{"id":9814,"date":"2018-10-24T22:05:36","date_gmt":"2018-10-24T22:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=9814"},"modified":"2018-10-24T22:05:36","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T22:05:36","slug":"ned-burns-wants-to-move-bellevue-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/24\/ned-burns-wants-to-move-bellevue-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Ned Burns Wants To Move Bellevue Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sun Staff<\/em><\/p>\n

Part one in two-part coverage<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"
Ned Burns is a familiar face around the Valley. Courtesy photo by Sara Burns<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ned Burns is one of two candidates running for mayor of Bellevue. The longtime Bellevue homeowner currently serves on both the Bellevue City Council and on the board of the Sun Valley Board of Realtors, work that he believes helped sculpt him to helm the city.<\/p>\n

Burns has known the area intimately for all of his life. His father grew up in a house on Main Street (now the site of Silver Creek Hotel) where his siblings brought their families to spend rambunctious country-style summers together.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter graduating from the University of Montana,\u201d Burns said, \u201cI moved right into that house, on the north edge of town. I lived there for six years until I married Sara in 2006, and we bought a house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns became a realtor five years ago and is today associated with Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties. Four years ago, he was asked to join the Sun Valley Board of Realtors. He ran for a spot on the board and won.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board wanted a fresh, younger perspective,\u201d Burns said. \u201cI found my voice. My time on the board is about decision-making; a decision that\u2019s best for the majority of the 330 members that we work for.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key thing is trustworthiness,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m helping people make the biggest financial decision of their lives. If I\u2019m not trustworthy, I\u2019m nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns said he would approach the mayor\u2019s job the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll make decisions for Bellevue\u2019s present, and its future.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he has matured in public service, Burns has learned that being himself is the most important thing he can bring to the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is nonpartisan election,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m running as Ned Burns and what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Current Bellevue Mayor Chris Koch has been good at a lot of things, Burns said, but he wants to take a slightly different path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am willing to address difficult decisions head on,\u201d he said. \u201cI will be proactive and long-term focused. On the council, I make my opinion very well known. I\u2019m not afraid to voice my concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among his plans are to have all the streets paved within the Bellevue town site; Pine and Second streets are his priorities.<\/p>\n

Burns said the city council\u2019s work on the budget over the summer was revealing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of Bellevue doesn\u2019t have a credit card; we can only spend what we\u2019ve got in the bank that\u2019s been allocated from the hardworking citizens,\u201d Burns said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a tiny budget so we\u2019ll try to get grants from the Idaho Transportation Department, federal money and matching grants,\u201d Burns said. \u201cI would like to help loosen up some zoning, and get some more multi-family areas with higher density within keeping of the neighborhood. I don\u2019t want to change the feel of the town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns wants a more robust downtown, with more consistent activity on Main Street, and more housing opportunities throughout the city.<\/p>\n

Burns also wants to expand community involvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love more engagement from the Hispanic community. I want all agendas posted in Spanish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of his other desires for Bellevue are to facilitate town gatherings where citizens can express what they need and want, talk directly to their representatives and discuss issues openly, away from the structure of city council meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to work with business developers to spur development that would support living wages, so people could actually live and work in Bellevue. We are recreation adjacent and we have the space and ability to bring in light industrial, retail and service jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burns said it is his institutional memory as well as time in the saddle working in development-oriented positions that make him the candidate of choice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have lived in Bellevue long enough to know: a) how the town works; b) where our problems are; and c) how to go about accomplishing growth within the constraints of small-town government and how to work within our budgetary constraints. The mayor doesn\u2019t have executive order. We have to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I really want to do is grow Bellevue in a positive way while maintaining our small-town feel,\u201d he said. \u201cIn 30 years, when I look back, if Bellevue looks like Blue Lakes Boulevard (in Twin Falls), I will have failed. I don\u2019t want to take away from existing Main Street businesses, or create traffic. I still want Bellevue dogs to lay in the streets, kids to be safe and for Bellevue to have a strong sense of community.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sun Staff Part one in two-part coverage Ned Burns is one of two candidates running for mayor of Bellevue. The longtime Bellevue homeowner currently serves on both the Bellevue City Council and on the board of the Sun Valley Board of Realtors, work that he believes helped sculpt him to helm the city. Burns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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":[75,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-elections","7":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9814","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=9814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}