For the week of  September 5 - 11, 2001

Ketchum prepares for contested city election

Mayor’s office, four council seats in this year’s race

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

With three seats up for grabs and a new voting procedure to test, Ketchum is gearing up for an exciting election Nov. 6.

The mayor’s office and two council members’ seats will be up for grabs in the election. Candidates planning to enter the races must file petitions with City Clerk Sandy Cady between Sept. 7 and Sept. 27, and no declaration of candidacies will be official until filings are made.

But already four city council candidates have informally tossed their hats in the ring. No mayoral candidates have stepped forward, although rumors and speculation on a potential multi-candidate mayoral race are filling local grapevines.

Mayor David Hutchinson, who was appointed to the post on Aug. 29 to replace deceased Mayor Guy Coles, said he is giving a bid for a council or the mayor’s seat "serious consideration," but he would not commit to either.

Councilwoman Chris Potters, Planning and Zoning Commissioners Baird Gourlay and Rod Sievers and long-time Ketchum resident Anne Corrock have said they plan to run.

Chris Potters

Potters, now completing her second four-year term on the council, said she will run for her seat again. Gourlay, 43, and Corrock, 45, said they will run for one of the two open council seats.

Sievers, 57, said he will challenge Potters.

"I just feel that I want to continue making a contribution to my community," Potters, 49, said. "I really love the job. It’s creative. It’s challenging. It puts you on the line."

Gourlay said the two years he has served on the P&Z have helped prepare him for city council duties.

Baird Gourlay

"When you work on the P&Z to advise the city council, you understand the ordinances better," he said. "It (being a public servant) is really tough at some points. You feel like you’re making a lot of enemies. But what you’re really doing is being a guardian for the community."

Sievers has served on the P&Z for three years and said he has learned through that experience that the city needs to come to grips with growth. He’s also somewhat frustrated with how long it takes the city to adopt ordinances the city needs to properly manage growth.

Rod Sievers

"I’ve learned a certain frustration of how long it takes decisions to be made, and would hope to be part of the solution to expedite the procedure of adopting new and revised ordinances so we can get control of growth and other major issues facing the community," he said.

Corrock, who has lived in the valley since 1970 and graduated from Wood River High School, said her candidacy will culminate a period in which she’s gradually become more involved and interested in local politics.

Anne Corrock

"I’ve always been interested in politics," she said. "I got involved in some issues in city politics, and the more I got involved, the more interested I got. So, it’s just the next step."

This will also be the first year the city conducts its elections on a per-seat basis. Those running must file for one of the two open council seats rather than run in an at-large format.

The new election procedure was a hotly debated topic last winter and spring. About a dozen adamant Ketchum citizens, including Sievers and Corrock, rallied in favor of the traditionally used at-large system, but Potters, Hutchinson and Councilman Randy Hall remained steadfast in their support of the new system.

"This is all new to me, so I really don’t know how it’s going to all pan out," said Cady, who coordinates the city’s elections.

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