Jan Brown and Karl Casperson competing for Bonneville County Commissioner District 1

IDAHO FALLS — Republican Karl Casperson faces Democrat Jan Brown in the race for Bonneville County Commissioner District 1.

The seat is for a two-year term. District 1 covers most of the City Idaho Falls in Bonneville County.

The two candidates have collaborated to host four bipartisan community forums throughout their campaigns focusing on water rights, growth in Bonneville County, recreation and waste management and recycling.

Casperson is the Administrative Sergeant for the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. You can learn more about his positions at his campaign’s Facebook page.

Brown is retired after a career as the executive director of multiple nonprofit organizations and as an INEEL advisory scientist. You can read additional information on her campaign, at www.brown4bonneville.org.

EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each candidate. Their responses, listed below, were required to be 250 words or less. EastIdahoNews.com is publishing the answers in their entirety, and without any grammatical or style editing.

The general election is Nov. 5.

CANDIDATE QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES

Tell us about yourself — include information about your family, career, education, volunteer work, and any prior experience in public office.

Brown: I arrived in Idaho Falls in 1976 after graduating with a B.S. from the Oregon State University School of Forestry. I began my career as the local Girl Scout field advisor and worked at INEL from 1979-82 as a program specialist with the National Low-Level Radioactive Waste Program.

My business experience includes owning the Lucky Dog Retreat guest lodge in Island Park with my then-husband, which operated from 1984-94. For more than a year, I commuted to Boise to serve as Governor Evans’ natural resource/nuclear waste advisor as he concluded his final term.

From 1991 until retiring in 2019, I was executive director of three different nonprofit organizations whose respective missions were in watershed conservation, business sustainability, and developing cooperative enterprises. Between these jobs, I was an INEEL advisory scientist in Ecological and Cultural Resources, and I later managed a $1.5 million sustainable development project for Fremont County.

In 2000, The Idaho Statesman named me as one of Idaho’s Ten “Catalysts for Change” for the 21st Century. The article cited my collaborative work as co-facilitator of the Henry’s Fork Watershed Council in the 1990s.
I am an active elder at First Presbyterian Church and serve in various governing capacities. I am on the board of Friends of Harriman State Park and am State Committeewoman for the Bonneville County Democrats.

My living relatives include one brother and two sisters, eight nieces and nephews, 10 grandnieces and 10 grandnephews. I have a cat named Grayson and an Idaho Shag named Bonnie.

Casperson: I am a Navy implant to Idaho, originally from a small town in northwest Montana. I was stationed here for 6 months in 1979 for nuclear power prototype training and returned in late 1983 to begin a term as a staff instructor. In January of 1985, I began volunteering as a Reserve Deputy for the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office. I was hired full-time in 1988 after ten and a half years of Navy service and currently am assigned as the Administrative Sergeant, overseeing the entire hiring process for Patrol Deputies including testing, interviewing, polygraphing and background investigating. I have been the leader of the Sheriff’s Aquatic Rescue/Recovery team since 2000. I have had the honor of teaching CPR and First Aid to hundreds of members of the Navy, Sheriff’s Deputies and Citizens since 1985. I am the proud father of seven children, four boys and three girls and one granddaughter. I have been a Scouting volunteer for many years and served on several community organizations such as United Way, Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center and Chaplains of Idaho.

Why are you seeking political office? Briefly explain your political platform.

Casperson: I am seeking the Office of Bonneville County Commissioner because I want to take my near 40 years of service experience and knowledge of County government and expand on that to serve the residents of this great community in a larger capacity. My platform of Community, Communication and Collaboration are my pledge to residents to use my experience to benefit
all of Bonneville County. Many of my previous assignments within the Sheriff’s Office have been teaching citizens how to prevent themselves from becoming victims of various types of crimes, with audiences ranging from preschoolers to elderly, two of the most vulnerable groups preyed upon by criminals. I supervised our DARE Program and School Resource Officers for many years. I have also served as the Public Information Officer which has allowed me to interface with residents throughout the county as well as other departments with the city, county and state , and civic and religious groups. This experience will be valuable in creating partnerships with various groups within the county.

