Wednesday, September 10, 2014

In Bellevue, 3 file to challenge for council

Eccles annexation tops list of concerns

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By TONY EVANS
Express Staff Writer

    Incumbent Bellevue City Council members Larry Plott, Amber Avila and Barbara Patterson will face face challenges from residents Craig Kennedy Wolfrom, James S. Stireman and Robert M. Leahy in the November city election.
    Chris Koch is running unopposed to keep his seat as mayor.
    All candidates for office will be invited to discuss their campaigns at a “Pizza and Politics” forum hosted by the Idaho Mountain Express in October.

Craig Kennedy Wolfrom
    Wolfrom has been a Wood River Valley resident since 2002. Prior to his move to Idaho, he lived in Bozeman, Mont., where he graduated from Montana State University, earning a degree in photography and a minor in writing. Wolfrom has worked as a professional photographer since 2004. His wife Maritt has been teaching at Wood River High School since 2001. The Wolfroms have two children.
     Craig has served as chair of the Bellevue Park and Tree Committee for more than two years. He said he would like to see the City Council become more “transparent, communicative and modernized.”
    “I think sometimes the City Council has not reached out to citizens in a timely matter, such as with the Eccles annexation. I don’t think they reached the mass public during the early stages.
    “With regard to the proposed annexation, I would like to see downtown Bellevue developed first. The Blue Lakes Boulevard [in Twin Falls] strip-mall type of development is not the best style for our area.”
    Last year, Wolfrom worked on a redevelopment of O’Donnell Park, before the City Council handed off completion of the project to private citizens. He also raised and spent $7,000 on engineering plans for a kayak wave feature and river park on the Big Wood River, an idea which the City Council rejected.    
    “I think it is still a good idea for the city to work with the irrigators to make the head gate and the low-head dam a safer area,” said Wolfrom. “Bringing recreation into the project would be a smart idea.”
    Wolfrom said he would like to see “big issues” posted on the city of Bellevue’s home page and by using social media.
    “We should get reaction from the public sooner, so there is less contention and the city is more inclusive to its citizens,” he said.

James S. Stireman
    Stireman has lived in the Wood River Valley for 25 years, 16 of those years in Bellevue.  He works in sales at A.C. Houston Lumber in Ketchum and has two daughters, ages 15 and 25.
    Stireman said he petitioned the city to run for office because he wants to be more involved in the city that he lives in.
    “I don’t think the city is being well-represented right now,” he said.
    Stireman said he reviewed Freidman Memorial Airport Authority board meeting minutes, and found that Bellevue had not been represented for at least 19 months.
    “Bellevue is going to be the city that is most impacted most by airport expansion. I think we should at least know what is going on,” Stireman said.
    “I also think the [Eccles] annexation went through [Planning and Zoning approval] way too quickly. Most of the people I know are against it. It needs to be scrutinized carefully,” he said.
    The Eccles annexation proposes to bring 227 acres of open space between Hailey and Bellevue into the Bellevue city limits.

Robert M. Leahy
    Leahy, originally from New Jersey, moved to Bellevue 12 years ago with his wife, Robin, who was raised in the Wood River Valley. They have two children, ages 5 and 7.
    In 1994, Leahy moved to Utah to attend Utah State University, studying photography and art history. He has owned his own Bellevue-based hardwood flooring business (Stromberg Moore Hardwoods) for the past 10 years.
    “I am running for office because I would like to preserve and grow Bellevue responsibly and sustainably,” Leahy said.    
Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com

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