A Critical Decision
By Brent Regan
As a Kootenai County Republican, you face a critical decision that will have a lasting impact on our county.
John Padula is running for Kootenai County Commissioner for the second time. Padula has openly acknowledged a troubled past: expelled from school in seventh grade for selling drugs, 17 years of addiction, six years in prison (including one escape attempt), and a pre-conversion claim of sexual relations with over 1,000 women. In 2024 the Kootenai County Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge #43 placed him on their “Wall of Shame,” calling his background “disqualifying for public office” and stating he lacked the education and experience to manage a $140+ million county budget. The lodge said it “could not support him under any circumstances” and spent resources opposing his candidacy.
On December 5, 2008, Padula entered the Good Samaritan rehabilitation program run by The Altar Church. He describes that day as the moment he “received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior” and was “freed… from a whole life of sin.” He has said God “spared me and gave me a new heart” and that he became “a new creation in Christ Jesus.” Padula has made this conversion story central to his identity as a pastor, outreach minister, and now political candidate. He co-founded Set Apart Discipleship in 2011 and became Outreach Pastor at The Altar Church in 2014. As a speaker at a forum earlier this year, he said he wanted to minister to the entire county.
Consider this very possible scenario. In 2017, County Commissioners Brooks and Filios approved the Transit Center near Northwest Boulevard and Highway 90. The ultimate purpose was to serve as a terminal for bus service to Spokane. Testimony warned that Spokane’s bus terminal has the highest crime rate in the city and requires three full-time officers on patrol. The commissioners at the time vowed not to approve bus service, but the terminal now exists and those commissioners are gone.
If Padula wins, he would need only one more vote to expand his ministry by allowing a bus line that could bring Spokane criminals recovering from addiction into the county. Not every participant would succeed so crime would likely increase, requiring more law enforcement spending and jail expansion.
Redemption stories are inspiring, but public office requires more than personal testimony. It demands competence and a deep understanding of the needs and priorities of everyday citizens. John Padula understands recovering drug-addicted criminals because that was his life experience. He admirably helps those willing to follow his path to redemption. For their sake and ours, let him continue that important work and keep him out of the commissioner’s seat where failure could be likely and costly.
Now consider Julie Hensley, the experienced, conservative choice. Her seven years as a registered nurse at Northwest Specialty Hospital’s OR, pre-op, post-op, and ER department honed her ability to make critical life or death decisions under pressure, listen to constituents, solve complex problems, and advocate for others. She and her husband own and manage commercial properties and a small business. All these hone practical skills needed for stewarding the $140+ million county budget.
Public safety is personal: her husband is a former Kootenai County deputy, she leads community CPR training and also coaches Little League.
Hensley is endorsed by the Republican Central Committee, Commissioners Eberlein and Mattare, and Post Falls Mayor Westlund. They recognize Hensley’s competence and skills are well suited to the job.
Julie Hensley’s life story means she shares and understands your needs and priorities, exactly what you want in an elected official.
Vote Julie Hensley for Commissioner on May 19.
It’s just common sense.