I am Republican because I believe in the Divine Inspiration of the United States Constitution and its Amendments. I am a non-denominational Christian. I believe in equal rights and justice for all, the Sanctity of Life; that life begins at conception; that minimal government is best and is a servant of the people and not its master. Government needs to be fiscally responsible.

Brown: I entered the Democratic primary as a write-in candidate for Bonneville County Commissioner as it was unclear at the time who would win the three-way Republican race for District 1. Even after two of the three Republican candidates withdrew leaving Karl Casperson as the only candidate, I felt it important for members of my party to have a guaranteed choice on the November ballot. I decided to stay in the race and started to research the most urgent county issues.

I soon recognized that my natural resource and strategic planning background would be beneficial to our county government given the diversity of my career experiences in parks and recreation, environmental policy, planning and zoning, and cooperative business development. My credentials would complement well the public safety and legal backgrounds of the other two county commissioners who will be serving beginning in 2025.
I support the platform statement and nine resolutions passed by the Idaho Democratic Party (IDP) at their June 2024 convention as they appear on the IDP website. The platform addresses:

• A Quality Education For Every Idaho Student
• An Economy That Works For Everyone
• Equity, Justice, and Opportunity For All
• Quality and Accessible Health Care For All
• Strengthening Democracy
• Protecting Our Natural Resources

What areas in your county need immediate improvement? What actions will you take to address those needs?

Brown:

• Zoning Administrator Austin Black needs more planning and zoning staff and resources to help manage the continued growth of the county under Idaho code. Idaho’s Local Planning Act directs units of government to keep current their comprehensive plans, development codes and subdivision ordinances, and more than 10 years have passed since the last update of Bonneville County’s plan.
• At our listening session in Swan Valley, Karl Casperson and I heard a desire to control the area’s own emergency response services as opposed to contracting the service out to the City of Idaho Falls. The county needs to examine the cost-benefit of the current arrangement.
• Folks in Swan Valley also would like to county to be more proactive in developing a safer South Fork boat launch at Irwin with added parking in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management.
• Trail users feel that with the growth of Bonneville County, we need more motorized and non-motorized trails and greater cooperation with the various land management and recreation agencies.
• With the growth of Bonneville County and adjacent counties, the commissioners should evaluate the prospects for facilitating a cost-effective sorting facility for recycled materials. According to Western Recycling, the volume of comingled household waste picked up from current subscribers must triple to warrant a local facility, so it is time to explore coordinating waste collection with neighboring counties as opposed to the current practice of shipping material to the sorting facility near Salt Lake.

Casperson: Idaho Falls, Ammon, Iona, Ucon, Swan Valley, Irwin and Palisades have several things in common. One of those is that Bonneville County surrounds each community. What occurs
in one community has an impact on the other. I will strive to improve better cooperation and communication between each of these entities. Our population is expanding in leaps and bounds while our infrastructure is lagging behind, particularly roads. There needs to be continual and coordinated long-term planning for this growth involving all the involved entities, combined with short-term solutions to ease this already overwhelming issue. The current Area of Impact and comprehensive growth plan needs to be updated.

What are the greatest long-term challenges facing people in your county? What is your plan to meet those challenges?

Casperson: Growth has almost become a buzz word or cliche and is of major concern with most residents of Bonneville County. This has led to traffic issues, school overcrowding and an impact on utilities such as water, sewer, gas and electricity. System upgrades must be made to support this growth. Can developers contribute more to assist in this growth that benefits them?

NO FARMS – NO FOOD

The growth of these communities has required turning established farm ground into real estate developments. Farmers are being forced to choose between continuing to farm, sometimes at a loss due to higher production costs and losses, or selling to developers. This is opposite of what is needed due to the growing food demands in our state, nation and the world. Agriculture still needs to be the priority of Bonneville County.

Another long-term goal has to do with hiring and retention. Bonneville County’s wages have long been behind similar positions with the city of Idaho Falls and the state. The impact to taxpayers is after recruiting, hiring and training deputies, we lose them to surrounding agencies that pay more. There is an approximate loss of over $100,000 whenever that happens. Turnover is costly and would be less if wages were more equitable. We value the sacrifice that our deputies make. While funding sources differ for employees, I will look for ways to make this more equitable.

