SANDPOINT — During a Bonner County business meeting Tuesday, county commissioners clarified confusion about the recently formed Bonner County Civil Defense & Resilience Team’s affiliation with Bonner County’s government. 

After being prompted by commenters at the meeting, Commissioner Ron Korn, the resilience team’s founder, described it as a government program designed to prepare residents for adversity.

“It's not Ron Korn personally that's doing this. It's Bonner County,” Korn said. “It's something that I'm heading up through the county as a county program that I hope will help build bridges between our local government and the people.” 

The BC-CDRT made its first public appearance at a Jan. 8 People’s Rights meeting, during which Korn, Bonner County Emergency Management Director Bob Howard and Bonner County Director of Technology Jacob Storms outlined the organization’s mission to prepare locals for situations like severe weather, civil unrest and cyberattacks. 

Several commenters at Tuesday’s meeting raised questions about whether the team was a group or club that entailed membership or had any other affiliations. 

“You can’t sign up for this. It's nothing that you can join,” Korn said. “It's a couple of county employees that are going to help present these classes on the fourth Friday of each month, so that you and your neighbors can learn to be better resilient in the case of a big disaster and emergency.” 

Additionally, some attendees voiced support for preparedness training in Bonner County, but worried that hosting or presenting trainings under the current arrangement could expose the county to litigation — a concern shared by Commissioner Asia Williams. 

“If we're calling this a Bonner County-run program, it actually requires a Bonner County commissioner board vote to move forward, which would require us to do some write-ups and some research on insurance,” Williams said. 

“For me as a commissioner, the issue isn't the value of what you're talking about,” she added. “It's absolutely valuable. It's absolutely something I think you get a lot of people that have an interest in. It's just also absolutely risky.” 

Williams listed food canning as an example of a skill that could cause harm if not taught properly. 

“I think it's valuable for people to can, but I also see it as a liability,” she said. 

Commissioner Brian Domke also supported the initiative under the condition that its risk is evaluated. 

“We all want to be more prepared. We all want to be more resilient in times of need, in times of distress,” he said. “I just want to be sure that we do it the right way.” 

During the meeting, Sandpoint Mayor Jeremy Grimm expressed interest in organizing a collaboration between Sandpoint and Bonner County to strengthen the area’s preparedness. 

“I am very supportive, and thank you for helping our community and our county become more resilient,” said Grimm. 

Korn told attendees he would work through the proper channels to ensure the BC-CDRT doesn’t expose the county to risk. 

“I'm more than happy to do it the right way,” he said. “If we have to bring it to the board, I'll bring it to the board and present it next week.”