Tomorrow, polls for the upcoming municipal election will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. In Rexburg, eight candidates are running for three City Council seats.
Three City Council seats are on the ballot, with eight candidates in the running: incumbent Colin Erickson, and challengers Alisha Tietjen, Kevin Baxter, Lee Price, Savannah Dodd, Vince Haley, Bill Riggins and Aaron Richards.
These City Council positions could influence several key issues.
BYU-Idaho Radio interviewed each of the candidates and asked them to identify the biggest issues Rexburg faces right now.
Colin Erickson: “Well, growth is a big one and that's all over Idaho, but we're just one of the communities growing. I mean, we have two temples here. We're going to continue to grow.
“There's not going to be any slowdown. You don't get two temples in a city without growth happening. So, growth is continuing to grow. It’s to be a key issue to look at. Our infrastructure has to keep up to that.
“So, you got water, sewer, and streets that have to be looked at very closely. I feel like we're behind right now with some of that with one bridge across (U.S. Highway) 20. One bridge across Teton River and only two crossings across 20. It makes us a divided city, and I have been pushing that since I got on.”
Alisha Tietjen: “I really want to focus on the communication between City Council and the community. I hear a lot that people don't feel like the city council really knows what they want or what they feel is important and that they're not being represented. And that kind of makes me feel kind of sad. And so, I really want to be able to better communicate. I know city staff has tried really hard to push out the new app that they have, and they try and do Facebook, and they try and do emails and all these things. So, I would try to help promote that better and also respond to emails and things as quickly as I can and just try to be the voice of Rexburg.”
Kevin Baxter: “I don't know if you're familiar with the city website, but the city website currently has a domain of dot org instead of dot gov. And I've been doing a little bit of research and found that that's actually a really easy way for people who want to launder money or do any other kind of shady activity or for third party people who are maybe more computer savvy to hack into the city and actually steal money or information.”
Lee Price: “Growth. I think there are aspects of that, that I’m specifically interested in getting involved with. I think the mayor actually appoints you to certain department oversight. But I hope that I can be involved on the police side with the infrastructure and the utility side and perhaps a little bit on the zoning side. I feel like as we grow, we're going to maybe not feel like a little small town anymore. And I feel that we need to make sure that we maintain the safe feeling that we all have felt for such a long time here. And I want to make sure probably more focused on the police department that they get what they need to help us continue the safe feeling that we felt in America's Family Community.”
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.”
Vince Haley: “I mentioned it earlier, LIDs. So we are, you know, for a number of years, people have been saying Rexburg is on the cusp of this growth, right? And we've seen that residential growth over the last 20 years or so. We've been 19, now 20 years or 25 years I think it is since BYU-Idaho was announced.
But we are now seeing the commercial growth start to happen. And there's a number of retailers that want to come in that could totally change the area. And I think the city has done a really good job of guiding that in a slow pace not to be overwhelmed and not to do it in the wrong way. But again, you've got to have people in there that are willing to have the hard conversations and really willing to investigate and listen to the citizens of Rexburg.”
Bill Riggins: “I think maybe the biggest issue is as a government agency being united, right? Being of one mind, coming together and being able to work together peacefully, being able to have really, really hard conversations, but in a spirit of peace and the spirit of understanding, building these bridges of understanding.
“We can't depend on the tax dollars for everything that we do. And so, I think that we’ve got to look at every aspect of our community. We've got to look at business. We've got to look at the university and we have to look at the Church and we have to look—we're a community where this university, BYU-Idaho, is really central. The number of people that it employs, the number of young people that are here because of the university, the two temples, it just says a lot about the part that the university and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints plays in our community.”
Aaron Richards: “I don't think there is any one big issue. I think there’s probably a handful of things that could be improved upon. And really that will bubble up to the top as someone is in a council seat or involved at a higher level. Myself personally, I would put the current overuse of LIDs (Local Improvement Districts), as well as the amount of clearing of the streets during the winter season, and then opportunities to really get creative, roll our sleeves up and figure out how to get more affordable housing, which is, that's really more of a national issue, it's not a local issue, but if there are creative ways to get ordinances in place or entitlements that that would encourage affordable housing. You know, that's the piece that a City Council can be involved in.”
You can learn more about each candidate through our “Meet the Candidate” series on our SoundCloud.
Voters registered in Madison County should bring valid identification to cast their ballot and make their voice heard in this important local election.
To find your polling location and for more information on voting in Madison County, visit rexburg.org/page/elections.