Brown: As Bonneville County deals with possible groundwater well curtailments, needed aquifer recharge, and fish habitat restoration on South Fork tributaries, my collaborative experience in the Henry’s Fork Watershed should prove invaluable. I support Governor Little’s commitment to leave water management decisions to the irrigators whose lives are most affected and whose negotiating posture is preferred over politicizing these complex issues. I encourage the state to continue to fund well-designed aquifer recharge projects to mitigate the reduced winter snowpack and higher evaporative losses. However, counties must be more involved and allowed to develop permit processes for these projects for health and safety reasons.

In addition, Bonneville County needs to be more proactive in regulating rural residential wells to ensure that property owners are not exceeding their 1/2-acre irrigation exemption under DCMI. It is a good sign that Bonneville County now requires developers of sizeable new subdivisions to provide central water and sewer.

In the 1990s, I served on both the advisory committee that developed the Henry’s Fork Basin Plan (a component of the State Water Plan) and the Governor’s Task Force on Irrigation Water Conservation. From these appointments and my nine years as the executive director of the Henry’s Fork Foundation, I feel qualified to represent Bonneville County in ongoing discussions regarding ground and surface water management and to address the need for better scientific information on our water resources.

How will you best represent the views of your constituents – even those with differing political views? How will you communicate directly with constituents?

Brown: I already have demonstrated with my opponent that collaboration and shared responsibility are superior ways of campaigning, at least for a local contest like county commissioner. Once in office, I would continue to seek collaborative approaches to problem solving that require compromise, but not a yielding of fundamental values. It should be standard procedure to listen well to the public’s concerns as well as to offer accessible means of public participation to help resolve major challenges at the county level.

More than 20 years ago, I attended a series of workshops held by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and received certificates on the principles and methods of public involvement. This organization has developed a Public Participation Spectrum of activities whereby constituents assume increasing levels of decision-making power. On one end of the Spectrum, an agency simple issues information to the public, but retains all decision-making authority. On the other end of the Spectrum is full decision making by the public, which is similar to what a jury does in criminal trials. In-between are a wide variety of participatory approaches that allow for citizen review and engagement that ultimately improve decisions.

Casperson: As County Commissioner, my constituents are the citizens of Bonneville County. I will be entrusted with their taxes to be fiscally responsible. I will rely on the elected officials and department heads, being the experts in their fields, to also be responsible with their budgets. I am committed to make wise use of all funding allocated to the county and operate with a balanced budget.

I will make myself available to all citizens of Bonneville County, face to face and/or electronically. I will make public appearances to any group that requests. All citizens need to know that if they voice their concerns, they will be heard. Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent and it needs to be spent wisely. Everyone should be able to look for and find what the current projects are in Bonneville County as well as the communities within it. Local media plays a crucial role in keeping the community informed of activities and events going on. A community calendar can keep residents abreast of scheduled events, while news outlets can notify citizens of changing situations that have a temporary effect on people’s schedules, safety, routes etc.

Having different political views doesn’t invalidate good ideas. My Democratic opponent and I put our heads together and came up with 4 educational forums that addressed common concerns of Bonneville County residents including water issues, the impact of growth, recreation opportunities and waste management.

What parts of the county budget could use more funding? Are there places in the budget where cuts could be made?

Casperson: The justice fund is allocated by the state and is the primary source of funding for over half of the county’s expenditures to include operation of the county sheriff’s office, construction, remodeling, operation and maintenance of county jails, juvenile detention facilities and/or county courthouses, operation of the prosecuting attorney’s office, provision of public defender service and otherwise court-appointed counsel, and operation of the office of the clerk of the district court, to the extent that operation of that office provides support for the district court. These costs are continually changing and rising. The influx of residents means more space is needed for courts, drivers license, vehicle registration and waste processing.

The Board of County Commissioners have a fiscal responsibility to go over all budgets annually with department heads looking for ways to cut spending and this process must continue to be done. Using contractors and privatizing some services can always be evaluated.

