Senate committee interviews two incumbents for Lake Pend Oreille Commission

The Senate Resources and Environment Committee, chaired for the day by Vice Chair Senator Hart, conducted initial interviews with Brent Baker and Frank Brinkmeyer for gubernatorial appointments to the Lake Pend Oreille Commission during a virtual meeting (date not specified).

Both incumbents described the commission’s recent priorities and ongoing concerns: a University of Idaho–supported economic impact study of the Pend Oreille basin, disputes over lake level management tied to downstream power generation, invasive aquatic species, and emergency-response planning for the lake basin.

The interviews are preliminary; Senator Hart said the committee will defer a formal vote on the appropriateness of each candidacy to a later meeting at the discretion of the committee chair.

Brent Baker, an incumbent commissioner on the Lake Pend Oreille Commission and executive director of his county’s economic development organization,…