For the week of November 7 - 13, 2001

Agnew upsets O’Shea in Sun Valley election

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By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer

Challenger Ann Agnew upset incumbent Councilwoman Linda O’Shea by 24 votes to win Sun Valley City Council Seat 4 Tuesday.

The final tally was 254 votes for Agnew and 230 votes for O’Shea.

In the race for Seat 3, Kevin Laird held off challenger Susan Bailey 273 to 195.

The 484 votes cast constitutes 62 percent of the registered voters in Sun Valley.

Agnew said she "would like to thank Linda O’Shea for her hard work and contributions during her terms."

"I’m going into my term with a determination to be worthy of the support I’ve received from our community.

"I promise to do my very best as a council person," Agnew said.

Laird said he was grateful voters elected him for another term.

"I am just happy to serve the citizens of Sun Valley for another four years," he said.

Early in the campaign, Bailey, a journalist, set herself apart from Laird as someone "not in the construction or building industry."

In a written statement Bailey said she "would not reap direct financial benefit from any council decision, unlike some members."

Laird did not see a conflict of interests between his role as a painting contractor and as a city councilman.

"Most people who live and work in Sun Valley do so in a service industry," he wrote to the Mountain Express. "We wear many hats at different times."

Agnew, who is an architect, said in a written statement that she thought her profession would "help the council in continuing to make good decisions that will respect open space zoning and the intent of the comprehensive plan."

Her opponent, O’Shea, also in a written statement, said "It’s critical that every official participate – without bias – in the quasi-judicial process (of the city council). Recusing for conflict of interest removes a mind that should attend the issues and unduly pressures the remaining officials."

In a written statement during the campaign, Agnew said "a hillside ordinance is my proposed first step to controlling hillside development and will keep projects such as Triumph Springs from every being considered." She said preserving open space could be managed in the city’s review process of developments.

 

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