For the week of November 5 - 11, 2003

Tracy, Hall win Ketchum seats

Ketchum posts 34 percent voter turnout

"I want the citizens of Ketchum to know that I'm going to work full time for them, and they're going to be my first priority." TERRY TRACY Ketchum Councilwoman-elect

By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

In a definitive victory at the polls Tuesday, retired Ketchum Parks and Recreation Department Director Terry Tracy won 383 votes and will be the newest addition to the Ketchum City Council on Jan. 5.

Incumbent Councilman Randy Hall garnered 306 votes to win a second full term.

Tracy said she was "delighted" to have won support by such a resounding margin.

"I want to thank the residents of Ketchum, not just for their votes of confidence, but for inviting me into their homes and sharing their concerns," she said. "I want the citizens of Ketchum to know that I'm going to work full time for them, and they're going to be my first priority."

Meeting so many people made campaigning worth it, she said.

Hall said that, clearly, he was pleased to have won another term, but pointed out that Tracy's resounding victory means citizens are looking for change in Ketchum.

"Terry's 383 votes are a huge number, and I believe it speaks volumes as to this community looking for change," he said. "She was pretty angry about how this administration has been running things from an internal and an external standpoint."

Throughout the day on Tuesday, a steady stream of voters poured through the polls at Ketchum City Hall, said Ketchum City Clerk Sandy Cady.

In all, 34 percent of the city's registered voters cast 639 ballots. There are 1,896 registered voters in the city.

Ketchum voters faced a full field of five candidates for two city council seats: Tracy; Hall; former Ketchum Mayor Larry Young, who garnered 225 votes; Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commissioner Greg Strong, who received 183 votes, and perennial government observer Mickey Garcia, who received 90 votes.

Hall and Tracy agreed that it was exciting to see so many people interested in participating in their government.

"I was pleased to see so many people running," Hall said. "I saw a lot of good ideas coming to the surface."

Tracy said that "the people who care and the people who want to get involved are your candidates, and I applaud them for taking the time and for caring enough to run for city council."

The Ketchum campaign season was not without its twists.

Incumbent Councilman Maurice Charlat pulled out of his race for re-election Oct. 20, stating that the contest was colored too heavily by anger among the electorate.

Referring to an Oct. 16 political forum, Charlat said "there was not one encouraging word, not one sentence from anyone."

"There was a lot of anger," he said.

Throughout the campaign season, Ketchum's race centered on a projected $527,000 financial shortfall in the city's 2003-2004 fiscal budget. Many candidates, including Tracy, campaigned heavily on the need for financial reforms at city hall.

"Major salary increases, health benefits and spending on non-budgeted items got us where we are today," Tracy wrote in a statement to Ketchum voters. "I say 'no way' to new taxes or fee increases until the council proves they can manage a budget and be good stewards of our finances."

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