BOCC changing of the guard

By Soncirey Mitchell
Reader Staff

The Bonner County board of commissioners welcomed temporary-District 3 Commissioner Ron Korn to his first regular business meeting following his Sept. 30 swearing-in ceremony, filling the position left by former-Commissioner Luke Omodt, who tendered his resignation in late August.

Korn was one of three nominees submitted to Gov. Brad Little by the Bonner County Republican Central Committee to fill the three-month vacancy until the new board takes shape following the November election. As the winner of the Republican nomination for Dist. 3 in the May primary election, Korn was the BCRCC’s top choice, followed by Oden Precinct Committeeman Tom Cleveland and Hope Precinct Committeewoman Kim Peckham.

The governor approved Korn’s appointment Sept. 27, meaning he will face Independent candidate Glenn Lefevbre as the incumbent in the upcoming election.

“It’s been a long road. I’m the last person that I’d ever thought I’d see standing up here getting ready to take a government job — or having taken a government job — but what happens when we see things that we don’t like that are going on in our country, our county, our community, we need to get involved or be quiet,” said Korn after taking the oath of office.

Bonner County Commissioners Asia Williams, left; Ron Korn, center; Steve Bradshaw, right. Photo by Soncirey Mitchell.

Korn is a longtime member of the anti-government militia group Seven Bravo, formerly known as “Seven Bravo 3%,” which identified the group as a subsect of the Three Percenters, also known as “Threepers,” and drawing its name from the debunked claim that only 3% of colonists actively resisted British authority during the American Revolutionary War. 

“I intend to continue membership with Seven Bravo. As far as what influences [that will have on] my decisions while on the board… I’ve said in the past, my decisions will be based on our state and national constitutions,” Korn told the Reader in an Oct. 2 email.

Labeled as an “extremist group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League, Three Percenters believe it is the duty of an armed minority to protect U.S. freedoms from the federal government, which they label “tyrannical.”

Following Three Percenters’ participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Canada added the group to its terrorist watch list.

“I’ve been helping this community, and I just want to keep helping this community to the best of my ability, and I saw this as an opportunity to do so and give back and hopefully create a better place for all of us to live and our children and our grandchildren,” said Korn.

“I want to thank the community for supporting me and for putting me in this office. It is truly an honor that I respect,” Korn later told the Reader.

His first action in office was a motion to name Commissioner Asia Williams the board’s chair, which was seconded by Commissioner Steve Bradshaw and passed with Williams abstaining.

The following Oct. 1 business meeting proceeded smoothly through the two-page agenda before culminating in a series of five action items put forward by Williams, which generated the majority of the meeting’s conversation. These included discussions, but not decisions, on the idea of moving county public defenders from rented office space into the county administration building, as well as the need to settle a billing discrepancy with the Bonner County Fairgrounds.

The county currently pays the fair’s water and sewer bills out of its general fund, though, according to Williams, those payments have never been budgeted for.

“One of the biggest bills that really caught my attention was the September bill for their water [and] sewer. [It] was $12,331.74. They’re big bills. I checked with auditing — the fair has money within their account to pay their bills moving forward,” said Williams.

The large sums stem from the fair’s need to irrigate the campus, which is technically county property; however, according to Williams, the county’s legal team has stated that maintenance of that kind falls under the responsibilities of the Fair Board.

Fair Manager Mark Knapp requested that the board hold off on any decisions for the next three weeks to give the Fair Board enough time to alter its budget and determine whether it’s being billed correctly. According to Knapp, at least one of the bills was mislabeled — it actually belonged to the County Extension Office — and it remains unclear if the fair should be charged so steeply for sewer since the water is being used primarily for irrigation.

“There are no massive projects that are expected at the fairgrounds, obviously,” said Knapp. “We’re repairing things as we can, as we need, and this would — we just have to be able to have the time to look at the money and how this is going to impact us. What we need to do, what we need to fix and what buildings we could use for what events throughout the years.”

“I understand us being responsible for it, no problem,” he added.

The commissioners agreed to hold off on a decision until after the next Fair Board meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for the week of Oct. 14.

Williams’ final three action items attempted to dismantle a number of meeting rules established by Omodt during his time as chair, which she opposed from the beginning.

She first made a motion to remove the list of 11 standing rules, which outline the chair’s powers and how and when to facilitate discussion. The motion died without a second and so received no deliberation.

Williams then proposed to strike the rule requiring Zoom attendees to sign up to give public comment before the start of the meeting. Neither Korn nor Bradshaw seconded that motion.

“These two [action items] did not have attached memorandums; therefore, I was not prepared to have a well-informed discussion or vote,” Korn later clarified to the Reader, reminding the public that Oct. 1 was only his second day in office.

“I pray the people will allow me the proper amount of time to get caught up to speed with my new position so that I am able to make well-informed decisions on their behalf,” he added.

For her final action item, Williams moved to allow public comment on every agendized item, as was standard practice before the current board took office.

“I have always liked that we had a voice, and part of our statute says that we’re supposed to encourage meaningful input from the community,” said Williams.

Korn, who has advocated for increased public comment since the beginning of his bid for office, seconded the motion.

“So on my campaign trail I’ve always said that I think the public should have comment on each agendized item so I’d be proud to make a second on this one,” he said.

The motion passed unanimously.

“I believe that everyone would agree that the decorum for Tuesday’s meeting was excellent — something that hasn’t been seen in a long time,” Korn told the Reader.