East Idaho Elects: Teton County Prosecutor Debate — Kathy Spitzer, Billie Siddoway

DRIGGS — During the Teton Valley News/ East Idaho News election debate last week, current Teton County Prosecutor, Democrat Kathy Spitzer, debated her Republican challenger Billie Siddoway on how both candidates’ approaches to the county prosecutor job differed.

Spitzer is serving her second four-year term, having first been elected in 2009. Siddoway has a private law practice and recently defended incumbent Teton County Sheriff Tony Liford when his name was almost taken off the primary ballot this spring due to a little known law regarding switching parties.

Liford previously was a Democrat. (Spitzer did not defend the county in that case.)

The debate opened with each candidate outlining why they want to be the county’s prosecutor.

“I’m running for re-election because I love what I do, and I think I’m good at it,” Spitzer said in her opening remarks.

She said being prosecutor is a tough job that is also the most rewarding legal job of her career. She lived in Teton Valley before law school and moved back to the valley after working for a large firm in Portland, Oregon.

Spitzer said she originally went to law school to serve the community, which she is now doing as prosecutor. She said she has worked with seven different county commissioners who have had a multitude of different viewpoints.

“I think we have a multifaceted community and we need to realize that and bring the differences together instead of continuing to divide it in two,” she said.

Siddoway said she is running for the position because she thinks she can do a good job for the community. She said she has deep ties to the area with her grandparents starting a sheep ranch in Canyon Creek in 1886.

“Over the past 14 years, I’m really proud of what I have done with my legal practice,” she said, explaining her practice specialized in anti-trust and competition law.

She said her desire to become county prosecutor was also tied to her involvement in the case involving Sheriff Liford’s candidacy.

Siddoway said she thought deeply about the electoral process while preparing for that case.

“I had to do a lot thinking in preparing for my oral argument in that case about the importance of voting and the importance of having people to vote for,” she said. “And that’s why I decided to throw my hat in the ring.”

The discussion touched on several issues, including the county’s new land use code, which is in the process of being adopted.

Spitzer said there are a variety of online tools available on the county website and she is always available to help citizens understand the new code.

“I’m very happy to help anyone understand the code,” she said.

Siddoway said one of the things that troubled her in the process of adopting the new code is that some comments were not taken seriously, and that she said that going forward she hopes everyone’s voices are heard, not just those representing large community groups and nonprofits.

The county prosecutor, as the name suggests, is responsible for prosecuting criminal cases in the county, but the position also entails giving legal advice to the county commissioners. Siddoway has differed with the current county commission on its handling of some issues, especially with the question of how to determine property rights for parcels crated during the messy years of the housing boom.

When asked how she would approach giving advice to the commission, Siddoway said she would approach it as she would advise a board of directors of a corporation.

“My personal feelings of how it should come out might influence some of the strategies I’m going to lay out,” she said. “But I’m going to lay out every strategy that allows decision makers to get to the decision they want.”

She said the commissioners have the final say.

Spitzer agreed with that sentiment and said she does her best to give commissioners the best guidance, doing research and seeking out expert opinions when there is not clear guidance in the law.

As the debate closed, Siddwoway was asked about what some of her goals would be if elected.

Siddoway said one of her goals is to more actively solicit public opinion on issues being considered by the commissioners.

“One of the roles I would like to be able to play and encourage the commissioners to do a little more is to actively go out and talk to people you know who are going to be affected and get their input, and solicit that instead of just waiting for them to come to you,” she said.

In her last answer of the evening, Spitzer reflected on her accomplishments during her time as prosecutor.

She said she has started a widely respected youth diversion program, a multi disciplinary team for addressing child abuse and has helped write a “uniform eyewitness ID policy,” which is being reviewed by the state supreme court.

“Statewide involvement has been very important to me, there’s a wider issue across Idaho with criminal procedure and others things and it’s good to work with other prosecutors and judges throughout the state,” she said.

She also added that she has defended the county in the state supreme court on land use planning issues and recovered over $100,000 in bonds for the county.

“I feel like I’ve had a wonderful eight years,” she said.

This article was originally published in the Teton Valley News. It is used here with permission.