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Produced & Maintained by Idaho Mountain Express, Box 1013, Ketchum, ID 83340-1013 
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For the week of  October 24 - 30, 2001

  News

Potters, Sievers 
bid for Seat 2


Chris Potters:

"My first priority is to preserve our sense of community and our small town feel…Certainly managing our town’s growth is the challenge for the future. While many of these problems are difficult, they’re not insurmountable."


Rod Sievers:

"Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for a change. By voting for Rod Sievers for City Council, you’re going to get honesty, integrity, knowledge, preparedness of the issues and a willingness to listen to my constituency."


By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

Ketchum City Council Seat 2 challenger Rod Sievers quickly turned to an offensive role Oct. 17 at the Idaho Mountain Express annual political forum at Ketchum City Hall.

Sievers is challenging eight-year incumbent Councilwoman Chris Potters.

Ketchum City Council Seat 2 candidates Chris Potters, left, and Rod Sievers explain their political platforms. Express photo by Willy Cook

"I find it ludicrous that the present council has sat on its hands for the past four years and not allowed certain things to transpire, such as a franchise agreement with our power company and a franchise agreement with our cable company," Sievers said.

"I find it appalling that my opponent chose not to support the chamber funding at our last budget hearing, even after the events of September 11. You can say what you want, but our town is based on tourism."

Sievers, 57, owns the Sun Valley Cabinet Center in Ketchum, and has served on the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission for three years.

Potters, 49, has amassed a long record of service with the city. She served on the Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commission for 12 years and was elected to the Ketchum City Council twice.

Potters answered Sievers charge on the franchise agreements, saying that officials have been attempting to get the best deal for the city.

"We are working on it," she said. "It’s just taking longer than any of us would have thought."

"My first priority is to preserve our sense of community and our small-town feel," she said in her introduction. "Certainly managing our town’s growth is the challenge for the future. While many of these problems are difficult, they’re not insurmountable."

The two candidates both advocated expanding the valley’s public transportation system and implementing more proactive solutions, such as parking meters, to the city’s traffic and parking issues. Sievers also advocated "burying cars" in underground lots, ride sharing, residential permits and mass transit as potential, collective solutions.

On potential preservation of the Wells Fargo lot, across from Atkinsons’ Market, as a park, Sievers said eventual development is the appropriate use. Potters, on the other hand, said it is an "absolute, ideal location" for the city to obtain some open space where residents can gather together.

"If we can come up with the money to do it, we will do it," she said.

Sievers, like candidates for other seats, has said he would attempt changing the way the city conducts its council elections, should he be elected. Last winter, the city council voted 3 to 1 to change from an at-large election system to a per-seat system.

Potters, who voted for the new process, continued to back her decision.

"I feel like I took the burden of that decision, and I feel good about it," she said. Voters will have the chance this fall to pass judgment on that topic if they wish, she continued.


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.