I have spent the majority of my life in Blaine County, gave birth to my daughter at the hospital back when it was in Sun Valley, and have participated in making this a community, even though I moved here to be in a ski town.
I have opened and run a small business here. I am deeply aware of what it is like to operate here in a seasonal economy; I have met payroll for employees in slack with the cash coming from my personal savings. I have worked for builders, and restaurants, and for an exceptional nonprofit that undertook the scientific research to ensure the survival of large carnivores, including the Siberian tiger. I have volunteered my time to serve on nonprofit boards from the Animal Shelter to the Idaho Community Foundation, from the Governor’s Council on Families & Children to the Foster Parents Support group.
I am continually amazed at the amounts people give financially to support all of our arts, our environment, and social services, but also I am overwhelmed by those who give of their personal time and talents to this community in so many ways. Bege, Sue, Sonya and Lou Ann are just a few of the many great examples of people giving of themselves; I am deeply grateful to Bege Reynolds who gave La Leche League one-on-one nursing support to me as a new mother, which saved my premature baby and my sanity. I am grateful to Sue Woodyard and her late husband Jim who started the Construction Academies in the high schools, which give our teenagers opportunities for real-life apprentice skill learning; Sue continues to serve on the board. I am grateful to Sonya Wilander who has volunteered for the past five years at the Blaine County Drug Court. I am grateful to Lou Ann Terry who has given years and years of her time volunteering on the St. Luke’s hospital board to help make it the excellent facility it is today.[i]
We are all blessed here in the Wood River Valley to currently live under blue skies and clean air—something that has been protected by many individuals giving of their time and energy over many years. But at this time, we have a 100-year decision facing us—to spend $65 million on old technology to remain dependent on coal-fired power here at the edge of the grid, or to deploy technology that is being deployed right now the world over to provide true energy security so that citizens and visitors can survive the next power outage caused by fire or ice storm.
I have a vision that we do not have to remain vulnerable but instead can provide for our own future ourselves. We have great solar and geothermal resources and we have world-renowned technology experts who can help us; Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and POWER Engineers. This is not really difficult to do. We just need the will of our elected Commissioners to ask these experts to help us.
We also need the Commissioners to tell Idaho Power what works for us—and, really, for all Idaho ratepayers. Not a $65-million gold-plated transmission line project—lucrative for the utility but that actually doesn’t help if no power gets to Hailey again—but a real solution of backup batteries at our power substations, repair of our existing transmission line, and a solar farm at Ohio Gulch.
I believe that we can all not only survive, but thrive together in the new climate reality that has been unfolding; solar power can be cheaper power for residents! I would like to serve my county with my time and talents at this time as Blaine County Commissioner in order for the county to seize the opportunity of a clean energy future with a good and affordable future for all residents.
In 1981, when I first moved here, I remember being at the Pioneer bar and seeing Clint Eastwood happily chatting with a lift operator who was rocking it as a ski bum. That’s the community I wanted to live in—where skiers who were living the authentic life were just as equally valued (or more so, if they were really good skiers) as celebrities. I have a vision for this county that all residents can live well here and each can be a treasured member of the community, whether they are young families or early retirees, longtime residents or new arrivals, part-time residents or full-time workers, and also including our wildlife residents. Because we are more than a ski town, we are a community of people who give back and care for each other.
[i] Please share with me names of volunteers you want to have recognized in these columns!