Friday, October 23, 2009

Some candidates balk at questionnaire

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By TREVON MILLIARD
Express Staff Writer

Four of the valley's city council candidates—one in Sun Valley and three in Bellevue—have refused to answer a questionnaire posed by the Sawtooth Board of Realtors.

Sun Valley candidate Milt Adam said his biggest objection is the same as two years ago—that high scores will only be given to candidates who "align" with the board's principles and "dance to their tune."

That's the same problem incumbent Bellevue City Council candidate Gene Ramsey has. He also refused the questionnaire in 2007.

"I'm way, way too busy to answer that," Ramsey said. "I see it (the scores) as the view of a special interest group."

Bob Crosby, government affairs director for the association of more than 300 Realtors, isn't arguing otherwise. He organized the questionnaire and admitted that scores are based on answers aligned with the board's strategic plan, but he said that shouldn't be a problem.

And he's not hiding the fact.

The published results will show that four members of the Sawtooth Board of Realtors rated candidate answers on "a) how well they understand the issue b) whether the candidate's plan for solving the issue was thought out c) their implementation plan and d) the candidate's alignment to the board's strategic plan."

Crosby sent candidates a copy of the scoring method.

However, Crosby said three out of the four Bellevue candidates do see it as a problem. Besides Ramsey, incumbent Brett Gelskey and candidate David Hattula didn't participate. Neither could be reached for comment. Three out of four Bellevue candidates also refused the questionnaire in 2007.

Of the valley's 21 candidates, 17 answered the questionnaire, including Sun Valley City Council incumbent Nils Ribi. He said he's well aware of the scoring system and it's not a problem as long as readers are aware that Realtors are scoring to the beat of their own drum.

"You have to take it with a grain of salt," he said, "and realize where it's coming from."

Sun Valley council candidate Bob Youngman said he's not at all worried that readers will think the scores are somehow objective.

"If you saw that the Sawtooth Board of Realtors were scoring something, what would you think?" he asked.

Sun Valley candidate Stephen Poindexter said he thinks candidates who don't answer the questionnaire are "obviously hiding something."

Crosby said even with the Realtors rating candidates, everyone can gain from the scores. Crosby said one candidate expressed concern that his answers wouldn't coincide with the board, and his low scores would hurt him.

"It will be OK," Crosby said he told the candidate. "Maybe voters will like that you disagree with us."

That seemed to be the case in 2007.

Many of that election's winners scored poorly on the questionnaire, including Ketchum Councilman Curtis Kemp, who averaged a 2.08. It was especially true in Sun Valley. Current council members Dewayne Briscoe, Dave Chase and Joan Lamb scored the lowest with twos and threes and nothing above. It was the same story for Mayor Wayne Willich, who earned a 1.5 score for the category of "increase housing supply."

Adam argued that this contradiction in scores and winners sheds doubt on the questionnaire's validity. But Crosby and other candidates argue the opposite.

Crosby said the 2007 results showed that the voters weren't in agreement with the Realtors, but it doesn't mean the questionnaire was flawed.

"In our environment, 80s are better than 40s in school," Crosby said. "But voters shouldn't be looking for low scores here."

A voter may want to see a candidate score a 1 in the "affordable housing" category. In fact, Bellevue City Council candidate Tom Perry said he's counting on it.

"Not agreeing with the board isn't a bad thing," Perry said. "For example, I don't agree with affordable housing. I'm fine with a low score on that because it will show voters I'm not for that."

Perry said he hasn't "tailored" his answers to fit the board's agenda, and he's not afraid of that.

Crosby said that's actually what he wants to hear, and he only wished he could've explained it better to Adam. Crosby said he just hopes readers understand it.

"I don't know whether people look at us as busybodies trying to get in their business, or as providing a public service," Crosby said. "Hopefully, it's the latter."

Adam said he excluded himself also because the candidates' answers won't be included in the board's "2009 Election Scorecard," to be published in the Oct. 28 issue of the Idaho Mountain Express. The scorecard will only show candidate scores, ranging from one to five, in several categories: replacement airport/transportation, diversified economy, regional versus local government, affordable housing, the environment and city-specific issues.

The layout will be the same as the 2007 scorecard, which Adam also didn't answer when he ran for council. And, like before, the scorecard will provide the address of a Web site—sunvalleyidahorealestate.com—where the questions and answers will be listed verbatim. The association's strategic plan is also on the Web site.

Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com