County must pay district's costs in zone map challenge
CAROLINE LOBSINGER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years AGO
I grew up in the Tri-Cities, Wash., and have always loved to write. I attended the University of Washington, where I earned a double major in journalism and political science, with an area of emphasis in history. I am the fifth out of six kids — don't believe any of the stories that my siblings tell. To be able to tell others stories and take photos for a living is a dream come true — and I considered myself blessed to be a community journalist. When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, hiking and spending time outdoors, genealogy, reading, and watching the UW Huskies and the Seattle Seahawks. I am a servant to my cat, Frankie, who yes, will eat anything and everything in sight … even wedding cookies. | January 15, 2020 12:00 AM
PRIEST RIVER — Bonner County has been ordered to pay the West Bonner County School District’s court costs and attorneys fees for a failed complaint for declaratory relief over dueling trustee zone boundaries.
In a ruling filed Jan. 6, First District Judge Lansing Haynes ruled the substance of Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale’s complaint was which map could be used to determined whether an elected candidate was qualified to be seated and the district “completely prevailed on that issue.”
As a result, Haynes found the district is the prevailing party and that reasonable fees under Idaho Code shall be awarded.
Based on the hours spent by the district’s counsel, the hourly rate charged, “the novelty and difficulty of the question involved” and the skill required to perform those services, Lansing found reasonable costs and fees for the district to be $8,871.50.
“I was obviously happy the district was the prevailing party in this lawsuit, it was unfortunate that it came to this,” WBCSD Superintendent Paul Anselmo told the Daily Bee. “We tried to work with the county clerk’s office to resolve this and they decided to take it this route.”
The controversy emerged in September, after the school district’s election was already underway. The map the county had on file placed Todd Sudick, who ran unopposed for the Zone 5 trustee board seat, in that zone while a map the school district and the State Board of Education had on file placed Sudick’s address in Zone 2.
Bonner County Clerk Michael Rosedale said his sole effort in bringing the matter to court was to provide clarity for voters on which trustee zone map was correct.
“The whole thing with Todd (Sudick) was trying to solve the riddle of which map was correct,” said Rosedale, adding that county never received a legal description to go along with the new map sent by the district.
The district map was affirmed by Lansing in October, who granted West Bonner County School District’s motion to dismiss Rosedale’s complaint.
In his ruling, Lansing concluded the “school district board of trustees has the sole authority to determine whether an elected candidate is qualified to be seated” and that Rosedale lacked standing to seek declaratory judgment on the matter.
In a Sept. 5, 2019, email to Sudick, Rosedale said Sudick’s address puts him in Zone 2 and therefore he was ineligible for the Zone 5 seat. “GIS looked it up and Mike Bolling said he has no idea what supporting documents (were) used to place the line where it is,” Rosedale said in the email. “However the boundary has not changed for ten years. I’m sorry to inform you that you are in Zone 2. GIS is working now to correct this.”
District officials said in December that the controversy over the map and resulting confusion over Sudick’s election was tough for everyone.
“This has been a very frustrating process for us, the county and obviously for Todd ... Todd would be a great addition to the board,” said Drew McLain, WBCSD board vice-chair, during the Dec. 18 meeting. “But right now he is in the wrong zone according to our map, the state map.”
The board is expected to declare a vacancy in the seat at its Jan. 15 meeting. Per state code it will be opened up for 90 days to anyone within the zone who is interested. If nobody within the zone comes forward in that time, it will be opened up to every zone within the district.
“Idaho Code dictates what happens with an open trustee position, and we will follow that process,” Anselmo said.”
At that point, anybody from any zone could be appointed by the board. If nobody is appointed within 120 days, the appointment of a trustee would fall to the county commissioners.
Sudick, a former county commissioner, was the sole candidate for the seat currently held by Samuel “Ranger Rick” Hall, who opted to not run for re-election. Also in the Nov. election, Zone 3 candidate Troy Reinbold defeated incumbent Bruce Hollett, and Zone 1 incumbent Margaret Hall defeated her opponent Lesa Souza. Hall and Reinbold will be sworn in at the Jan. 15 meeting.
Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.
ARTICLES BY CAROLINE LOBSINGER
County OKs library boundary changes
A boundary line adjustment between the county's two library districts was formally approved by Bonner County commissioners at a meeting last week to approve the issue. The proposal realigns the boundary line between the East Bonner County and West Bonner library districts to match those of the Lake Pend Oreille and West Bounty County school districts. While the measure was unanimously approved by the two library districts on Aug. 20, 2024, that decision needed to be codified by the commissioners. The Board of County Commissioners approved the measure in a unanimous 3-0 vote.
IPUC approves Stoneridge water rate increase
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission recently announced that it would allow a northern Idaho water utility to increase the rates it charges customers to provide water service. While CDS Stoneridge Utilities initially asked for a rate increase that averaged 261 percent, the commission approved a general rate increase of 18.6 percent. The utility serves approximately 384 residential and commercial customers in the Blanchard area.
WBCSD elects board leaders
West Bonner County School District's new board chair and vice chair are familiar faces in new roles after trustees voted to install Ann Yount in the top post and Margaret Hall as vice chair. Hall was previously the chair and Yount was the vice chair of the board prior to the vote at Wednesday's annual meeting.