Sixth in a series of profiles on candidates for Ketchum City Council.
Mickey Garcia
Age: 64
Experience: Lived in 10 countries, worked in a myriad of professions, from wildland firefighting to experimental weapons systems installation, from fruit harvesting to environmental education.
Why running: "I'm tired of watching elected public officials becoming petty tyrants, mismanaging public resources, misleading the public and pandering to the lowest common denominator."
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Mickey Garcia has become something of a perennial political candidate in Ketchum and Blaine County elections in the past seven years, but don't mistake this 64-year-old's repeated failed attempts at public office for light-hearted endeavors.
"I'm running because I'm absolutely certain that I could do a better job than most of the people I'm criticizing because I know more about what they're supposed to be doing and not doing," he said.
Garcia, a delivery driver for the Idaho Mountain Express, has lived in Ketchum for 25 years, and he's among the most involved valley residents in local political issues.
"Yeah, I kind of would be surprised to win," he said. "Winning isn't necessarily a virtue in our political system. It's the guy slinging the most hype and spin that wins most of the times. I don't take losing personally, and I wouldn't take winning personally."
Garcia is known for his eclectic dress and opinionated, though informed comments at public meetings. For this interview, he wore a black shirt with black-and-white suspenders and a huge tie-dye-looking necktie.
"If they vote based on hoopla or they think somebody doesn't dress the way they ought to dress or if they're easily conned, then they're going to get the government they deserve," he said. "Look, I'm 64 years old, and I am who I am. I'm not interested in changing my appearance to fit whatever special interest groups like or don't like."
He said he's not so calculating about his behavior to think ahead about how it will affect his chances in the election.
"That's probably one of the reasons I'm not so popular—because the most powerful special interest groups in the Wood River Valley are NIMBYs (not-in-my-back-yard people) with provincial attitudes," he said. "They come here and they want to protect the status quo. They lament that all these changes are happening, and they assume that they're entitled to that."
Garcia termed himself a "social liberal" and "anti planner" who supported Proposition 2, a private property rights initiative that failed in the November 2006 election. He said government can not take private property rights via zoning without compensating landowners.
He said he is liberal to the extent that he believes low-income people are entitled to decent retirements, health insurance and disability, but he drops off the liberal boat when it comes to land-use planning.
"You're not entitled to private property unless you want to buy it," he said.
There is plenty of room for a more streamlined government, he said, and he's not afraid to push for dramatic changes to the status quo.
"I would like to see Sun Valley and Ketchum merge into one metropolitan entity called Sun Valley," he said. "In government administrative costs that would save anywhere from four to nine million dollars a year."
And multiple times Garcia repeated that the Ketchum City Council is not operating as intended by statute.
"The public doesn't understand the role of the council and the mayor according to Idaho Code," he said. "They are a board of directors of a municipal corporation. They're decision-makers about policy, but it's not a full-time job unless they volunteer to do that. They need to make level-headed decisions."
Among the problems with the current approach is a certain kind of micro-management in which the City Council and mayor handle many of the day-to-day duties that should be handled by city staff members, Garcia said, contenting a city manager form of government could iron out such wrinkles.
"The manager does the day-to-day hiring and firing, writes the performance evaluations. That would stabilize things. It's more professional. It's more in line with what Idaho Code says government ought to be," he said. "Directors don't run corporations. They advise and set policy. They meet periodically. They meet with the CEO, which in our case is the city administrator. They (the City Council members) don't have a clear understanding of what their role is, and I've got this knowledge from sitting there at meeting after meeting over the last 15 years."
At a political forum last week, Garcia termed himself the "angry electorate," and he continued to thread his candidacy with something of a disgruntled yarn.
"The issue in this election is incompetent, dysfunctional government doing the wrong things like obstructing development, political human resource management, firing a fire chief and a cop for political reasons, the mayor doubling his salary because he needs a full-time job."
And as for this colorful man's continued involvement in the political process, there's little doubt that old patterns will repeat themselves.
"It's fine if I win, and it's fine if I don't win," he said. "There are other smart people running, by the way. I don't disagree with everybody.
"And I'll still be running for office when I'm in a wheelchair—so never fear."
