A debate over whether the city of Stanley should throw its support behind proposed legislation to designate wilderness in the nearby White Cloud Mountains is heating up.
An emergency meeting on the Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act will be held in Stanley at noon Sunday after emotions boiled over during a regular City Council meeting Wednesday night.
According to sources present at Wednesday's meeting, two council members threatened to walk out after learning that their resolution to withdraw city support for the contentious wilderness bill had been removed from the agenda by Mayor Hannah Stauts.
Councilmen Sean Tajkowksi and Charlie Briggs drafted a resolution opposing CIEDRA in mid-August after they learned that Stauts and fellow Councilman Charley Thompson met privately with Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, to discuss the bill.
Craig chairs the Senate Energy Committee's Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forest Health, which has a scheduled hearing on CIEDRA Sept. 27. Craig has yet to form a public opinion on the bill, which would designate 319,900 acres of wilderness in the Boulder and White Cloud mountains north of Ketchum in exchange for a series of land giveaways and economic concessions, mainly to Custer County and its municipalities.
Custer County is slated to receive 2,565 acres of public land and 162 acres of Sawtooth National Recreation Area land would be transferred to the city of Stanley for a reimbursement fee of $340,000.
Tajkowksi felt Stauts' and Thompson's meeting with the senator, which neither he nor Briggs were made privy to, was dubious and possibly violated state laws. In August, Stauts said the senator requested the meeting and she has "every legal authority to meet with anyone without the rest of the council."
But Tajkowski, who could not be reached for comment on Thursday, said he became increasingly concerned in August that many of his Stanley constituents who are opposed to CIEDRA were not being heard, and that Stauts and Thompson were following their own personal agendas by supporting the legislation.
"My issue, ultimately, is that the city gets heard," Tajkowski said.
Stauts also could not be reached for comment on Thursday, but in August she said that her support for the bill was based on public consensus.
"There is definitely a voice in the community that needs to be listened to, but I don't want to see the council make a knee-jerk reaction based on that," Stauts said. "We need to consider the overall implications of the bill's future effect on Stanley."
Gary Gadwa, a retired 27-year conservation officer with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game who was stationed in Stanley from 1978 to 2005, said approximately 30 citizens attended Wednesday's City Council meeting, "all wanting to speak out and or see the outcome of the resolution."
He said the meeting took a turn when Stauts announced that the resolution was not on the agenda and that a public hearing on CIEDRA would not be held until Sept. 26.
Stauts' attempt to appoint Stanley resident Herbert Mumford to the vacated, fourth seat on the council also drew fire.
Gadwa said Tajkowski and Briggs "reacted correctly and refused to second the nomination of the new councilman."
Gadwa, who is one of 15 former SNRA and Sawtooth National Forest employees opposed to CIEDRA—known as the Coalition of Retired SNRA Land Managers—referred to Mumford as a "pro-CIEDRA gentleman."
Stauts cannot vote on resolutions unless they are deadlocked, meaning that without Mumford the resolution would have likely passed 2-1 since Thompson was the only dissenter.
According to Gadwa, Stauts stood her ground and would not allow a public forum Wednesday night "because she felt the entire audience was made up of people opposing CIEDRA."
While Sunday's meeting is not designed to be a public forum, it is open to the public and comments will be received, according to Rocky James, the Stanley clerk-treasurer.
The location of Sunday's meeting has yet to be set but should be posted at the Stanley City Hall, post office and mercantile building by Sunday morning.
Stanley City Council
The Stanley City Council will hold an emergency meeting to discuss CIEDRA support Sunday, Sept. 17, at noon at a yet-to-be-determined location. Notices of the meeting location should be posted at City Hall, the post office and the mercantile by Sunday morning.
