{"id":9707,"date":"2018-11-30T18:30:41","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T18:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=9707"},"modified":"2018-11-30T18:30:41","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T18:30:41","slug":"a-check-in-with-the-mayor-of-ketchum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/30\/a-check-in-with-the-mayor-of-ketchum\/","title":{"rendered":"A CHECK-IN WITH THE MAYOR OF KETCHUM"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil Bradshaw marks nearly one year in office and is proud of advances<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Emilee Mae Struss<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"K<\/span>etchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw\u2019s vision when he entered office in January was to grow a vibrant community, maintain connectedness, increase sustainability and ensure safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bradshaw brought with him a detailed action plan, relying on his 13 years of experience as the founder and president of the Ketchum Community Development Corporation to create it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis first year in office has been more fun than I even imagined it would be,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m really happy with how far we\u2019ve come already.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Like other Valley cities, affordable housing is the main initiative on Bradshaw\u2019s to-do list. But Bradshaw said his approach is unique. <\/span><\/p>\n

In his office located on the second floor of the Ketchum City Hall building, Bradshaw has a poster pinned to the wall reminding himself and his team about their core values: respect, honesty\/integrity, empathy, stewardship, teamwork, friendliness\/courtesy, innovation, fiscal responsibility, professionalism and good citizenship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need all of these core values first before we tackle any other initiatives,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cEmpathy is a big one, and that\u2019s very important in making decisions with a diverse group of people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Affordable housing initiatives were kicked into gear this year with 10 different actions implemented by Bradshaw. <\/span><\/p>\n

They include several public\/private partnerships with smaller, affordable apartment complexes, including the KETCH complex with its 500-square-foot housing units, and a Northwood II plan, with 28 units. <\/span><\/p>\n

The city plans to rezone the light industrial area by changing the building codes and allowing housing to go above those buildings. Housing is also in order for first responders in conjunction with the public safety facility, and development of the Trail Creek LLC workforce housing with 18 beds on First Avenue and Fourth Street.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a number of balls in the air in terms of housing,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cAnd they may not all stick. But if we get 50 percent of those, we\u2019ll be heroes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t find out unless you try, and this is our number one priority.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The smaller apartment complex proposals will be more affordable without needing to provide parking, which automatically increases the cost to build them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got an affordable housing problem,\u201d Bradshaw said, \u201cnot a parking problem. At the busiest hour of the busiest season, only about 76 percent of our parking spots get used up; that\u2019s still 24 percent available.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Bradshaw has been a longtime cheerleader for the concepts developed by Roger Brooks, keynote speaker at the Sun Valley Economic Development Summit this year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Brooks shared 20 imperative ingredients for an outstanding downtown and Bradshaw lives by them faithfully. One of the ingredients is wider sidewalks and improved lighting. Another topic covered at the SVED Summit involved making Ketchum a more livable place for young people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have in the Valley is incredible, but what we don\u2019t have is the full ladder of life,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cWe\u2019re missing the lower two rungs\u2014the rungs of affordable housing and entry-level jobs.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Bradshaw believes if Ketchum doesn\u2019t have those two basic rungs in the metaphorical ladder of life, diversity will cease to exist and the community will lack vibrancy and connection, both of which are pillars outlined in his vision for Ketchum.<\/span><\/p>\n

In regards to the other two pillars\u2014sustainability and safety\u2014Bradshaw believes that the city needs to first fix the close-at-hand issues. Under Bradshaw\u2019s leadership, the City of Ketchum completed the first conversion phase of a leaking pipeline in the water system that was wasting around 100 gallons of water per minute. Bradshaw recognizes this act as furthering the city\u2019s commitment to protecting and preserving precious natural resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for safety, Bradshaw recounts that the City of Ketchum needs only to be able to gather in a room, share ideas and hear one another\u2019s opinions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am proud of the amount of empathy I\u2019ve seen in my first year in office,\u201d Bradshaw said. \u201cIt\u2019s really important that people who may hold opposite opinions can meet, be respectful and listen to each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To receive monthly updates about the City of Ketchum, upcoming events and how you can get involved, sign up for the \u201cWord on the Street,\u201d a fresh take on the mayor\u2019s moves in town written in collabo<\/span>ration with Altitude Media & Linework Creative. You can subscribe to \u201cWord on the Street\u201d by visiting ketchumidaho.org and click on the “Newsletter” tab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Bradshaw marks nearly one year in office and is proud of advances By Emilee Mae Struss Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw\u2019s vision when he entered office in January was to grow a vibrant community, maintain connectedness, increase sustainability and ensure safety. Bradshaw brought with him a detailed action plan, relying on his 13 years of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,18,36,37,49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-municipal","8":"category-news","9":"category-slider","10":"category-special-feature","11":"category-top-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}