Meet the
Candidates
Mickey Garcia, 59
Occupation: Newspaper delivery contractor.
Education: Bachelor of Science in forestry from the University of Montana
Experience: U.S. Air Force for eight years, fire fighter for U.S. Forest Service and BLM, camp director for the Young Adult Conservation Corps, active citizen involvement in local politics for two years (few meetings missed).
Vision for Ketchum: “I want less petty bureaucracy and obstruction: fewer ordinances, less influence by special interest groups that don’t reflect the will of the people. I want to plant enough conifers and evergreen trees so Ketchum will look like a town in a forest.”
Chase Hamilton, 24
Occupation: Recent graduate.
Education: Bachelor of Science in Aviation Technology from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Fla.
Experience: Life-long resident, open mind, enthusiastic. “Not having been brought up through the system could be a benefit. I have a clean slate, and I don’t owe anybody any favors.”
Vision for Ketchum: “I want Ketchum to be a clean, spectacular place to visit that people keep wanting to come back to. My vision is to make it a great place to live and visit.”
David Hutchinson, 44
Occupation: Partner in Ketchum Realty, Inc., owner Valley Properties, Inc.
Education: Bachelor of Science in Finance from Babson College, Mass.
Experience: Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission from 1986 to 1993 (five years as chairman), Ketchum City Council from 1994 to 2001 (eight years as council president), appointed Ketchum mayor in August, 2001, to fill term of former Mayor Guy
Coles.
Vision for Ketchum: “Preservation of open space, recreation, burying power lines, continuing our housing effort, maintaining the character of the community.”
Ed Simon, 54
Occupation: Attorney.
Education: Bachelor of Art from Penn State in liberal arts, Juris Doctor degree from New York Law School.
Experience: Ketchum City Council, 10 months in 1992; Ketchum Housing Commission Chairman, 1996 to 1998; Advocates for Domestic Violence board of directors; Blaine County Senior Center board of directors since 1985.
Vision for Ketchum: “What I’m trying to do more than anything is have a balanced approach to city government. And I don’t like the platitudes of growth control or no growth. I think we need balance.”
Janet Dunbar, 67
Occupation: Owner, Dunbar Interiors interior design company.
Education: Bachelor of Science in psychology from U.C. Berkley.
Experience: Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission from 1995 to 1998; active community involvement for 24 years, including comprehensive plan meetings, Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley board, hospital auxiliary, understanding of local business community.
Vision for Ketchum: “My goal is to continue to implement the concepts set forth in our comprehensive plan that our citizens helped to conceive, such as resolving the parking and circulation problems, promoting affordable community housing, acquire the proper land for open space, promote a performing arts and community center and support the local business people.”
Cast set for
Ketchum election
Hutchinson,
Hamilton vie for mayor
By GREG
STAHL
Express Staff Writer
The cast
for Ketchum’s November election is set with 10 candidates lined up to
compete for two city council seats and the mayor’s office.
Five
mayoral candidates, the most since at least 1967, are seeking election.
Three city council candidates will compete for open seat 1, and two will
compete for seat 2, held by incumbent Councilwoman Chris Potters.
Mayor David
Hutchinson and Ketchum resident Chase Hamilton were the last two mayoral
candidates to file before the deadline, Sept. 27. Businesswoman Janet
Dunbar, long-time resident Mickey Garcia and attorney Ed Simon round out
the field of mayoral candidates.
Potters and
P&Z Commissioner Rod Sievers are making bids for council seat 2.
Businesswoman Millie Wiggins, life-long resident Anne Corrock and P&Z
Commissioner Baird Gourlay are seeking election to seat 1.
Hutchinson,
44, boasts a long record of service for the city. He served on the Ketchum
Planning and Zoning Commission for eight years, five as chairman. He was
elected to the Ketchum City Council in 1994, and re-elected in 1998. He
was unanimously voted president of the council by his peers during both
city council terms.
In August
of this year, Hutchinson was appointed mayor to fill the term of former
Mayor Guy Coles, who died before his term expired.
Hutchinson
said he decided to seek election for mayor in November for three reasons.
"I’ve
been urged by people I respect, who care about the town," he said.
Second,
questionnaires he sent to Ketchum residents have been returned in a
two-to-one ratio encouraging him to run.
Third,
"It’s the natural completion to my public service," he said.
"I’m the right person to do it at this time. I feel like I can get
things done."
Growth is
the No. 1 issue facing Ketchum, and striking a balance between the city’s
economic needs and its residents is extremely important, Hutchinson said.
"We’re
at a place where we’re moving from growth management to certain policies
dealing with growth control," he said. "That balance is
extremely important. We don’t want a growing economy at the displeasure
of the residents."
Parking,
traffic circulation, open space preservation and affordable housing fit
beneath the umbrella of growth, he said.
"If
you shut things off, you’ve made a mistake. And if you let things go
without any management or control, you’ve made a mistake. You need to
find a balance," he said.
And looking
for this balance means Ketchum is at a crossroads, he said.
"The
crossroads is the balance between the growing permanent population and
retirement population and the rest of the tourism economy. The crossroads
is to try to maintain the diverse types of people and the resort
feel."
Hamilton,
24, is clearly the youngest of the five candidates, but he said that’s
something that could aid him as mayor of Ketchum.
"I
think that a young person has benefits," he said. "I still have
some hopes that haven’t been dashed yet. I have an extremely open mind.
I will listen. Then again, I will not be run over. I can hold my own. I
think I will represent the community very well."
Hamilton
was born and raised in Ketchum. He’s lived here his entire life, except
for a four-year stint at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, in Florida,
from which he graduated. He is also the son of a former Ketchum mayor, Dan
Hamilton, who was elected in 1991 and resigned in July of 1993, one year
before his term expired.
The younger
Hamilton, nonetheless, appears anxious to give back to the community that
helped him grow.
"I
want to promote tourism," he said. "I want to make Ketchum an
incredible place to visit that people will want to come back to.
"I’m
for affordable housing, but people do need to remember that they do live
in a ski resort with limited property. There’s limited land, so unless
you want to hollow out a mountain and put dorms in there, it’s going to
be expensive."
He said he’ll
fight parking meters in the city’s downtown, and he will work to help
KART expand its hours.
"I
feel I represent a large portion of the valley, of the people who live
here and visit," he said.