2010 Race for Idaho Governor: How would the candidates govern? | Election 2010 | Idaho Statesman
Butch Otter and Keith Allred both see the Founding Fathers as the roots of their governing philosophies. Both call for a stronger emphasis on the 10th Amendment to the Constitution that reserves for the states all powers not placed with the federal government.
But where Otter seeks to confront the federal government on issues ranging from health care to wolves and wilderness, Allred looks for ways to exert state control within existing federal laws.
Otter, a Republican, won’t talk about what he’ll do about his cabinet and staff in the second term he’s hoping to serve. But so far, he’s filled most of the 1,200 appointments he gets as governor with Republicans and shows no predilection to add Democrats beyond the statutory requirements.
Allred, meanwhile, has made it clear he will choose his cabinet and staff based on merit, not party. He even suggests that since Republicans have been in control for so long in Idaho, they are the group with the most experience.
Each candidate has strengths and weaknesses, experts say. Otter has the rhetorical skills of Theodore Roosevelt, says presidential scholar David Adler of the University of Idaho. Allred has an ability to work with people from all sides that is reminiscent of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, Adler said.
”If we wanted an ideal candidate we might borrow a little bit from the two of them,“ Adler said. ”Allred would borrow a little bit of the dash and rhetoric that characterizes Otter, and Otter would borrow a little bit of Allred’s emphasis on widespread consultation.“
Here’s a look at how each might govern during the next four years.
ALLRED: BRING ALL SIDES TOGETHER
When Allred first got involved in a dispute between the Nez Perce Tribe and its neighboring local governments, tensions were so high that violence could have broken out at any time, said Orofino city administrator Rick Laam.
The professional mediator and former Harvard professor brought together representatives from the tribe and 23 local governments and helped them find a way to live together within the boundaries of the Nez Perce reservation without giving up either their principles or their sovereignty.
”We had 150 years of culture and mistrust to get through,“ Laam said. ”He showed us why the tribe does some things it does and showed them why we reacted the way we did.“
The successful two-year negotiation was a classic example of how Allred has resolved disputes as a mediator and consultant. Along with his record as president of The Common Interest, a nonpartisan policy group, supporters say, that experience gives good insight into how he will govern if elected.
”He has the ability to gain trust from both sides,“ Laam said.
A self-described independent, Allred said he accepted the Democratic nomination with the caveat he would not have to change his views. ”I’m a passionate independent who really believes, as the Founding Fathers did, that we have to look for solutions that get broad and diverse support.“
He founded The Common Interest in 2005 along with retiring GOP Sen. Laird Noh of Kimberly and the late retired House Minority Leader Bruce Sweeney. The group picked three major issues each year and developed a policy brief that explained all sides of the issues. Then it polled its members and took the ideas that earned broad support to the Legislature.
In 2006, the group pushed the largely Democratic idea of tying the value of the homeowner’s exemption to the rising price of houses in the state. Allred helped persuade many Republicans, and the measure passed.
Later, the group worked on issues ranging from primary elections to private prisons to gas taxes, helping in 2009 to defeat Otter’s proposed gas-tax increase — which Allred said would have shifted an unfair burden to car owners at the benefit of commercial truckers.
The Common Interest didn’t always win. It unsuccessfully sought to raise beer and wine taxes to pay for alcohol treatment programs.
Allred says many Republican legislators have told him privately they will vote for him and will work with him if he wins.
”I have a better legislative track record and a better relationship with this Legislature than Butch Otter does,“ Allred said.
When told Allred’s statement, Otter didn’t challenge it. Instead, he suggested asking legislators.
”He’s a good guy, a good ally on bills, but sometimes he tries to take credit for things he didn’t do,“ House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star, says of Allred.
Regardless of who is right about how much his group accomplished, Allred’s move into the partisan political arena has undercut much of the good will he had before.
”I think he has a tremendous amount of bridge-building to do to develop a relationship with the Legislature,“ said Senate Pro Tem Robert Geddes, R-Soda Springs.
Former Democratic Gov. Cecil Andrus said partisan differences are less important outside of election years. He remains close friends with Otter, who served under him as a Republican lieutenant governor, but is supporting Allred.
”Whoever sits on that second floor has a veto stamp in his hand,“ Andrus said. ”That is a constructive appliance that brings about happiness and realization.“
As governor, Allred said, he would develop policy briefs like he did with The Common Interest, send them to a random sample of voters statewide, and champion those ideas that get broad consensus on four to seven issues. He said he hopes the support of the people who participate will overcome the powerful lobby groups that now prevent tax reform and other programs that otherwise would have wide backing.
Is that realistic?
”When you are governor, there isn’t always time to put together a focus group,“ said Moyle.
Despite his consensus approach, Allred has shown he can take charge, say participants in past mediation efforts. In 2008, Allred was hired to mediate a legal dispute over the largest subdivision ever developed in Blaine County.
The property happened to be his family’s old historic homestead, so first Allred had to show some of the parties that his family ties didn’t affect his view of the issue.
”He allowed everybody to have their say, but he was in charge,“ said Ned Williamson, a Hailey attorney for farmers and other neighbors challenging the subdivision.
At one point, the three sides — the developer, the county and the protesters — hit a logjam.
