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Interest high in Sandpoint elections

KEITH KINNAIRD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 6 months AGO
by KEITH KINNAIRD
News Editor | October 31, 2019 1:00 AM

SANDPOINT — The crowd at Tuesday night’s candidate forum broadened noticeably by the time candidates for Sandpoint mayor and the City Council took up their seats.

The forum — hosted by radio station KRFY, the Sandpoint Reader, Sandpoint Online and the Selkirk Association of Realtors — filled the 150-seat room nearly to capacity, demonstrating the voter interest inside and outside city limits in the Nov. 5 election.

Incumbent Mayor Shelby Rognstad is fending off challenges by Council President Shannon Williamson and retired pastor Ken Lawrence. There are three seats on the council up for election and in the running are Andy Groat, Jacque Guinan, Kate McAlister, Shannon Mitchell and incumbent Councilwoman Deb Ruehle.

The forum covered a fair bit of ground, with topics ranging from the field upgrades at Memorial Field, upgrades to the sewage treatment plant, the county’s lawsuit against the city for allowing the Festival at Sandpoint to prohibit firearms and affordable housing.

Rognstad said his experience as mayor leaves him uniquely qualified to ensure continuity in city initiatives, particularly as they relate to broader community planning.

“This is a pivotal moment for the city of Sandpoint. This is a critical time,” said Rognstad.

Williamson, however, argued that the city is in need of a change of leadership at City Hall and that she is the agent of such change.

“We need to stay incredibly focused and there’s no room for error,” said Williamson.

Lawrence, meanwhile, said he entered the race out of a sense of duty to the community.

“I want to keep Sandpoint the vibrant community it is,” said Lawrence.

Although the candidates’ have differences on certain matters, there were areas of agreement over the need for more affordable housing, sewer plant upgrades, the county’s lawsuit, which all candidates seem to view as unfortunate.

Williamson did not appreciate that her tax dollars being double tapped for the litigation as a city and county resident in the litigation, but said the city needs to defend itself.

Groat believes better communication between the city and the county could have prevented the need for litigation.

“It’s out of our hands and that’s really unfortunate,” said Groat.

McAlister frankly admitted that she was “pissed off” that the disagreement devolved into litigation, which could put the annual waterfront concert series at risk.

“This will be a $3 million hit if the Festival goes away,” said McAlister.

Rognstad said he did not think diplomacy would have prevented a lawsuit given the Festival’s rights as a Memorial Field lessee, while Guinan had hoped the matter could be negotiated without litigation and added that the rule of law should prevail.

Guinan and Mitchell, meanwhile, questioned whether the council was truly representing its constituents.

“I feel that people need to know their best interests are being represented,” said Guinan.

“The citizens need to be heard more than they are right now,” Mitchell said.

Rognstad defended his tie-breaking vote to resurface Memorial Field with artificial turf because it would expand the playability of the fields by as much as five times and provide a solid return on investment. Ruehle also voted in favor of artificial turf.

Groat, Mitchell and Guinan said they would have liked to have seen better side-by-side comparisons of natural versus artificial turf and more time to make a decision.

Lawrence and Williamson said they are in favor of natural turf.

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