GARDEN CITY — Garden City voters got the chance Tuesday to hear from two of the mayoral candidates vying to lead the landlocked city come January.
It is the first wide-open mayoral race in two decades, as incumbent John Evans will not be seeking a sixth term.
Current city councilor Bill Jacobs and College of Western Idaho (CWI) trustee Molly Lenty participated in a Chamber of Commerce forum, moderated by Idaho Statesman opinion editor Scott McIntosh, at The River Club. Another candidate, Teresa Roundy, was initially slated to participate but did not.
Why do you want to be mayor?In addition to their experiences in elected office, Jacobs and Lenty both have extensive backgrounds in business management and histories of community involvement.
Jacobs was in executive roles with HP and MarkMonitor, and is a former owner of Alloway Lighting. He has volunteered as a youth sports coach and at the Morrison Center, and is on the Strategic Growth Committee for the Treasure Valley YMCA.
“I love this town. I love the resources we have, the Greenbelt, the businesses, the elected officials I serve with. When you really like the city you serve, it makes you want to serve it some more,” Jacobs said. “How do we maintain and enhance our quality of life as we grow? That’s where my experience comes in. My career’s been in owning businesses, operating businesses and managing teams.”
When Evans’ term ends Jan. 12, Jacobs said, he will be ready to take up the reins on Jan. 13.
Lenty is a former corporate financial leader and current chief operating officer of a software company. She has served on numerous public boards and charitable committees.
“I have been active in the community for over 30 years. I’m a servant leader, in the public and private sector,” she said. “I want to ensure we have the type of leadership that’s able to tap into the resources to ensure that the growth that’s happening here in the Valley is happening through us and not just to us.”
She said that running a college is much like running a city, and that the CWI budget she and her fellow trustees manage is three times the size of Garden City’s.
On top priorities and issues facing the cityLenty cited growth, public safety and fiscal responsibility as three issues that the next mayor must prioritize.
Garden City mayoral candidate Molly Lenty answers questions during a Chamber of Commerce luncheon and candidate forum Tuesday at The River Club.
Brian Myrick / Idaho Press
“Everyone who drives down Chinden [Boulevard] can see the growth that’s been rapidly happening,” she said. “[Planning for growth] also needs to entail transportation. We can’t run that many additional cars down Chinden and State Street, as well as what’s coming with professional soccer and the sports park.”
She said that the city should not be increasing its tax burden and must remain focused on supporting its law enforcement — its most expensive line item.
Jacobs said that a mayor’s top priority should be maintaining the quality of life, and touted his experience doing ride-alongs with police.
“Almost everything that impacts the city falls under that statement. How do we manage our budget, how do we stay in the black?” he said. “The role of the mayor is to manage day-to-day operations of the city. Yes, we need to have a vision, and we have great partnerships with other agencies, but in the end, your water has to work. Your sewer has to work. If you call the police, they have to show up quickly.”
He said that in order to tackle Garden City’s challenges, the city must re-evaluate its comprehensive plan.
On community engagement, balancing change with consistencyThough developers and businesses are eager to contribute to the future of Garden City, its nearly 13,000 residents undoubtedly have attachments to the way things are, as McIntosh acknowledged.
Jacobs advocated for “being outward” with the community in order to learn what people’s priorities are.
“You need to engage some of these neighborhoods, and find out what’s important to them,” he said. “The mayor does not have a vote on city council unless there’s a tie. While the mayor can talk about vision … in the end, it’s a collaborative approach between the residents, businesses and city council.”
Lenty compared growth and development in Garden City to what CWI was experiencing when she became a trustee.
“When I first became chair of the board at CWI, we were in a major growth phase. The fastest-growing college in the country, the largest institution of higher education in the state,” she said.
The first thing she did then, she said, was to commission a vision statement and spend time with all affected stakeholders.
“We need to do the exact same thing for Garden City. We don’t have a shared nomenclature.”
She said that the city website should be better maintained in order to more efficiently serve constituents, while Jacobs thought that resources that could be spent on the website would be better purposed for law enforcement, the Greenbelt or city infrastructure.
On differences from the present, and an ideal futureJacobs said that he wants to improve mayoral communication with constituents.
“The mayor does not have any open forums, so I want to do that quarterly. I think we also need to do that at the neighborhood level,” he said. “We don’t have a newsletter. I’d like to implement that.”
Garden City mayoral candidate Bill Jacobs answers questions during a Chamber of Commerce luncheon and candidate forum Tuesday at The River Club.
Brian Myrick / Idaho Press
Lenty met with Evans before throwing her hat in the ring for mayor, and said that while he had already committed to endorsing Jacobs, he saw her as a qualified candidate who brought a more global approach than his own “homebody” energy.
“I already have the relationships — all the area mayors, I have in my cell phone,” she said. “I already met with a Boise City Council member on how we can improve safety on the Greenbelt.”
After a Lenty mayoralty, she said, she said she had no doubt that Garden City would be “a city we’ve built together.”
“We’ve got to make sure we’re preserving the things that matter most to us,” she said. “The only constant we can expect in life is change.”
Jacobs countered her statement by saying his own vision would be a bit more specific.
“We don’t have any development on the south side of Chinden. We need an urban renewal district. To me, a livable city means we have a variety of housing,” he said. “The [Ada County] fairgrounds is going to come into play. When is that going to be developed? It’ll be annexed, most likely, by the city. How cool would that be?”
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