March 10, 2022
John Crowder, Publisher of the Pocatello-Chubbuck Observer, has declared his candidacy for Bannock County Commissioner in District 3.
Appearing on the Steph Lucas Show on KID NewsRadio, 92.1, last Friday, where he was a guest co-host, Crowder discussed his reasons for running, emphasizing the role that County Commissioners play in rising property taxes. While elected officials are quick to, “pass the buck,” Crowder said, they each have a role to play in the rise in property taxes. He said that Commissioners, for example, will tell their constituents to contact their legislators for solutions to rising property taxes, legislators blame county and city government officials, and they all blame the assessor. Each of them acts like they have nothing to do with it. However, they all bear some degree of responsibility. As far as county taxes, it is the commissioners, with their approval of increased spending, who are the key driver of higher taxes for a county. Crowder said that, if elected, he would accept his share of responsibility for property taxes and work to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
Crowder also expressed concern over the current commissioners rushing to spend the millions they have agreed to take from the federal government in ARPA funds. He said that, when a state or county government agrees to take these funds, they sign a contract with Treasury. In that contract, it clearly states that they agree to abide by all executive orders. “This open-ended clause is extremely problematic,” Crowder said, especially with the current administration, which has proven to be quick to look for ways to take away the rights of individuals.”
Beyond that, Crowder noted that there is no free money. While the current commissioners claim that the use of the ARPA funds will have, “positive, generational impacts,” Crowder said that it is future generations that will experience the negative impact of paying off the debt incurred by the federal government’s supposed largesse. “People need to remember, also, that anything you build will wear down unless you maintain it. Sometimes, even if given, “free land,” the cost of maintaining what is built on it can become a great burden.”
Crowder discussed his experience working in organizations with multi-million-dollar budgets and a large, diverse, workforce. As a Director at American President Lines, Crowder was responsible for a budget of a third of a billion dollars, several times larger than the Bannock County budget, and had a work force of 130 people in the departments he was responsible for. Crowder’s portfolio included worldwide marine procurement, oil trading/purchasing, and government contracting, as well as administrative staff. He managed personnel and contractors up and down the West Coast, in SE Asia, and the Middle East. “I have the personnel management and process management skills needed to be successful in analyzing county operations and ensuring that we are providing maximum value to the taxpayer,” he said.
You can learn more about Crowder’s campaign and his positions on the issues by reading his editorials on the Pocatello-Chubbuck Observer website. He can be contacted via email at jcrowder27@hotmail.com.
His most recent article, dealing with the announcement that Governor Little will be ending his declared State of Emergency over COVID-19, can be found, here:
