For the week of July 18 - July 24, 2001

GOP’s search and destroy mission

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The GOP is on a search and destroy mission.

It’s target? Blaine County.

The elephant apparently can’t stand the mouse-sized delegation of 12 Democrats that remains in the overwhelmingly Republican Legislature and was rankled by the county’s rejection of George Bush Jr. in the last election.

So, the elephant roared. Last week, the GOP half of the six-member bipartisan redistricting committee unveiled a plan that would split Blaine County into two districts and bind them together with heavily Republican counties.

The move was beneath contempt.

It came just two weeks after Blaine County Republican chairman Maurice Charlat said in a letter to the editor that Republicans were hatching no such plan.

Ahem.

The split would be a political death-sentence for incumbents Sen. Clint Stennett and Rep. Wendy Jaquet, both Democrats who have represented District 21 very well.

All partisanship aside, the split would needlessly and foolishly harm Blaine County by strangling the primary voice of recreation and tourism in the state.

Blaine County is being targeted because it’s different.

Its economy is not dependent on extractive industry or agriculture. That drives a lot of people crazy.

Its per capita income is higher than any county in Idaho, and its residents are highly educated. That makes others jealous.

Many residents rank their outdoor activities above their professional pursuits. For many, that’s hard to understand.

Over the years, Blaine County has embraced local-option sales taxes for infrastructure and marketing, a good bus system, river protection, miles of bike and ski paths, open space protection, strong planning and zoning laws, and rock-solid support for local school funding.

The initiatives were hardly revolutionary, but they were unusual in a state where residents more often than not had no choice but to plant it, herd it, log it or mine it in order to support their families.

Breaking up Blaine County will serve no one except a few puffed-up political egomaniacs.

Truth be known, local Republicans probably have more in common with local Democrats than they do with their state brethren.

Instead of sitting around and hoping to feast on the leftovers when this political turkey is carved, Blaine County Republicans should join with Blaine County Democrats to stop the search and destroy mission.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.