The Wood River Valley is up to its tutu in alligators and what is the city of Ketchum doing?
We'd like to report that it has created an aggressive plan and put it in place to right its shaky economy. Or, that its efforts have successfully booked local hotels and condos full to overflowing next winter. Or, that it has recruited a new business that will put half the valley's unemployed back to work. Or, that it has helped the developers with approved hotel development plans get financing and put shovels into the ground. Or, that it has garnered substantial federal grants to build infrastructure that will make the city a better place to live or visit.
Instead, the city is occupying itself with forming a committee to explore whether it should change its form of government from a "strong mayor" to a city manager system.
Why? Because a handful of residents who were unhappy with the outcome of the last election want to change the city's form of government, even though it is the form used by only three of 200 cities in Idaho.
Ketchum's mayor and council responded to these squeaky wheels by creating the committee and allocating $5,000 for use by members, who have yet to be appointed, to explore the matter and educate the public. The council's approved resolution also directs the committee to evaluate potential changes to Idaho law and what may have to be done in the state's next legislative session to facilitate a change.
Whoa! The city wants to explore changing laws to effect a change in the form of government to which Ketchum residents haven't agreed?
Well, that's a whole lot easier than trying to deal with the big, hairy economic problems plaguing the city.
City leaders have better things to do than to fix something that ain't broke and to fund a committee to do it.
Will the council's next big resolution be to take up knitting?
