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Gov. Risch appoints former legislator
as chair of the transportation board

Gov. Jim Risch announced last week the appointment of former Lewiston legislator Frank Bruneel as chair of the Idaho Transportation Board. The appointment was effective Thursday (June 9).

He replaces Charles Winder who held the position since 1995.

Bruneel, who now lives in McCall, built a highly successful family enterprise around the transportation industry. The tire centers he founded in 1966 serve a large number of Idaho communities and are now operated by Bruneel’s son. The new board chair will preside over his first meeting June 20-22 when it meets in Idaho Falls.

“It’s kind of good to be on the other end of where the tire meets the road,” Bruneel said in an interview with the Lewiston Tribune.

Bruneel, 70, said he supports the Legislature’s cautious fiscal approach to Connecting Idaho "rather than jump in and take on more than we can efficiently and effectively implement,” he told the Tribune. (Otherwise) we might squander more than we can save.”

Bruneel was a state representative from 1995 to 2002 and served as the House majority leader.

Risch commended Winder for his leadership and thanked him for his service as chair of the transportation board.

“Chuck Winder has been a good and faithful public servant for many, many years, and I publicly thank him for his good work,” Risch said in making the announcement.

During Winder’s 11-year tenure on the board, ITD made the transition to a new director, initiated a comprehensive study of transportation funding (the Forum on Transportation Investment) supported creation of Kempthorne’s Connecting Idaho program (the state’s largest-ever infrastructure investment program), and introduced a number of technology initiatives.