After seeing what has shaken out and taken a couple of days to consider what has come to be now that we have a crowded field of candidates for Bear Lake County elected positions, things are getting exciting! First, I would like to congratulate all of those that have stepped up to try and make things better. Thank you for getting involved as none of us has all the answers. Just as in business, competition makes for better products and services, I believe competition gets us better candidates as well. Our system of government requires citizens participating in order for it to work properly. Over the last several decades, people have made public service a career of self service. This has increased voter apathy. 

Now let’s move on. I have noticed many candidates talk about how much they love Bear Lake and how that qualifies them for public service. I would assume most of us love Bear Lake or we would live somewhere else. I have also heard from people I talk to that change is needed and it seems that the most wanted change is transparency. With the amount of turnover at the Commissioner level over the last 2 election cycles, it is obvious that the people have not gotten what they want. 

 So what is really needed for the people to get what they want? They need to decide what is important and elect people who think differently than those previously elected. They also need to elect people that can negotiate with the other 2 commissioners when possible. A single Commissioner by themselves cannot get a lot of things accomplished unless at least 1 of the other 2 can be convinced to agree with them. 

A question I have is do enough people in Bear Lake know what they want? One thing I haven’t been able to understand is how Bear Lake County overwhelmingly voted for President Trump in the caucus yet elected never Trumpers for other offices. This is counter productive. 

Having said that, I will now attempt to explain why I am a viable option for Commissioner besides caring about Bear Lake. I am not perfect nor do I have all of the answers, I am just one person who knows how to listen, take criticism and not give up.

First, I am a problem solver, not an accountant or bureaucrat. Back in 2018,  I found an opportunity to make something that there was a demand for. It was the result of my 30 years of experience in treating recreational water. 

Kalene was quick to lend her support and wanted to know how she could help so together, we made a business out of nothing and having very little to our name. I was even denied a business credit card because my personal cards were always maxed out buying supplies. Things started out slow but in 2019 things started to take off. 

Then in July of 2019 we were given a cease and desist letter from a multi-million dollar company that claimed we were infringing on their patents. This was intimidating but after reviewing the documents, I knew we weren’t violating their claims so I hired a large patent law firm in New York City to fight back. What else could I do? Give up? Eventually the big company backed off.

TakeawayI can spot opportunity and act upon it with little resources to work with and not let adversity stop me. I would not let the attitude of can’t or adversity keep me from representing the people of Bear Lake County.

When COVID hit, our business exploded. That is when we started to hire help as we couldn’t keep up by ourselves. Things were going well through 2022 when all of a sudden the Chinese sellers on Amazon started copying our intellectual property and undercutting our prices by 60%. It literally took them until 2024 to come up with a copy that would function at least long enough to get past the return window. Meanwhile, I had to focus on making improvements while cutting costs to the product as well as figuring out ways to improve our customer experience. Had we not done that, we would have been out of business 2 or 3 years ago. Not everything I tried worked as well as we wanted so I had to keep pressing forward. 

TakeawayI can find ways to improve processes and provide excellent customer service. In my business I have learned to always look for ways to do things better and have made it as easy as possible for my customers to contact us for service. I have learned people have preferred methods of contact. I would do the same for the people of Bear Lake. In fact, I have already started with providing multiple ways for people to contact me. My website lancefitzsimmons.com, Facebook: facebook.com/lancefitzsimmonsforcommissioner and phone/text 208-637-4701

Going back to 2021-2022, I had multiple companies that made money helping people apply for COVID relief funds which was basically “free” money worth about $30k in my case but I didn’t ever apply because our business flourished during COVID. Plus, there is never truly any Free money, just other people’s money. The so called “free” money also comes with a price usually laid out in fine print. There is no honor in begging for money. Why not learn to be self sufficient like the pioneers that came before us?

Our business brings money in from outside the Bear Lake Valley making us a money importer. we have spent close to half a million dollars locally. Sure we could save some money buying out of the area but our local economy is more important than saving a few bucks. Plus, driving out of town to save has it’s own cost. We have also helped to keep the Geneva Post Office open with our shipping. Our employees work part time but we have come up with piece work compensation which allows them to make more. Some have made up to $60 per hour.

Kalene and I have done well and have had to overcome moments of adversity in our business as well. Supply issues, price increases, fraudulent returns through Amazon, cheap fakes…some may say we are lucky to still be in business but due to other opportunities we started expanding with innovative new products. The word CAN’T is a four letter word we avoid. 

If you are happy with the way things are in Bear Lake then I’m not your guy. If you would like someone that has a fresh perspective, doesn’t give up, is transparent which earns trust and someone that wants to work together with the people of Bear Lake then I would appreciate your vote on May 19th for Bear Lake County Commissioner, District 2.