SANDPOINT — Independent candidate for United States Senate, Todd Achilles will make his second trip to Sandpoint to host a town hall on Friday evening.

Achilles is set to host a two-hour town hall and meet and greet style event at Sandpoint Community Hall. The candidate said he’s seeking to not only listen to the issues that residents of the area are facing, but also to have a dialogue with them about solutions he wants to bring to Washington, D.C. 

"It’s answering people’s questions, what are the issues that are important to them? What do they wat to see happening in Washington?” Achilles said of the event. “Most of the time it’s just a dialogue with folks about how we get this country back on track.” 

Achilles served as a member of the Idaho House of Representatives for one year, representing the 16B district. He was appointed to that position by Idaho Gov. Brad Little and resigned last July to run for U.S. Senate challenging incumbent Jim Risch. 

During his time in the Idaho House, Achilles was a registered Democrat, but said he chose to run as an Independent because he felt it would make more of a difference on the national stage. 

"There’s four of us running as independents and we’re really all doing it for the same reasons which is that we see the two-party system isn’t working for the country anymore,” Achilles said. “What we want to do as independents is bring this change to the Senate and we do that by denying a majority to either party.” 

Achilles said if there are enough independents elected to congress to limit a single party majority, he believes the independents will be able to set the body’s agenda to work toward larger issues. A few he named were setting term limits for congress people and reducing the element of money plays in politics. 

Before his career in politics, Achilles was in the U.S. Army serving as a tank commander. After his time with the Army, he later went on to become a business executive for 20 years at companies like T-Mobile and Hewlett Packard.  

Achilles hosted a town hall event in Sandpoint shortly after he declared his candidacy in the summer.  

"I’m from the Treasure Valley and so a lot of folks up north don’t know me,” Achilles said. “It was really just to introduce myself to folks up there and hear what their concerns are ... that first visit was for me to listen.” 

This event will begin with a brief presentation from Achilles before it breaks into a dialogue. He said the structure of the event and conversation will depend on how many people are in attendance.  

Achilles said he’s visited all 44 counties in Idaho, holding over 78 town halls in his venture across the Gem State. He said he’s noticed that people from across the political aisle in Idaho share many of the same concerns about the nation. 

"Folks that I’m talking to, they’re really concerned about the corruption of Congress and about this economy that’s just not working for folks anymore,” Achilles said. “I’ve heard that up north, down in the southeast corner, down here in the treasure valley, all over the state.” 

Achilles’ town hall event will be hosted in the Sandpoint Community Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday.