Newly installed Ketchum Mayor Randy Hall revealed a special goal of his administration with his choice to fill the City Council seat he vacated.
Hall's pick of Steven Shafran suggests a new emphasis on city finances and budgeting. Shafran is a professional money manager whose background includes a partnership in a Wall Street firm and now his own investment firm.
Shafran's expertise will broaden the council's collective experience and that should serve the city well. Allocating city funds, as well as planning how to finance needed future projects, are skills that keep community services responsive and abreast of residents' needs.
Mayor Hall correctly interpreted and fulfilled his chief executive's responsibility with the Shafran appointment.
Ketchum Planning and Zoning Commissioner Anne Corrock, who had run for a council seat in the last election, had asked to be nominated. It was clear during the campaign that Corrock doesn't share a lot of Hall's goals. And right now Ketchum needs a council that shares Hall's vision, one willing to move the city out of a long period of malaise.
Too many hours of the City Council's valuable time were wasted in petty political distractions and squabbling in the previous administration while community needs went unmet. Hall wisely does not want to repeat that.
In the long haul, a city's momentum and success relies heavily on the vision and energy of the mayor and his ability to convince the City Council to follow where he leads.
