City Manager Question Complicates Ketchum Vote
BY Mark Dee
With the filing deadline passed, ballots are taking shape for November’s local elections, with mayors, city councilors, fire commissioners and a slew of consequential questions all in the balance.
Elections in the cities of Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue and Carey—plus cemetery, fire, Blaine County School District and Blaine County Recreation District—are set for Election Day, Nov. 4.
No municipal ballot is as full as Ketchum’s, where a key ballot question to decide the shape of the city’s government will determine who—and how many—elected officials take their oaths in 2026.
Ketchum voters will first decide whether to keep the current council-mayor government, where an elected mayor serves as the city chief, or a council-manager government, where an expanded city council sets an agenda for a professional, appointed city manager to administer. The new, five-member council would appoint a mayor from their ranks, but the role wouldn’t have the same responsibilities as it does now.
That’s the first question facing Ketchum voters, though it will be decided at the same time they vote on candidates. Since it all happens at once, Ketchumites will also pick candidates for either outcome selecting a mayor and voting for two open council seats in case city government stays as it is, and picking five council candidates should voters move to a city manager system. The results are conditional, with one set voided by the results of the ballot question proceeding it.
Either way, there will be new faces on Second Avenue. Incumbent Mayor Neil Bradshaw and City Councilors Amanda Breen and Courtney Hamilton are not seeking re-election. (In the event the city manager approach carries, all council seats become open, meaning Councilors Tripp Hutchinson and Spencer Cordovano are up for election, too, despite sitting in the middle of their four-year terms.)
To further complicate matters, one of the two mayoral candidates—Pete Prekeges—isn’t running for a council position should Ketchum eliminate its traditional mayor. His opponent in the mayoral race, John Wigdale, is running for both mayor and a seat on a new council-manager council.
Check back with the Wood River Weekly prior to the election for further explanation on how this will work, plus information on city candidates. For now, though, let’s look at who is on the preliminary Nov. 4 ballot.
Bellevue
Bellevue has elections for its mayor and alderman positions, plus a ballot question on whether the city will implement an updated local option-tax. Christina Giordani and Suzanne Wrede are running for mayor. With three candidates for three open alderman seats, Tom Bergin, Diane Shay and Anders Ard will join the board, barring a late write-in challenge.
The ballot question asks whether voters will approve for 15 years:
1. The addition of a 1% tax on restaurant food
2. The addition of a 2% tax on liquor sales by the drink
3. Raising its lodging tax from 3% to 6%.
The new language would also add public safety administration, including law enforcement, fire department and pedestrian and bike safety to the list of approved uses for LOT money.
Carey
Logan Davis is the only candidate running for mayor of Carey. Tara Hansen, Tyler Norman and Clayton Mecham are running for two available city council seats.
Hailey
Longtime Councilor Kaz Thea is running unopposed for her Seat 2 on the Hailey City Council, but three candidates are vying for Seat 1: Jeff Emerick, Sage Sauerbrey and Joel Zellers.
Hailey is also asking voters whether they are in favor of amending its 2023 local-option tax ordinance to raise its hotel and motel occupancy tax from 4% to 6%. The new money would be used for currently approved purposes.
Ketchum
As discussed, Ketchum has a busy ballot, starting with the city manager question outlined above. Here’s everybody on the ballot, listed by the roles they’re vying for:
Mayor (vote for one)
Pete Prekeges
John Wigdale
City Council (vote for two)
Perry Boyle
Randy Hall
Hannah Harris
Kendall Kirkpatrick
Matthew McGraw
David Page
Biche Rudigoz
Ed Simon
Tracie Smith
Robert Vallee
Ketchum Council-Manager Council (Vote for five; take office if ballot question passes)
Perry Boyle
Spencer Cordovano
Randy Hall
Hannah Harris
Tripp Charles Hutchinson
Kendall Kirkpatrick
Matthew McGraw
David Page
Biche Rudigoz
Ed Simon
Tracie Smith
Robert Vallee
John Wigdale
Sun Valley
Two Sun Valley City Council seats are up this year. Four candidates are vying to fill them: Mike Burchmore, Bill Costigan, Keith Saks and Geoff Tickner.
Sun Valley is also asking voters to re-up its existing local option tax for 25 more years.
Other votes
The Blaine County School District is asking voters to weigh in on $3.85 million per year supplemental levy on the ballot this fall. If approved, the two-year measure would replace the district’s expiring $1.85 million levy and maintain funding for a suite of existing programs that the state and federal government don’t finance. The supplemental levy requires a simple majority to pass. The county estimates that the average annual cost to the taxpayer on the proposed levy is a tax of $16.33 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value, per year, based on current conditions.
Two incumbent trustees, Zone 2’s Blanca Romero and Zone 4’s Dan Turner, are running unopposed to keep their seats.
The Blaine County Recreation District is looking to raise its taxpayer support through an annual $3 million permanent levy. As it stands, the BCRD levies a tax of $7.81 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value annually. If approved, the new rate would amount to an estimated $21.15 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value. based on median residential home value, That’s an increase on the median residential home value of $97 per year, according to the BCRD. The money would go to improve trails, upgrade Galena Lodge, enhance the Quigley Trail Park, expand aquatic facilities, build new fields and courts and fund “long-term operations and maintenance,” according to the BCRD.
Because the levy would alter the BCRD’s founding documents, it needs two-thirds support to pass. Learn more and calculate how much you’d pay at bcrd.org/levy/.
All elections for fire district commissioners are unopposed save one, the newly formed Ketchum Fire District. There, Casey Finegan and Rachel Williams are running for a two-year term in Subdistrict 1; Alex Monge and Susan Scovell running for a four-year term in Subdistrict 2; Peter Schwartz and Slater Storey are running for a four-year term in Subdistrict 3.
You can view a full list at through the Blaine County Elections Office at https://www.co.blaine.id.us/DocumentCenter/View/32254/Nov-2025-Candidate-List. Check back with the Wood River Weekly for more election coverage as Nov. 4 approaches. Early and absentee voting begins Oct. 14.
