For the week of  October 24 - 30, 2001

Power struggle 
in city elections

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There’s a power struggle going on in the Ketchum and Sun Valley races for city offices.

The struggle is subtle, but it is no less a fight for power that will have profound effects on life in the Wood River Valley for years to come.

Voters have a choice. They can choose candidates who will insist that the two northern cities bury their heads in the sand and their money in a mattress. Or, they can elect leaders who will lead.

Before them are candidates who support the status quo—forcing workers to commute from ever greater distances, opposing significant housing initiatives, forcing commercial densities into the county, destroying hillsides with ill-advised development, and spending local sales tax revenues on big tax subsidies for the rich.

There are also candidates who want to confront the issues head-on and enact remedies to ensure that the cities remain real towns with year-round inhabitants who have a wide range of incomes and interests — instead of letting them become vacant, hollow shells.

Voters can choose between real leaders who have studied the issues and the array of solutions, or they can vote to pay for two to four years of on-the-job training.

How can voters discern the differences and make informed choices? Read—newspapers, campaign literature. Listen—radio interviews, candidates forums. Ask questions—attend local gatherings where candidates are speaking, or call them. This is a small valley and candidates are in the phone book. Talk—to others who attended public candidate forums.

Granted, all Americans are distracted by the war on terrorism right now and local issues may seem trivial in comparison. Yet, it’s more important than ever to support democracy by participating and exercising the right to vote.

Healthy local elections will ensure that freedom rings in our own cities and in our nation.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.