Savannah Dodd is running for the Rexburg City Council. In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, she explained why she is running, what she would bring to the position, what issues she would focus on and more if she is elected. She can be reached onInstagram, Facebook, or by emailing savannahdodd4rexburg@gmail.com. Election Day is Nov. 4. Candidate Night will be Oct. 21 starting at 7 p.m. in the Romance Theater. Below is a transcript of the interview. It has been lightly edited for clarity.
Hannah: Can you tell me a little bit about your background and how it led you to running this year for City Council?
Savannah Dodd: I actually came to school here at BYU-Idaho, and I studied secondary education. I did my student teaching here in Rexburg at Madison High School, and I've been teaching there ever since. I run the student government program. And we actually had one of our students get elected as a regional president. And as I was thinking about it, I thought if they are brave enough to do this, maybe I can be brave enough to do this.
Local politics has always been in the back of my mind. I've always wanted to be involved. And I just decided that the inspiration that my students gave me was the catalyst I needed to go ahead and try this year for city council.
Hannah: What would you say makes you stand apart from all of the other candidates?
Savannah Dodd: I know that all the other candidates love this community. That's why I'm assuming we're doing this. But I see the future of the community. I work with the future of the community working at the high school. And we are in such good hands. And I want to prepare the community for the future. I also think that I offer a fresh perspective, as I've been here for over a decade, 12 years.
But I do have a fresh perspective because I didn't only grow up here, and I also think that I really would champion for the middle-class person as I am, you know, a middle-class person myself. And that's, that's I think why I stand out the most.
Hannah: What is an issue you want to focus on if elected?
Savannah Dodd: With the rapid growth of Rexburg, I really think we need to be very proactive about expansion and the growth itself. So, I want to focus on infrastructure and really planning out a budget for how fast and large Rexburg is growing. That's going to be my main thing. I also really want to prioritize public safety. So, those are probably my two biggest things focusing on organization of infrastructure and then prioritizing public safety.
Hannah: What organizations do you want to work with for the public safety aspect?
Savannah Dodd: I definitely think the Rexburg Police Department as well as Madison County Sheriff’s Office are two that we'd have to work with. They're our first responders. Likewise, the fire department and just having plans in place. But I think we also need to be working with BYU-Idaho as they are such a huge contributor to our community, as well as Madison School District. So, all of those entities that most of our citizens in the community either participate in, work for, have children that go, I think we need to be working really closely with all those entities and communicating really closely with one another.
Hannah: You mentioned infrastructure, could you go a little bit further into that and address the current housing crisis here in Rexburg?
Savannah Dodd: Yeah, the current housing crisis is a real problem. The median income for a Rexburg household is $54,000, 35.5 % of people are at or below the poverty line in Rexburg, which is a huge increase compared to the 11.5% nationally. Our housing market is also above, so it is more expensive than the national average. So, we have a good amount below the poverty line, but we're still paying more than the national average for a house. And really, I do think it's kind of a supply and demand issue.
So, we need to figure out how we can use property and zoning properly to make sure that we're leaving spots for single family homes and residences to kind of meet that supply and demand need. I am a firm believer in mixed use building. So having places for business hubs to be able to have a central location with some parks and then above those businesses have apartments that would free up a lot of other land for single family residences and things like that. So, that's something that I do kind of want to talk about and push. If I should be elected, figure out how we can organize and plan to use the land that is available in the best way for everyone.
Hannah: What are your thoughts on extending 5th West?
Savannah Dodd: I think that logistically it does make sense giving people an additional opportunity to get to the other side of town. I would have to look a little bit more closely at the exact land that they would be using because are we cutting through parks and bike paths and potential residential areas? I think that's a real concern. But I also think that having another way to get to the Walmart area and just that side of town with how fast we are growing is essential, especially move-in weekends. You've been here on move-in weekend or a moving out weekend. And when things are really busy and there's more traffic than Rexburg is used to, we do need alternative routes. Likewise, with all the road work and things like that, I don't know if you were here a couple of years ago when they were putting in the diamonds, but traffic was pretty backed up. So just having those alternative routes is a good idea. I would just have to look a little bit more closely at the exact land that they'd want to kind of dip into to see if it would be beneficial as a whole.
Hannah: What message do you have for voters as we approach Election Day?
Savannah Dodd: Great question. I think that above all, you need to be informed. So, if I'm not the candidate for you, that's OK. But you should be doing your research, and you should make sure that whoever you are voting for and want to elect meets your values and your goals for the city. Become informed, do some research. I'm a big, big proponent of research. So that would be my main message. Likewise, I do want anyone listening to know that I love this community, and I want to do what's best for the community as a whole with no self-interest or any vested interest in any other entity than doing the right thing for the most amount of people.