Idaho House of Representatives, District 21 race
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
Shoshone Democrat Richard "Dick" Andreasen is challenging
three-term incumbent Tim Ridinger, R-Shoshone, for the District 21 Seat B in the Idaho
House of Representatives. Andreasen’s platform largely consists of school reform
issues. He is a retired educator, and also worked for many years as a golf course manager.
"We have a commitment to our young people in Idaho to see that when
they graduate from high school that they have the qualifications to compete with students
from other states," he said.
Teacher salaries should be raised, and school facilities should be
improved using the state’s $281 million surplus, Andreasen said.
But education was an issue on which the two candidates essentially agreed.
In his opening statement, Ridinger said classroom sizes must be reduced,
good teachers must be hired and teacher salaries must be raised.
Ridinger and Andreasen also agreed on working for more local control for
city and county governing bodies. Many issues are best decided by the people who live and
work locally, rather than elected officials at the state level, they said.
However, they didn’t agree on everything.
Quickly going for the jugular, Ridinger asked Andreasen, "Knowing I
would be a senior member of several committees and a fourth-year member of the House, how
will you better represent the people of District 21?"
Andreasen answered realistically.
"As a freshman going in next year, I think I have a lot to
learn," he said. "But I have a diversified background in business and
education."
Andreasen said his background would help him overcome the
Legislature’s steep learning curve more quickly.
On a question about aiding rural Idaho economies, Ridinger, who owns a
hay-hauling business, said heavy-handed government regulations make family farming more
difficult, and pledged to help farmers get out from under the shadow of overly restrictive
federal laws.
Andreasen, on the other hand, said he doesn’t think there is much the
Legislature can do to help ailing family farms.
"I don’t believe the state Legislature can do any more than put
a Band-Aid on a big problem," he said.
Andreasen advocated helping rural Idaho move on to more tourist-based
economies, rather than trying to preserve a way of life that is becoming economically
difficult.
"Let’s maintain this state and this [tourist] image," he
said.
Unchallenged District 21 candidates, House minority leader Wendy Jaquet,
D-Ketchum, and Senate minority leader Clint Stennett, D-Ketchum, used the forum to update
constituents on what’s going on at the state capitol.
The state has a $280 million surplus for the next two years, Jaquet said.
She advocated spending the surplus on education facilities bonds and to upgrade
teachers’ salaries.
"We lose 40 percent of our teachers to other states because they pay
better than we do," she said.
Stennett said he will reintroduce a bill to protect water quality in the
Middle Fork of the Salmon River in the coming legislative session. A similar bill has been
defeated four times.
He also discussed his frustration about the state’s wildlife
management policies’ being tangled in politics.
The state’s new Office of Species Conservation is nothing more than a
political effort to eliminate healthy discussion on wildlife issues, Stennett said.
It’s designed to meet Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s mandate to "speak with one
voice" on wildlife issues, he said.
