For the week of October 29 - November 4, 2003

Hailey mayoral candidates debate policy, pay

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By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

As the Nov. 4 election date draws near, the contested Hailey mayoral race is centering on a few points of debate for incumbent Mayor Susan McBryant and candidate Al Lindley.

McByrant has gained the unanimous support of the Hailey City Council and has found favor among the ranks of some city government employees. Lindley has had few vocal supporters, but he has been busy talking with voters at grocery stores and door to door.

The council’s support of McBryant for a full four-year term is unanimous and enthusiastic.

"Mayor McBryant’s leadership skills, financial and administrative talents are simply outstanding," they wrote in a Letter to the Editor. "Her vision for the future of our wonderful little city will assure our ability to maintain our high quality of life despite the growth, housing, open space, cost of living and other challenges we face."

The council urges citizens of Hailey to support McBryant.

"The council and the Mayor are very united working together, not at cross purposes," said city attorney Ned Williamson. "It has been a pleasure for me. I work with the best group in the county."

Although both candidates have their own corners of support, the race has not been without contention.

Prompted by comments made at the Idaho Mountain Express Pizza and Politics night Wednesday, Oct. 15, by former mayor Lindley, the Hailey Library Board of Trustees has also come out in support of McBryant. They argue that Lindley as mayor had a relationship with the Library Board that was strained and divisive.

"I got crossways of the Library Board," Lindley said in an interview. "I’m not against the library, I just thought they weren’t doing things quite right."

Lindley contended that the Library Board has not properly fulfilled the mandates of a federal grant to establish a meeting room in the library. The Library Board said they have a need for the space that was intended for the meeting space. To meet the needs of the population according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the library is trying to have 41,000 books on hand. library should have on hand at present. Hailey currently has only 29,000 books in its holdings. By 2010 the city will need a total of 15,000 square feet of book space.

The grant administrators from the Idaho State Library Board have given the library permission to forego the meeting space requirement. Lindley said he brokered a deal with the Blaine County School District to get the use of the old Wood River High School library, but the board president April MacLeod said Lindley never officially came before the board with a proposal.

"Since Mayor Lindley’s resignation, the library has enjoyed a positive, cooperative, and outstanding relationship with Mayor McBryant and the Hailey City Council," the board wrote.

On another matter at Pizza and Politics night, Lindley argued that the City Council had approved overtime pay for the council and the mayor. What the council approved was a salary increase, but the salary does not stipulate the number of hours an elected official should work to earn the pay.

"How much we choose to work is up to us," McBryant said. "There is no overtime for salaried officials."

Council members chose to forego the first three months of their raise for the 2003-2004 fiscal year so the funds could go toward the bar tab at Zou 75 from a welcoming event for candidates vying for the new city administrator position.

"Since there was alcohol we thought we should pick up the tab," McBryant said at the Oct. 27 Hailey City Council meeting.

Lindley who was also present at the meeting said the event was really a campaign function paid for by the taxpayers.

 

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