Voters received another glimpse of the Democratic District 2 Latah County commissioner candidate in a virtual Q&A session Wednesday with incumbent Tom Lamar.
His opponent, Gabriel Rench, appeared in a separate session Wednesday. Both events were organized by the Associated Students University of Idaho and the UI Economics Club.
A moderator from ASUI took questions from the public via Zoom’s chatroom and posed them to Lamar, who sat candidly in front of his computer screen at home. Behind him, a pair of blue and red “Lamar for Latah” face masks hung on the wall. The masks symbolize a polarized commissioner race, characterized by the candidates’ differing stances on the City of Moscow’s mask mandate.
Rench has long been critical of the city’s response to COVID-19 and says the public health emergency order mandating face coverings and social distancing is unconstitutional. Lamar disagrees.
“It’s important to acknowledge that nobody likes to wear a mask,” Lamar said. “It’s not that much fun. But it is very helpful to slowing the spread of this virus.”
As of Oct. 21, Latah County has tallied 821 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since April 1, according to Public Health – Idaho North Central District.
To date, the county has no COVID-19 related deaths, which Lamar says is evidence the mandate is working.
Back in March, localities across the state were forced to confront the threat of COVID-19 in their communities. Latah County recognized the problem early on, declaring a state of emergency and limiting gatherings.
“We all need to take mask breaks, I totally understand that,” Lamar said. “We also need to make sure we’re doing what we need to do in order to keep our neighbors healthy and safe.”
Lamar has served as commissioner for six years and is executive director of the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute. As one of three commissioners, Lamar helps set the county’s budget and works with the state and federal government on a variety of issues, including taxes.
“We have seen a very sharp rise in property values over the past few years now,” Lamar said. “As property values increase, it creates a higher (property tax) rate, a higher amount of money that the rates are based on.”
Lamar also discussed his work on environmental issues. As an avid cyclist and outdoorsman, Lamar said he’s seen the city government take huge strides in reducing its carbon footprint.
Lamar said he wants to continue building relationships between businesses and the local government to see how they can all work together.
“I love the work that I’m doing and would love to continue to be one of your three county commissioners,” Lamar said.
Angela Palermo can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @apalermooo.