline issues.
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