Twelve eastern Idaho cities will see new mayors take office

Chubbuck City Hall | Logan Ramsey, EastIdahoNews.com POCATELLO – Many eastern Idaho cities that held elections on Tuesday will see a new leader step into city hall in January. Out of the 15 mayoral elections EastIdahoNews.com covered, nine didn’t have an incumbent on the ballot, and out of the six races that did, three of those incumbents lost. Twelve cities across eastern Idaho will now begin the process of transferring authority from the outgoing mayor to the new mayor-elect, a task that many haven’t done in over a decade. “There is no transition guidebook or handbook that I’ve seen. … As far as how to plan for this, it’s tricky,” said Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper. RELATED | General Election 2025 Voters in Idaho Falls didn’t have an incumbent mayor on the ballots, as Casper, who took office in 2014, declined to run for another term. Idaho Falls is one of two cities that will have a mayoral run-off election, as neither of the top two candidates, Jeffrey Alldridge and Lisa Burtenshaw, got 51% of the vote. Like Idaho Falls, the Pocatello mayoral election will go to a run-off election on Dec. 2, but an incumbent was on the ballot – and he didn’t end up in the top two. By the end of the night, Mayor Brian Blad brought in 14% of the vote. The two candidates now competing for Pocatello’s mayoralty are Mark Dahlquist and Greg Cates. RELATED | Idaho Falls mayor and city council races will both see runoff elections RELATED | Voters oust Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad; runoff now set between two challengers While EastIdahoNews.com was unable to reach Blad, he posted a statement the following day, calling it “the honor of a lifetime to serve Pocatello.” “No matter who leads next, I have faith in this community’s strength, resilience, and kindness. Together, we’ll keep building a city we’re proud to call home,” Blad said in his post. And in Chubbuck, Mayor Kevin England, who’s held office since 2014, was unseated by his challenger, former Public Works Director Rodney Burch. Mayor Kevin England | EastIdahoNews.com file photo The way England sees it, there’s not a singular reason why so many cities will have new mayors after this election. “Having talked to several of the mayors that decided not to run again, it’s just that they were done with their service. They’d done what they felt like they wanted to do,” England said. And while England felt that all the candidates in Chubbuck ran good, clean races, he had observed some “meanness” in other communities. “Generally speaking, I think the populace is a little unsettled, and because of that, they’re sometimes disgruntled,” England said. And Casper said she observed some “anti-government” rhetoric in this last election that gave her some concern. “If you have a candidate coming in that’s riding the populist wave of ‘let’s shake it all up, anything’s possible, government is part of the problem,’ … those kinds of mindsets could result in someone coming in who may be more likely to challenge or disregard professional input,” Casper said. Mayor Rebecca Casper | EastIdahoNews.com file photo But Casper also doesn’t think there’s any reason to “catastrophize.” “We have good people in eastern Idaho who are willing to roll up their sleeves when they see a need, so I have a feeling we’re not going to see a lot of odd or hostile situations in terms of governance,” Casper said. While neither Casper nor England is aware of any state laws regulating how an outgoing mayor should prepare a mayor-elect for the position, they both see it as important to take steps to make it a “clean hand-off,” England stated. “We have a responsibility to make sure that we hand this over clean to the new person, and just do everything in this two-month period between the election and then being sworn in to allow them to get their feet on the ground,” England said. While England said that it’s important for outgoing mayors to meet with those incoming and fill them in on ongoing projects, they shouldn’t try to dictate how the mayor-elect will govern. “It’s not our job to tell them what to do or how to do it,” England said. As Casper put it, the mayor “sets the tone” for the city, wielding the statutory power to set the city council agenda. She encourages incoming mayors to work with their councils and their department heads in “performing the essential work of governance, which is management of people and departments and leaders and budgets and services.” RELATED | What is a runoff election? East Idaho will have three in December While Casper will have one month less to work with the new mayor due to Idaho Falls’ run-off election, she plans to begin the work that won’t change either way. “We’re going to be working on calendaring and trying to make sure that practices or unwritten policies are pinned down and noted to be helpful. We also want to prepare the staff for any changes that might come,” Casper said. England compared transitioning governing authority to mayor-elects to a relay race. “If you do a clean hand off, we’ll (keep) going fine. If you make that person stumble, or you make them drop the baton, that’s just not a good thing. I think each one of us has responsibilities to bring those folks in and, as much as they will allow us, to share with them,” England said. Cities that will see a new mayor Mayors in cities where the incumbent won: Driggs – August Christensen Ucon – Johnalee McDonald Dubois – Dan Bramwell New mayors in cities where the incumbent lost: Pocatello – Mark Dahlquist or Greg Cates Chubbuck – Rodney Burch Iona – Michael Thompson New mayors in cities where the incumbent didn’t run: Idaho Falls – Jeffrey Alldridge or Lisa Burtenshaw Blackfoot – Scott Stufflebeam Shelley – Kim Westergard Soda Springs – Paul Gritton American Falls – Gilbert Hofmeister Georgetown – Jackie Barthlome Bancroft – Joe Perry Spencer– David Price Teton – Sonnie Haws The post Twelve eastern Idaho cities will see new mayors take office appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com