For the week of July 9 - 15, 2003

Appointment overdue

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The recent appointment of Denise Simone to the Idaho Commission on the Arts is welcome, but long overdue.

Simone, who is one of the leading lights of the Company of Fools, Hailey’s professional acting company, is the first person from Blaine County to serve on the commission for 15 years.

Even droughts haven’t lasted that long.

Governor after governor has not seen fit to appoint anyone from this area to the commission despite the fact that Blaine County’s arts scene has long eclipsed that of any other area of similar size.

Blaine County was snubbed year after year after year despite the fact that it was and is an arts hotbed. It excels in visual and performing arts. Arts groups have grown like mushrooms in the sun after a spring rain.

The situation with the arts commission was a rule, not an exception.

Except for the service of Sun Valley Company’s Jack Sibbach and his predecessor on the Idaho Travel Council, Blaine County has historically been underrepresented on state boards and commissions. That’s a shame given the high level of education and energy residents offer.

Blaine County is a center for activism in areas from environmental protection to fine arts. It is one of the leading economic models for rural communities struggling to survive in a world in which the rules have changed. Mining, logging, farming and ranching—Idaho’s traditional economic mainstays--are declining and showing no signs of returning.

Idaho governors would do well to appoint more people from Blaine County to state boards and commissions. Idaho will benefit if state leaders put aside stale stereotypes about the county’s "wine and brie" residents and recruit more people like Simone and Sibbach.

Idaho can ill afford to miss opportunities to harvest innovative ideas and to utilize energetic leaders—wherever they may be found.

 

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.