Wastewater:
Mountain Home's Wastewater System is a financial and legal liability for the city. Years of pet projects and passing the buck has resulted in our ponds being very near capacity. We should start planning now to ensure we don't get backed into a corner and risk fines from the Department of Environmental Quality. If elected, I will make Wastewater system improvements one of my main priorities as we face increasing population in town. We may not be in the market for an expensive treatment facility, but we definitely cannot afford to continue ignoring the problem. If we start planning now for system improvements we can start plotting out the finances now, instead of being reactionary and having to pull emergency loans or state assistance down the road.
Building a closer relationship with Airmen:
The Mountain Home Air Force Base are our closest neighbors, however many of our military families choose to recreate anywhere but here. If elected I will work to build up relations with the base to make Mountain Home a place Air Force families want to visit and patronize. This town has delicious sushi restaurants, local toy stores, an incredible comedy lounge, and tremendous city parks, just to name a few amenities. We even have awesome local taxi companies to ensure safe travel to and from the base. We need to create awareness of what our town has to offer among the base population. This starts with creating good relationships with the MHAFB community and advertising why they should spend their hard-earned money in town instead of taking it to Boise.
Solving the AV issues at City Hall:
City Hall has been plagued with ongoing issues with Audio/Visual equipment, especially since the recent flooding and remodel of the building. To supplement my views on transparency, I will take on solving this issue upon taking office. Making government proceedings easily accessible by the citizenry is paramount to maintaining a transparent operation.
TNR:
TNR is not the perfect solution to our town’s feral cat populations, but I believe it is the best approach so far. I want to thank the volunteers who take the time to humanely capture and fix the cats. Collecting all the wild cats and holding them for adoption is not feasible with Animal Control’s infrastructure, and gathering that many animals to chemically euthanize sounds like a quick solution, but is arguably inhumane and eats up a lot of city funds. TNR allows these animals to return to their areas and continue to suppress rodent populations, while also ensuring that they aren't breeding uncontrollably. I view it as a fair balance of humane solutions and taxpayer cost.
Golf Course Viability:
The golf course is an excellent city amenity that provides recreation for residents as well as a nice restaurant/bar area. Management of this facility should include cooperation from the golfers who frequent it along with the city staff that take care of it. We need to ensure the longtime viability of the course, and should ensure it can operate in such a way that there's revenue flow to help make it more self-sufficient rather than a drain on city resources. Just because it is a government operation does not mean that it should operate at a financial loss each year.
Freshwater:
I’ve lived my entire life in the west and have seen my share of battles for water out here. Our town’s most delicate resource is pumped up from wells across the plateau, but the aquifer can only keep up for so long. We are also in an interesting spot where any surface water that flows by our town has already been claimed by Boise or needs to go in the canal for our farmers and ranchers south of town. While I don’t have a single specific solution to this problem, we can definitely improve our list of options by cooperating with the Elmore County government as a united front. The looming wastewater improvements the city will have to conduct could open up opportunities to water swap with the local Irrigation District. Regardless of the solution, I will always work towards ensuring water security for our town.
Commercial & Industrial Growth:
Economic opportunities for this town are important. While growth can be scary, it’s even worse to consider a shrinking Mountain Home that loses services and amenities for its residents while also chasing our next generation out of town in search of jobs. I will work to make Mountain Home a place companies want to set up shop. This increases our tax base and helps the roughly 40% of working age adults that commute out of town to consider employment options closer to home. Companies coming into town can also contribute towards impact fees. I look forward to working with our new Economic Director to keep our town prosperous.
Housing Growth on Outdated Infrastructure:
New residents are moving to town, and houses are being built. Even if you dislike growth, it is happening. Instead of digging our heels in we need to get ahead of the curve and ensure we are being smart and planning for these increases, rather than being reactive to them. That means ensuring we have proper freshwater & wastewater capacity, good streets, sidewalks that are wide enough, and utility lines that are up to code. Huge subdivision developers that come to town should be expected to assist with the impact to the town's infrastructure that their builds will cause. We can potentially seek out state & national infrastructure grants. The bottom line is ensuring we are spending money wisely and tackling multiple problems when we dig up a street instead of just fixing one thing and re-burying dilapidated or unsafe infrastructure to be dealt with later.
Fiber-Optic Internet
The City’s Fiber Department has been riddled with issues in the past. Citizens who received connections complain of unclear financial requirements. The department used to operate without any sort of professional from the fiber optic industry to supervise. At this point in the game, we are going to have to accept that fiber has become a city utility and there's no going back on that. The department appears to finally have a knowledgeable head overseeing and improving operations, but we should still make sure to keep an eagle eye on the finances going in and coming out. With all the negative impressions our residents have, a little more communication and transparency would go a long way towards improving public perception.
Online Presence
Online public communication from the city should be delivered in the most professional way possible. Ensuring compliance with "Davison v. Randall," a 2019 4th Circuit Court decision, is paramount to protecting the City from lawsuits and guaranteeing there is no infringement upon the First amendment rights of residents.