Snedden making bid for Idaho Statehouse
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March 21, 2014 |
 Sandpoint
attorney Stephen Snedden, a third-generation
Bonner County resident, is hard on the campaign
trail as he seeks election to Seat 1A in the
Idaho House of Representatives.
Snedden, a Republican, is running for the seat
being vacated by Eric Anderson.
"I grew up here and I want to protect the things
that are important," he said, "a clean lake to
swim in, a safe place to go to school and a
chance to come back here and make a living."
Snedden, 35, was born in St. Maries and grew up
near Hope. As a high-schooler, he worked in the
family business. In 1995, he was selected by the
Sandpoint Rotary Club for a year-long foreign
exchange. After his exchange, Stephen graduated
from Sandpoint High School in 1997.
He earned Bachelor's Degrees in computer science
and political science at Seattle Pacific
University in 2002 and hid Juris Doctorate in
2005 at the Pepperdine Univerity School of Law.
Since 2007, Stephen has been a private practice
attorney in Sandpoint, where he assists
individuals and employees with business, real
estate and civil litigation. In his spare time,
he skis at Schweitzer Mountain Resort and
devotes time to the Pend d’Oreille Bay Trail – a
mile-long trail along the shore of Lake Pend
Oreille. He has three nieces and one nephew.
As representative for Boundary and Bonner
Counties in the Statehouse, his focus, he said,
will be to grow the economies of both counties
and to foster the entrepreneurial spirit that's
so strong here.
"My friends are moving away to find jobs that
support their families," he said. We have a lot
of local businesses that started in garages and
grew to be great companies. There is a history
of entrepreneurism here. Our own ideas and
people can create the best jobs."
One of the hurdles standing in the way of
fostering that spirit and building a stronger
local economy, he said, is the ever-growing maze
of labyrinthine of rules and regulations
that he said stand in the way of people trying
to turn great ideas into sound businesses.
"It takes a subject-area expert to navigate
nearly any state agency these days," he said.
"It really slants the playing field. You have to
be hyper-vigilant in order to protect your
rights."
Another of his focuses, he said, is education.
"Education can change our course in life," he
said. "For the first time, we have a four-year
degree out of NIC's Sandpoint campus. I want to
make sure that those programs stay funded at the
state level so that local residents can work
here and get an affordable education at the same
time."
To find out more about Stephen Snedden or to
learn how you can help support his campaign,
call (208) 263-4748, email
SneddenForIdaho@gmail.com, or visit his
website,
www.SneddenForIdaho.org. |
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