In 2005, the 15 members of the North Idaho legislative delegation will have to be strong, persuasive and well-connected to protect the region’s surface and ground water from southern Idahoans seeking a one-size-fits-all bailout for their water woes.

They also will have to work together to address rising property taxes in growth areas, such as Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Sandpoint. Finally, the caucus should be committed to funding education properly, to helping Coeur d’Alene and Kootenai Indian tribes continue to prosper and to broadening the local-option sales tax to fund projects other than jail expansion.

We considered these five factors in making our North Idaho recommendations.

District 1: Senate, House A

Republican Shawn Keough of Sandpoint, the region’s senior senator, is the best of a good crop of North Idaho senators. As vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, she won important funding for U.S. Highway 95 reconstruction in Bonner and Boundary counties. And she is an outspoken advocate of the state’s responsibility to provide safe schools. Also, the four-term senator is well-positioned to help her constituents as a member of the powerful budget committee.

In a three-way House race, featuring two directors of the Northern Lights electric cooperative, Democrat Steve Elgar gets our nod as the best candidate to deal with overriding water issues, including protecting Lake Pend Oreille water quality from possible degradation from upstream mining. An oceanographer and a former professor at the University of Idaho and Washington State University, Elgar says bluntly: “I like water.” With his expertise, he’d fill an important niche in the North Idaho delegation.

Republican Eric Anderson, owner of Priest River Construction, is a quality candidate, too, with his broad community involvement, serving in an official capacity for Northern Lights, a sewer board, fire department and utility association. Either would be a credible replacement for retiring state. Rep. John Campbell, R-Sandpoint.

District 2: Senate, House A and House B

After representing Shoshone County for four terms, 1984-92, and then the new District 2 for the last two years, incumbent Marti Calabretta has a distinct edge in experience over Joyce Broadsword, a good Republican candidate. Calabretta is an articulate, forceful and blue-collar Democrat who is passionate about education and attracting jobs to her rural district – and not afraid to speak against the Republican supermajority. If she has a weakness, it’s constituent service.

In House District 2A, hard-working Rep. Mary Lou Shepherd, D-Wallace, is an easy choice over Constitutionalist Gary Schulte. The third-term representative has a Democrat’s passion for social issues – jobs, education and programs for the poor – and a Republican’s respect for the tax dollar. Shepherd excels at constituency service.

In House District 2B, Republican incumbent Dick Harwood and Democrat George Currier, both of St. Maries, lack understanding of the economic importance of the Coeur d’Alene Indian Tribe. Both have spoken against the tribe’s gaming operations and its proposed Benewah Medical Center expansion at Plummer. Harwood has a history of bashing the tribe. We hope Currier is teachable in this area. Currier wins our lukewarm recommendation as a result of his work in redeveloping downtown St. Maries.

District 4: House A and House B

Republican House candidates Marge Chadderdon and Dan Yake make the old argument they can better serve North Idaho by being in the majority party. But Republican leadership has failed for a decade to reward that obeisance with good committee and leadership assignments.

In House District 4A, Democrats have fielded the best North Idaho newcomer in City Attorney Mike Gridley. Simply put, he gets things done: from battling for public beach access on Lake Coeur d’Alene to protecting the city’s hillsides and lakes, to working with the railroad to remove unused railroad tracks downtown.

In the other Coeur d’Alene House race, George Sayler, a veteran high school government teacher, will fight for open government and will work to raise Idaho’s 50-50 homeowners exemption to provide property tax relief. Sayler, who served a quiet first term, is on his way to becoming a power among Idaho’s minority Democratic Party.

District 5: Senate, House A and House B

State Sen. Dick Compton and candidate Frank Henderson were among the best Kootenai County commissioners over the last 20 years. Both are known for their ability to get things done, to build consensus, and to bring a business approach to government. Teamed with energetic former county Republican chairman Bob Nonini, Compton and Henderson would form a powerful block to protect surface water and the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer from a one-size-fits-all solution to the southern Idaho water crisis. As a former head of the Spokane River Association, Nonini brings particular expertise to the surface water battle. He has a fiery temper which could be tested in the Legislature. But Compton and Henderson should be able to keep him in line. Democrats David Larsen and Lyndon Harriman are good House candidates, too. But our choices here could form one of the best delegations in the 2005 session.