COEUR d'ALENE — When Dan Green became a Kootenai County commissioner six years ago, he believed he had county employees pegged.

Like many in the private sector, Green believed many of the government employees didn't work hard enough for what they're paid.

Today, in the final days of being in office before he finishes on Jan. 9, Green said he stands corrected.

"I was cynical about the work ethic of public employees," he said. "But what I found is that the majority work here for the right reasons. They're bright, hard-working and conscientious. I had a preconceived notion that changed."

Two-thirds of the county commissioners will be new on Jan. 9 when Bob Bingham will replace Green and Chris Fillios will replace David Stewart. Fillios defeated Stewart in the May primary, while Green decided to not seek re-election.

Commissioner Marc Eberlein, who became a commissioner in January 2015 when Stewart did, will be the lone board member who will continue serving.

In interviews with The Press, Green and Stewart reflected on their time in office and outlined challenges ahead for the new board.

"I knew what the job entailed before I came, but everything was bigger than I'd anticipated," Stewart said, adding that 12-hour days are not uncommon and receiving 60 to 70 emails per day is normal for commissioners.

Stewart has already started two businesses — Stewart Unmanned and Stewart Certified Home Inspections — that he'll pursue after office.

With Stewart Unmanned, he has a commercial license through the Federal Aviation Administration to take photos or videos with drones for architects, engineers, real estate agents, private individuals and others.

Green said he's leaving his future options open.

"I'm going to take a little time off, then see what other opportunities there are to serve — maybe political office, maybe not," said Green, who had retired for two years as a forest products company owner before becoming a commissioner.

Stewart said balancing the protection zones of the Coeur d'Alene Airport, which the county oversees, with development in Hayden around the airport will continue to be a challenge in 2017 for the new board.

He said a memorandum of understanding signed this year between the county and Hayden to work in cooperation should help.

Stewart said one of the accomplishments he's most proud of, which came soon after he took office, was helping reinstate Greg Delevan as airport manager after he was fired by the previous board.

"There was not one thing in his employee file that indicated that (the firing) was warranted," Stewart said. "The airport has been profitable for the past two years."

He's also pleased the Unified Land Use Code (ULUC) was thwarted.

"That was the main reason why I ran because I believed it needed to go away," he said. "In my opinion, it was a socialist document. It was the taking of property without compensation, which in my opinion is unconstitutional.

"It would have turned a large percentage of the rural area into conservation and would have had an enormous negative economic impact to those who had invested into properties."

Green said he believes he is leaving the county in better shape than when he arrived.

"We developed a fund balance policy to help manage our cash and we moved to at-will employment to reduce our liability in employee-related lawsuits," Green said.

Green said there were seven department head changes during his service time.

"We believe we found people who are a better fit for those positions for the county," he said.

Green said he's proud the county has been debt-free since he arrived. The county has also been able to use its healthy fund balance on upcoming projects such as the jail expansion, DMV remodel in Post Falls and a shared parking area with the city of Coeur d'Alene across Northwest Boulevard from the downtown campus without raising taxes.

The parking area, which will be used by county employees and those doing business at the county during weekdays and the city on weekends and during major events, will alleviate congestion on the campus, Green said.

Green said the new board will need to decide the staffing level for the jail with its expansion.

He said while this board updated the county's land-use ordinances in-house, the new commissioners will likely be charged with updating the county's zoning map that was adopted in 1973.