This year voters in the valley's cities are privileged to have a surfeit of sparring candidates from which to choose. They will also decide on the fate of a marijuana initiative in Hailey.
This newspaper's endorsements are just one piece of the decision puzzle for voters. They are made after careful study of the candidates' understanding of local government structure, positions on issues and experience.
We looked for candidates who understand the difficulties facing the valley's businesses and employees, the critical need for workforce housing, the need for all the valley's cities to address common problems and the need to protect the valley's clean air, water and open spaces. In Ketchum, we looked for candidates who favor aggressive moves to facilitate development of new hotels.
Here are this year's endorsements:
Sun Valley
- For mayor, Jon Thorson: Sun Valley voters should hold on to his experience for a second term. He led the city out of its insular ways and joined it in a quest with other valley leaders to address common problems like housing. He helped repel legal challenges to ordinances that protected hillsides and property values.
- For two four-year council seats, Blair Boand and Joan Lamb: The city needs the calm and sensible leadership of these experienced hands. Boand is running for his second term. Lamb is a first-timer who comes with experience as the chair of the Sun Valley P&Z. Both know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em on planning issues. Both are easy-going, good listeners and don't take positions before they think them through. Both would engage the city actively with Sun Valley Resort and other valley cities.
- For one two-year council seat, no endorsement: Both Milt Adam and David Chase would bring out-of-the-box thinking to the council. Voters who want the city to engage more fully with the rest of the valley will vote for Chase, while those who want the city to roll back contracts with the YMCA and La Alianza will want to support Adam.
Ketchum
- For two four-year council seats, Larry Helzel and Curtis Kemp:
With his background in finance, Helzel would fill a huge need. That background in a former councilman helped the city move ahead with a new downtown plan, acquisition of the Town Center property, and creation of an urban renewal district to recapture city tax revenues. His top priorities are addressing the shortage of workforce housing and hotel development.
Kemp is thoughtful, well-informed and experienced. He is a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission. As a former board member of the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau, he is well versed in challenges facing local businesses, supports workforce housing and favors clearing up the zoning uncertainties faced by hotel developers.
Hailey
- Vote 'No' on marijuana initiative:
Hailey voters should understand they're being used as guinea pigs in a wider attempt to legalize marijuana in Idaho with this ballot initiative. Similar questions failed to make the ballot in both Ketchum and Sun Valley.
Because Idaho state law and U.S. law take precedence on the status of marijuana, the initiative, even if passed, is an invitation to expensive legal challenges that undoubtedly would ensue.
The proposed ordinance attempts to tie the hands of police in drug enforcement and would force Hailey to lobby the state Legislature to legalize marijuana statewide. Sensible Hailey voters will decisively end this gambit by voting against the question.
- For Mayor, Rick Davis: Voters should award him the seat he's wanted for a long time—he's earned it. As a member of the City Council, Davis is now an old hand at Hailey politics. He well represents the sentiments of most Hailey residents in his desire to improve the city's vibrancy and quality of life. He's tuned in to the needs of Hailey businesses and residents alike. One of his first acts as mayor should be to appoint his novice opponent to a Planning and Zoning post.
- For one four-year council seat, Fritz Haemmerle: The former Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney is passionate about keeping Hailey from the vigor-sapping fates of its northern neighbors, which have lost both full-time residents and businesses to the pressures of high property values. He understands details of issues like fire department consolidation and is articulate about addressing them.
Bellevue
- For three two-year council seats, Steve Fairbrother, Larry Plott and Gene Ramsey: None of these candidates disagree on significant issues or on the future of this perennially cash-starved city. Fairbrother and Plott have served on previous councils. Ramsey is a newcomer. Bellevue would be well served by all three.
