Luke Evans is a local businessman is running to be the next mayor of Rexburg. In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, he discussed his experience, why he is running, and more. Election Day is November 7. To find more about Luke Evans, email lukeformayor2023@gmail.com. Following is the transcript of the interview. It has been lightly edited for clarity.
Chandler: So why are you running in the first place? Let's start with that.
Luke Evans: That is the big question. So, the reason for me running? Well, there's two reasons. One, kind of a backstory here. I was involved in a rear end collision at my previous job, and because of that, it kind of made me think, “I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get out of this 100% healthy and whatnot.” And so, I just kind of felt like I need to have a plan. And it wasn't my original goal by any means. Like, I have no desire, really, to be a politician. However, I'm really good with business, I'm really good with numbers, and I feel like I have what it takes to do a really good job and to listen to feedback and to utilize my skill set to be able to bring some change about. And so, because of that collision, it just kind of opened me up for an opportunity to look for other ways to be able to serve. And so, when this came about as an opportunity, I decided, “Hey, you know what? Let's go for it.” And so, that's kind of one of the main reasons why I'm doing it. And of course, going back to the second reason, because I really feel like I can make a difference here in the community.
Chandler: What would you say that you have that other candidates don't, that are running?
Luke Evans: That's a good question. You know, I don't want to speak for any of them. I'm sure that they're trying the best with what they know how to do. But I have a really good sense of numbers, so I come from a numbers background. I used to work in the banking industry, also in the mortgage industry. I've also got a background in real estate. And not only was I a licensed real estate agent, but I also flipped houses, which is fancy wording for fixing them up, making the homes nicer, and then selling them for a profit and helping somebody get into a house that perhaps otherwise could not. And so, I think that's really what sets me apart. I do have some experience here in the city. I have worked for the city in multiple capacities before. One as a consultant and one as a level one law enforcement reserve officer for the city. And that was about 20 plus years ago. But I'm a southeast Idaho boy, and so I've been here a long time. This is where, these are my roots. I originally grew up in Rigby, but I've lived here in the Rexburg area for about the past eight years now. And this is a place I call home. And I see a lot of opportunity for growth, and I see a lot of opportunity for change and just different ways from my experience to be able to implement some of those things that I've learned, as well you know, getting in with the citizens and going, “What do you need? What do you want to see here? What are your hopes or what are your dreams? What are your desires?” And really listening to that feedback and then applying some of these techniques and things that I've been trained in to be able to bring that about.
Chandler: And if you were elected, what would you focus on?
Luke Evans: That's a good question. So, there's really two major things. A lot of people don't know this. I wasn't aware of it before until talking with a lady who works in this area. But Rexburg has one of the highest poverty rates in the entire state of Idaho. And so, we looked at the stat. So online it shows about 39.3%. And that was a study by Stacker or Staker, however you pronounce that. And we really need to figure out a way to not only help people get out of debt, get on a budget, really, but get out of debt, but also increase their wages. So, I think that's definitely one thing. Bringing more commerce here, bringing in businesses that people want to see here to help give us some good industry and some higher paying jobs. And then, number two, really, the roads, I feel, are a huge concern. We need to figure out a plan that can be cost effective, but also doing it in a time frame that doesn't interfere too much with people's travel. And of course, a lot of people coming from a college town, a lot of people realize that there's that six, seven-week break for students in the summertime. I kind of feel like a lot of that work should be accomplished during that time frame when we have less people actually driving on the roads.
Chandler: So maybe you answered this a little bit before, but what would you say is the number one issue facing Rexburg, and how would you go about solving that or working to solve it?
Luke Evans: Yeah, that's a great question. I think there's probably a number of issues facing Rexburg. I think just the growth that we're seeing here is a big concern. Of course, with growth, that brings a lot of opportunity. And so, I'm actually excited for it. But we need to have a plan in place to figure out, “Okay, how are we going to grow, how are we going to expand?” And so, I think those are some topics that we need to discuss openly and honestly and look at kind of different ways to go about bringing in that growth and then learning how to expand out and to make it a really good transition.
Chandler: And what would you put forth as that plan? You had mentioned a plan, right, but what would you say would be that plan?
