POCATELLO—Bannock County’s newest commissioner was not a fan of the plan to use COVID stimulus money to help fund the construction of a $20 million multi-use stadium.

After he was officially sworn in Monday, Commissioner John Crowder spoke to the Idaho State Journal about what he hopes to accomplish, the new dynamic of the commission with his addition and his thoughts on how the county intends to spend its American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, COVID stimulus money.

“Absolutely not,” Crowder said when asked if he would have supported Bannock County investing about $8 million in ARPA funds for the construction of a multi-use stadium that could serve as the home for a MLB-partnered baseball team. “After the initial meeting when the commission said they wanted to get this done in six weeks, I was very unhappy with that because six weeks was obviously the amount of time it would take for me to take office. I’ll just say that spending money in that way was something I opposed 100 percent.”

A native of Anchorage, Alaska, who has been living in the Gate City for the past four years, Crowder brings to the commission a strong financial background as someone who was successful working in a senior management role for American President Lines, a company that had long been the nation’s second largest shipping company, Crowder said.

After the commission first floated the multi-use stadium project idea, Crowder said he appeared on the Steph Lucas show on the 92.1 FM radio station to express his dissatisfaction with the proposal.

“I laid out the case for why that was a very bad use of funds,” Crowder said about his appearance on 92.1 FM. “As I read the requirements for using ARPA funds, it didn’t seem like it was a permitted way to use the funds, which turned out to be correct. But I also had a specific case study I talked about on the radio that took place in Omaha, Nebraska, where those guys were doing something similar. It was a suburb of Omaha where they wanted to build a $25 million stadium. Ultimately that thing cost $40 million. In addition, they touted it as something that was going to lower taxes and things of that nature and I haven’t found a case where that was successful. The stadium ideas are a great deal for the guy that owns the team, but for the taxpayers it’s a horrible deal.”

The plan has since been put “on life support,” in the words of Bannock County Commissioner Jeff Hough, who added that ARPA funds will not be considered for any stadium project in the future. Hough did not rule out the county potentially considering other funding mechanisms, however, if they were to arise.

Crowder said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the county using ARPA money to fund an ambulance bay at the McCammon fire station and as startup funds for a partnership with Idaho State University to build the East Idaho Forensic Pathology Center, which will provide badly needed forensic and autopsy services for 17 East Idaho counties. That money has already been earmarked, said Crowder, adding that it’s now his role to champion those projects and “help make those things come to fruition successfully.”

Someone with experience managing sizable budgets and leading multiple departments with large staffs, Crowder said he is not intimidated by the county’s budget and remains steadfast in his campaign promise to reduce the property tax burden on residential home owners in Pocatello.

Additionally, Crowder said it has become apparent to him that the county has a long list of deferred maintenance projects that need addressing.

“I have met with different people in different departments, toured the different properties that the county owns, and one of the areas that I think really needs to be addressed sooner rather than later is the backlog of maintenance and renovations that’s necessary to get our buildings in order,” he said. “There’s a huge backlog of maintenance that needs to be caught up.”

Crowder said he believes he is a strong addition to the commission, which in addition to Hough also includes Ernie Moser, the former mayor of Inkom.

“I think we all bring unique strengths to the table and everybody has talents they’re going to bring to the job, so I think it should be a very good commission to work with,” Crowder said.

Both Moser and Hough are also looking forward to the opportunity to work with Crowder.

We’re excited for the expertise and the point of view that he brings so it’ll be a new and exciting venture,” Hough said.

Moser added, “I think John is going to work out well and the commission will continue to move in a positive direction. We aren’t going backward and just have to keep moving forward.”

Crowder again thanked those who voted for him in the 2022 November election and looks forward to honoring the trust they placed in him, he said.

“I’m very excited to get to work for the county,” Crowder said. “I am very appreciative of the confidence the voters placed in me and all the people that ended up working to help me win this election. Like I said during the campaign, I’m going in there to do my best to ensure that our spending is efficient and that and we’re keeping our spending to a minimum from the taxpayers.”