Brown: It is rather daunting to study what appears to be $131+ million county budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 without a narrative in hand to explain the details. However, the big jump of $44 million in expenses between FY 2022 and FY 2025 illustrates how unexpected and unprepared Bonneville County was for the growth it has experienced. I am not sufficiently educated on the budget to evaluate items that could do with less; however,

• On the surface, it appears one could justify greater investment in planning and zoning given the need to update the comprehensive plan and development code. There was an actual $77,000 reduction in the department budget in between FY 2022 and FY 2023, although its budget now exceeds $1 million.
• The Commission should examine outdoor recreation budget with an eye on what state and federal funding might be available to supplement the regular budget, such as accessing the Recreational Trails Program administered by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation.
• I also am curious as to what future budgets could bring to support more affordable housing in Bonneville County and to enhance public transportation alternatives within the area.

What is your position on Idaho’s Proposition 1 ballot initiative that would end closed-party primary elections and create ranked-choice voting?

Brown: Those opposed to Proposition 1 are attempting to make this initiative far more complicated than it really is. The following simple description appears on the RECLAIM IDAHO website:

• The initiative will end Idaho’s closed primary elections and create a non-partisan primary system, open to all voters regardless of party affiliation. The top four candidates will advance to the general election.
• In the general election, voters will have the freedom to pick their top candidate and also to rank additional candidates in order of preference.
• To make sure the winner enjoys support from a broad coalition of voters and not just a narrow faction, there will be Instant Runoff Voting in the general election (also called “ranked choice voting”). Here’s how it works: The last-place candidate will be eliminated and each vote for that candidate will be transferred to the voter’s second choice. This process repeats until only two candidates remain, and the candidate with the most votes is declared the winner.

I support Proposition 1’s open primary concept as a means of increasing participation in Idaho elections.

Casperson: It seems that people are getting the feeling that their vote doesn’t really count, that there seems to be a vocal minority making decisions and calling the shots. There is such division in this country, not only between various parties, but within parties also. And then there’s the reactions when people disagree. It’s as though you can no longer agree to disagree or compromise. I am honored to have the opportunity to continue to work with the citizens of this great county. Everyone has a vote and should not take that lightly. Many countries don’t give that choice to their people. Get involved in local government through volunteering.

It is important for each voter to be informed through reliable sources and make their own decision. I believe that the wording for the petition gathering signatures in Proposition 1 was confusing and possibly misleading. There are valid concerns on both sides of the issue. As a Republican, I will support the party in whole. If there is a better way to conduct elections and voting, and that’s what the people want, then I would take a look at it.

As your county increases in population, what immediate and long-term issues need to be tackled to better accommodate growth and expansion?

Casperson: The unprecedented growth in Idaho and Bonneville County impacts all residents. From traffic issues to services needing to expand to accommodate the increased numbers. This growth can be done intelligently. But it requires each governing body to get together and discuss each significant project and the impact it may have on all of Bonneville County.

I have made a choice to make Bonneville County my home for over 40 years. My family all still live here by choice. It is an incredible place to live with many opportunities for employment, education, recreation and entertainment. I have lived in other states that do not have so much to offer.

Yes, there are many challenges facing us, including the unprecedented growth, Idahoans are CAN DO people. I remain committed to continue working hard to ensure Bonneville Countyremains the great place I have found it to be for years to come. I want my children to raise their families here and experience the same blessings that have befallen me.

Brown: Increasing traffic congestion along major arterials is both a current and long-term concern that I understand the Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization (BMPO) is beginning to address. I plan to attend their contractor’s public meeting on new highway alignments and beltways to ask the following questions:

• To what extent is the BMPO factoring in traffic for those coming to Idaho Falls from adjacent counties to shop and seek medical care from our facilities? Market studies have shown that residents of both Montana and Wyoming counties drive to Idaho Falls as their most proximate retail center, and we know that most Eastern Idaho counties are growing in population and service needs as well. If elected, I will encourage more region-wide planning with both the Idaho Falls Metropolitan Area (Bonneville, Butte and Jefferson counties) as well as the Rexburg Micropolitan Area (Madison and Fremont counties) and the Jackson Micropolitan Area (Teton County, ID and Teton County, WY).
• At what point will the BMPO and other counties place more emphasis on designing/supporting a local public transportation system as a means of easing congestion and not simply serving the needs of seniors and disabled residents? What about a more coordinated regional transportation system?
• Will the BMPO be reaching out to different constituents regarding a countywide bike trail system like many cities and neighboring counties already have achieved?