”Keith stopped things and said ‘I want to talk to you privately,’“ recalled Martin Flannes, a Hailey attorney representing the developers. ”He told me I was the problem and that I wasn’t working in the best interests and would I let him help me.“
Flannes agreed and eventually they worked through the impasse.
”If he hadn’t done that, things probably would have gone the other way,“ said Flannes. ”He used both his mediation skills and judicial use of his position as mediator to get to the common ground.“
Not all his efforts have been successes. Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt brought Allred in to seek a collaborative proposal to turn 600,000 acres of red rock canyons and bluffs in the San Rafael Swell into a national monument.
For more than a year Allred tried to bring wilderness advocates, motorized users, ranchers and local officials together. In the end, Leavitt made his proposal without broad support, and President George Bush never followed through on Leavitt’s recommendation.
”We made great progress,“ said Brad Barber, the Leavitt state planning director who hired Allred. ”He did a fabulous job. We got very, very close.“
OTTER: STILL LEARNING AFTER 30 YEARS
Otter began his first term as Idaho governor in 2007 by forcing the Legislature to scale back its expansion of the Capitol.
But after the GOP-dominated House slapped down his efforts to increase road funding in 2009 — and faced with having to make some of the deepest state budget cuts in history — Otter has become more collaborative with legislative leaders.
Last year, weeks before his State of the State address, he stood with legislative leaders to announce plans to cut education for the first time in history.
”I think Butch got handed a bad set of cards with this economy,“ said Moyle. ”Because of that, he has reached out.“
Otter acknowledged he hadn’t done his ”homework“ when he brought his package of gas tax and registration increases to the Legislature in 2009. But he said he’s learned from those lessons and already has reached out with a transportation task force that has held hearings around the state and gathered the data necessary to make decisions.
”One of the things I would change from over the last four years is that I would be a lot more careful about bringing up a subject or an issue or a policy change without getting it more vetted,“ Otter said.
Otter has spent nearly 30 years as a state lawmaker, lieutenant governor and U.S. congressman, seeking to cut government’s size and power over the lives of Idahoans. He came into the state’s top office determined to restructure state government, promising first to eliminate the Department of Administration and to reverse the merger of the departments of Commerce and Labor.
He split Commerce and Labor but eventually backed off cutting Administration. At the end of his first year, Idaho employed nearly 400 more state workers than when Otter took office. But the recession forced Otter and the Legislature to make deep across-the-board cuts in 2009, leaving the state with nearly 500 fewer employees than when he arrived and more than 800 fewer than the 2008 peak.
After four years as governor, Otter and the Idaho Legislature have pared back everything from health benefits to parks, public television and education due mostly to the worst economy in his lifetime.
Today the state payroll has dropped to 23,108, nearly 2,000 fewer than a year ago and 2,830 fewer than 2006.
Some of those cuts, such as placing the Human Rights Commission in the Department of Labor, are expected to keep services at current levels with lower costs. Still others — at the Parks and Recreation Department and public television — are designed to wean agencies from general state taxes, so users will support them completely with fees or donations.
Otter said he soon will have estimates of how much money his 2010 restructuring will save.
Regarding the unprecedented cuts to public education, Otter commits to restoring funding when the budget improves.
Whatever happens, he now takes action with Republican legislative leaders more as partners than the adversaries he faced when he stopped work on the Statehouse in 2007.
”It took a little while for us to build up the trust and relationship we have now,“ said Geddes. ”There are still some issues, and it’s supposed to be that way with the separation of powers.“
Today, the Statehouse work is complete and about $11 million less than its original budget — just as Otter predicted. And every dime has counted since the economy turned south in 2007, Geddes said.
Otter has shown that he can be a strong leader, willing to stand up even to people in his own party, said U of I’s Adler. ”It’s to his credit he’s willing to acknowledge he’s learned on the job. That’s a mark of maturity. It shows a degree of open-mindedness, a reflection of some humility.“
Publicly at least, Otter has set no major new goals for his second term. He hopes to meet his economic goal — set in his Project 60 — to raise the state’s GDP from $52 billion to $60 billion before he leaves office. The next report comes Nov. 15, almost two weeks after the election.
He plans to try once again to persuade the Legislature to find more money for road maintenance, after his task force makes a recommendation in December. And he’s meeting now with GOP leaders to see how they can meet the needs of education and state agencies, with rainy-day funds drained and federal stimulus dollars spent.
Otter’s main fault, Allred and others say, is that he keeps close counsel only with people who share his views.
Otter has met regularly with Democrats in the Legislature and communicates well with them, said House Minority Leader John Rusche. But he doesn’t bring the minority party into policymaking.
”When you only invite participation from people with your views, you get a locked-in opinion of the world,“ Rusche said.
That can leave a leader with surprises or missed opportunities, said Gundar Kaupins, a Boise State University professor of management. An example is how Otter wrote a letter of support for a series of oversized shipments of mining equipment after talking with ExxonMobil officials, the Idaho Transportation Department and the Port of Lewiston in 2009.
He met with local residents concerned about the impacts of the shipments only after some of the giant loads were sitting at the Port of Lewiston late this summer.
”A good leader tends to look 360 degrees,“ said Kaupins said.
Rocky Barker: 377-6484
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