Well, it has been exciting these first two and a half weeks in office. I decided to add a blog to my website so that I can connect with the people in the county with internet access. I hope to regularly post the daily happenings in our office here in Bonner County Idaho. So many people are unaware of the duties of a County Commissioner and specifically of the actions that they take on a daily basis. I hope to help keep the citizens of the county apprised of the Commissioner's work here in Bonner County.

I will address the specific duties that commissioners have and the actions we take as a board.

To start with let's look at a typical Tuesday meeting. Tuesday is the day that most of the county business is conducted in open meeting. Now, that first meeting January 13th ended up being anything but typical. One of the other commissioners noted that upon looking at the agenda he assumed we would be done by 10:30. We worked through lunch and finished at 4:30. Welcome to the county government!

After the invocation and Pledge, the order of the agenda is adopted. Then each commissioner reports on the meetings he went to throughout the last week. Each commissioner is assigned to be a liaison to the many advisory boards that meet. As I learn what they are I will include information about them.

Next is the time for public comment. When I used to come to the Commissioner's meetings in the late 90's and early years of this century, the public would be allowed to comment and ask questions throughout the meeting. Then, about 6 years ago the board at that time ended this open dialogue and went from a 2:00 Tuesday afternoon meeting to an all day affair. This is what we have now but this board has re-adopted the open dialogue format much to my delight. Citizens are able to ask questions throughout the meeting and this provides an opportunity for informing the public that has been sorely missed.

Now the consent agenda is approved. This consists of the minutes from any meetings held in the previous week and any purely administrative actions such as "Requests for Liquor License" and such.

Now the department heads come in and give their reports. This consists of updates on staff, projects and department activities and needs. Each department head will generally take about 5-15 minutes for this. Not every department reports every Tuesday.

Then the Planning Department will present their report and the commissioners will act on extensions of surety, modifications and other administrative requirements that do not require a Public Hearing.

Often, the commissioners will recess from the regular meeting and enter executive session to deal with personnel, litigation, property and other issues.

That pretty much covers a Tuesday meeting. In future entries I will detail what happens on the other days of the week with the caveat that there is a general schedule that can be added to or changed at will.