For the week of November 5 - 11, 2003

McBryant resounding defeats Lindle

Incumbent Hailey mayor wins 743 t0 238

By MATT FURBER
Express Staff Writer

Incumbent Hailey Mayor Susan McBryant resoundingly defeated former mayor Al Lindley for mayor in Hailey's municipal election Tues-day.

McBryant won 743 votes to Lindley's 238 votes out of a total of 990 ballots cast

Carol Brown, running unopposed for council Seat 4, received 844 votes. Rick Davis, running unopposed for city council Seat 3, received 823.

This year's Hailey election showed an improved voter turnout on Election Day of 33 percent, up considerably from the last municipal election in which Lindley ran unopposed.

Hailey City Clerk Heather Dawson said 2,965 residents were registered to vote, including 123 election day registrants.

"I am fairly humbled," McBryant said. "I appreciate the overwhelming vote. I honor and respect the people who exercised their right to vote." She looks forward to having four years to work on projects for the city

McBryant and Lindley had battled for the mayor's seat since the summer when they announced their candida-cies.

McBryant will sit for a four-year term. By Election Day both candi-dates had about the same amount of experience serving as mayor.

McBryant was appointed to mayor last year after Lindley submitted his letter of resignation from the post after city employees made allegations of sexual harassment against him. Lindley has said his only mistake was that he resigned.

"All I can say about you and your paper is you were not much help," Lindley told the Idaho Mountain Ex-press after the results were announced Tuesday night. "I am very disap-pointed with the sheer underhanded-ness (of the race and the events sur-rounding his resignation.) He said he had to go around replacing his cam-paign signs all over town on Election Day. He also claimed that McBryant and the city council did not follow the grievance policy properly at the time of his resignation.

"I am pretty angry about a lot of things," he said.

Lindley came back this year not only to regain his former position since he was not permitted to rescind his resignation a year ago. Lindley had been determined to give voters a choice on Election Day, rather than allow a single candidate fill an uncontested seat. Lindley was uncontested when he was elected mayor in 2001.

McBryant had gained the support of the entire city council and several members of her full-time staff. She has also found the support of the Li-brary Board, which had a tumultuous relationship with former Mayor Lindley as a result of a dispute over the specifications of a federal grant geared to help expand library services in the community.

Lindley has campaigned on a plat-form focusing on the budgetary con-cerns of the city. He promised that if elected he would take an active role in trying to retain businesses in the city and would work to attract new businesses to diversify the city's eco-nomic climate.

McBryant focused her campaign on stressing the good working rela-tionship she has with the Hailey City Council and city staff. She said that growth must be guided in a way that is unique and has consideration for the city's architecture. She is also a proponent of recruiting at least one strong business in technology or re-search and said any development must also consider the added impact on city infrastructure, services and traffic.

The candidates viewed the future of Friedman Memorial Airport differ-ently, an issue that is on the tip of many tongues this election season. Lindley said if a new airport is built away from the current location for commercial traffic the current airfield could remain as a city managed op-eration for small aircraft, thereby providing the city with another cash flow.

McBryant focused more on the airstrip being closed and developed as a planned mixed-use development. It could be comprised of different resi-dential densities, a technical industrial area, some commercial and a consid-erable amount of green space around the land.

Both candidates are supportive of annexation that pays for itself. They both felt that a municipal golf course in Quigley Canyon could benefit the community if the development would mitigate impacts on city services and simultaneously provide ample green space.

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