Luke Evans: I think a couple of different things would go into that. So, first off, seeing where the growth is, seeing what we need to do. Do we need, for example, high density places for people to live that's more your apartment buildings. And then also looking at the residential side too because we don't want to encroach upon that, but we want to be able to look at both sides and go, “Okay, we have students here. Yes, some are short term, some are hoping to become long term residents.” Then you have your long-term residents that have been here for quite a while and to find a way that we can kind of work together to see how to expand, where to expand, where to put up if we need more apartment complexes or if we need more actual residential housing. And I kind of feel like me, personally, I'd like to see more residential versus so many apartments. I think we're inundated with all these apartments. And I've learned in the past few months that some aren't even being used as apartments, they're actually being used as short-term rentals. And while that can be good in some regard, I think it really has an impact on our citizens and the local people living here. We don't want to just turn it into a big, let's just have tons of apartments everywhere. Like, how can we do this smart? And so, anything with creating a plan is listening to feedback, getting what the citizens think and what they feel, and then taking that and looking at it from a whole and going, “Okay, how do we approach this?” From building design to structures, things like that. Really look at the environment, what can we bring in and look at that infrastructure and go from there.
Chandler: If you had a chance to sit down with somebody like we are right now, one-on-one, a voter, what would you say to that person or those people that you're talking to? Kind of a message.
Luke Evans: Yeah, you bet. Well, I think the first question I'd ask, well, I'd tell them, thank you for being willing. But the first question would be, “Are you actually registered to vote? In other words, do you live in the city of Rexburg?” And if so, “Are you registered to vote?” Because even on some of our comments online, a lot of people, they'll post a lot of comments. And one individual, although I'm grateful for his comments, he doesn't actually live in the city of Rexburg. And so, yes, I'm happy to hear feedback, but it doesn't really apply to our citizens because they don't really live here. And so, I'd ask them, “Are you registered to vote?” And if they are, and if they're willing to actually turn out and vote, like actually show up on the November 7 and vote, then we can have a good discussion. I would ask them, “What are five things that you absolutely just love about this area? What are five things about the city that you feel we do really well?” And then, “What is one thing that we can do to improve?” And hear what they have to say, because that will really be a good gauge for kind of this basis of this is what we need to work on. Or perhaps this is an area that we've never thought out of, that we need to look at. And so, sit down with them and say, “okay, what is it that you absolutely love? And what's one or two things? What are a couple of things that we can improve on? At least one thing that we can improve on?” And see if we can come to a consensus and figure out a way to help service those needs.
Chandler: Is there anything else that you would like to touch on before we close the know?
Luke Evans: I read in the paper a few months back, they printed up here in the Rexburg Standard Journal a number that I was kind of shocked about. And they talked about what the debt load was in the city. And if I recall right, it said something close to the number, it was like $9.7 million. Now, I don't know what all that entails, but I understand from having done the Dave Ramsay program years back and understanding income versus outgo, that is an astronomical amount. And we really got to look at how can we reduce the overall burden of taxes here for our citizens, as well as reduce the spending that's causing some of that debt to come in. I feel like we can, and we should operate debt free. I feel like we can work toward that. I'm trained in all that. So, to me, stuff that seems very difficult to do is actually quite easy for me. And that's not saying that I'm better than anybody else. It's just I have experience in these backgrounds with various jobs and whatnot to be able to bring about that change and to really look at the numbers and go, “Okay, this is what we can do.” Because like my dad taught me growing up, if you don't have the money for something, you just flat out, you don't buy it. It's very simple, common sense. But I've learned that common sense is a flower that doesn't necessarily grow in everybody's garden. And we need to be cognizant of that. And to bring about change, to really effectuate this change, we need to come together. And it's not me trying to do everything perfectly. It's somebody who's imperfect, but who is willing to strive to do things as we work together and as we listen to what others have to say. And I think for me, it's a whole community's effort. It's not just one man or one woman's job or responsibility. It's actually everyone's.
Chandler: Thank you for coming in, first of all. And second of all, where can people go to find more information about you and your campaign? How can they go about learning about you and things like that?
Luke Evans: Yeah, well, they can email us. So, I've got a little email that we created. It's lukeformayor2023@gmail.com. And then what we'll do is we'll send them out a link. The link is too long to say it over the radio, but they can go online. We do have a website, a friend of mine created that. And I typically just have a QR code that they can scan. So, when I meet with people, they can just scan. It takes them right to the website. But just send us an email and we'll get you that link. And then they can kind of check out, see what our campaign is about, what are the, kind of, the top topics that we have to discuss. Kind of what our campaign is about and what we're looking to do. And then, of course, if they have any questions or feedback, they can leave it. We have some YouTube videos and things like that. They're welcome to post on there as well.
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