BY KIKI TIDWELL
During the course of my campaign, I have knocked on thousands of doors and met residents where they live—from Carey to Hulen Meadows, from Golden Eagle to the Westwood mobile home park. I listened to what was important to residents. I met so many hardworking families in neighborhoods where their children play outside and bicycle around safely. But I saw a teacher break down in tears as she worried about how one week of being out sick could end up with her losing her home—and a co-teacher had already tested positive [for COVID-19]. I heard from residents in Bellevue about how their $134 water and sewer bill is really tough each month. I heard from restaurant workers in Ketchum who have lost full-time wages and now are losing their housing. I learned that my Spanish needed to improve. I heard from many people worried about how rapid growth may affect our small-town lifestyles. I heard from residents in Carey that the power has gone out a lot in the past there.
Even though I have lived here for almost 40 years now, and had been in most all of those neighborhoods from time to time, I really was brought up to speed on what has changed (a house selling for $1.3 million in Cold Springs! A 780-square-foot “blue-tops” selling for $390,000!) and what the current reality is of each area. I learned that we need to better connect our community as one fabric; Bellevue can’t be left to struggle on its own with inadequate funding for streets and services as it provides the workforce housing for many workers who work in Sun Valley. Many of the police, road crews, and government services workers we depend on drive in from Carey each day. It seems that many people value having a yard and a family neighborhood to go home to; they wouldn’t be candidates for living in small apartments with no parking in Ketchum. Let’s recognize this.
Let’s lift all boats. I have looked at the financial budget to actual results from the county’s fiscal year 2020, dug into the construction permits year-to-date for new residential and commercial construction, have digested the information that almost $1 billion in property sales have occurred this year, and have thought through next year’s budget. I have come away convinced that county property taxes don’t have to be raised by the annual state-allowed 3 percent and that a good chunk of road repairs could be accomplished. I challenge all the o County Commissioners to see this, too.
I also see that energy-efficiency improvements and solar-energy installations could really help. Bellevue’s sewer plant could increase efficiency by 40-50 percent and decrease those monthly bills to residents. Bellevue and Hailey could earn additional property tax revenue from solar farms and also decrease their annual city operations’ utility bills. Community solar could provide low-cost electricity to residents.
During the course of my campaign, I have brought current information to Blaine residents about energy issues. Renewable energy is the cheapest power today (Jackpot solar PPA 2.175 cents per kwh!), retiring coal plants early has sent over $20 million back to electrical ratepayers, many other communities have gone to non-transmission solutions of batteries and backup generation, and demand-response programs can really cut down on energy consumption without lifestyle impact (turning down thermostats in unoccupied buildings a few degrees!). We don’t have to waste our dollars on a transmission line non-solution, but instead can put those dollars into our energy improvements for our community and pull together as one fabric.
*my prior columns are all on my website at http://tidwellcommissionercampaign.com