Voters hear from Candidates in Caribou County
With the exception of Bancroft, which held a candidate meet and greet earlier in the month, residents of the county’s municipalities with elections scheduled for November 4 had a chance to listen to what those running for office had to say about a range of topics. In Grace, City Council members Tyler Butikofer and Kimi Lowe joined mayoral candidates Jackie Barthlome and Dave Pristupa for a potato bar conversation at the American Legion building. In Soda Springs, City Council candidates Paige Byram, Ryan Carpenter, and Rod Worthington took the stage first, followed by mayoral candidates Brock Byram, Paul Gritton, and Robert Lau. While the settings differed, many of the underlying concerns resonated in similar ways.
A complete recording of the candidate discussion in Soda Springs will be posted to the Soda Springs Rotary Club (one of the event’s sponsors) Facebook page when it is ready, and you can find candidate reels and discussion on the Small Town Ruckus podcast, which can be found under that name on a variety of podcatcher/streaming services, or through their Facebook page under the same name. The Enterprise will post the candidate introductions we have received on our Facebook page toward the end of the week as well.
Grace
City councilmember Kimi Lowe said that “I had not planned on being on City Council, but when I was asked to I figured it was a good opportunity to learn. I’ve learned a lot. I also have learned that it can be hard to get the community involved, and that’s one thing I’d like to change more than anything, It’s hard to fix things otherwise—when we don’t know what we don’t know. So more involvement would be awesome.” Lowe is married with two kids, and works at the hospital. “We don’t plan on ever leaving Grace—we love Grace! I’m happy to serve.”
Tyler Butikofer is originally from Soda Springs, but has been living in Grace for around five years. Butikofer has three young kids. He works remotely as an electrical engineer studying the power grid. When he was asked to be on City Council, he was not expecting it, but has been looking for a way to get more involved and thought it would be a good opportunity to serve in the local community.
Dave Pristupa then spoke. “I have live in Grace since 1991, before that I lived in Bancroft. I’ve lived all of this country, and all over the world, in different careers with the service. I’ve seen a lot of things, and been in a lot of communities and seen what they do. Some for good, others not so good.” Pristupa noted that things had been done pretty well for the most part in Grace for the past 40 years, but some of the concerns that he had been hearing about included increases in costs, especially as it affects those on fixed incomes, bringing more business to town to help serve the needs of the community, more citizen involvement, and more. He would like to see some form of Zoom or other broadcast of public meetings within the city to increase transparency and involvement.
He noted that development is happening in the community, and that there are more people able to build in the community but that “we just need to make it attractive to bring them in.” He mentioned the increase in building costs, and the effect on his neighbors who would like to develop their property further. “It’s very important for our citizens to be aware of what’s happening as it’s happening,” Pristupa said.
Jackie Barthlome then spoke. “I’ve been a resident of Caribou County all my life,” Barthlome said. “I’ve worked for the Postal Service for 30 years—I retired in 2012—was on the Chamber of Commerce, where I ended up as president. I ran for mayor in 2014, and have been doing that ever since. In those twelve years we’ve had some struggles. We had a sewer plant that was aging. The last time we could find documentation was 1995. Barthlome described the process of working to secure grant funds to help underwrite the cost of the project in the midst of COVID and other issues, and expressed the hope that an open house for the completed project will be possible by the first of the year.
Barthlome is also serves on a transportation coalition board, which works with communities to apply for grants for construction projects. According to the state, the Center street bridge is “only a culvert” due to its size, but other grant funds were found to pursue the replacement of the bridge due to necessity. “The reason I’m running is that I want to see these projects done. I wanted to see the sewer project done, and the bridge project done. And we just applied for a $250,000 grant to update our city park, which is also something that’s important to me” Barthlome said.
The issue of finding another city representative to attend SICOG meetings was discussed, as were a number of other things on the audience’s radar. Upcoming projects, utilities, methods for funding the different needs of the community were discussed. The current situation regarding grants—many of which are either on hold or unclear—was discussed as a problem.
Pristupa noted that maintaining the systems in place could have prevented some of the expenses that have been incurred by projects that were not maintained sufficiently. The projects in question predate Barthlome’s administration, and it was a principle they seemed in agreement on.
Other issues that came up during the discussion included the potential for impact fees to help defray costs to the city that arise during development, various city zoning issues, and a host of other municipal issues of concern to the voters of Grace. Both candidates expressed a willingness to engage with voters who had any questions before the election.
Despite differences on some of the issues raised—which would require more space than is available to fairly articulate in a meaningful way—the cordial and civic-minded nature of the conversation carried the day. Unlike a traditional moderated format, this one allowed the candidates to jump from topic to topic in a fairly organic way, although there were not a lot of highly specific points of focus.
Soda Springs
The Soda Springs voters Forum was moderated Trent Clark, who asked one overall question about growth from both panels, as well as questions generated by audience members. The evening was divided into one discussion panel of City Council candidates, and another of Mayoral candidates.
City Council
There are two open city council seats, and three candidates. After being randomly ordered, current City Councilmember Rod Worthington introduced himself first. Worthington is currently the principal of Thirkill Elementary School in addition to his City Council position, and noted that he is “privileged to work with about 300 of the finest little citizens out there” at his school. In addition to a career working at various levels in the education system, Worthington also served for 8 years on the Planning and Zoning board prior to city council.
Ryan Carpenter is also a current City Councilmember. He grew up in Soda Springs, moved away for a bit, and then (like many people) he moved back. He stated that after moving back, he “wished he could put into words what the attraction of Soda Springs is,” but found that it was beyond easy expression. Through various capacities in the community, including working to raise funds for those in need, he has “gotten to see firsthand the generosity of people here.” He was advised by outgoing mayor Austin Robinson at one point that “complaining is the easy part,” and decided to run for council, which he said “was an eye-opening experience” for someone who had thought they “knew how cities run.”
Paige Byram is new to elected politics, but has worked in the community in a number of capacities. For instance, she started one of the most iconic modern businesses in town, Soda Sip. In that capacity, she has been involved with many events as a sponsor, organizer, and fundraiser. Her work life, as well as her three kids, have meant that she has been an involved member in community life in a number of ways.
Following their introductions, the candidates were asked a series of questions that had been submitted. Moderator Clark was deft at asking follow ups and circling back, but a survey of some of the topics covered includes communication between the city and citizens, renovating sidewalks (and infrastructure more broadly), plans for Main Street, and what they would like to accomplish by the end of two years. All the candidates agreed on the need to improve communications, and differed a bit on focus for the next two years and approaches to city infrastructure.
Again, there is not sufficient space here to adequately articulate the nuances in each person’s answers, but they can be found on the Small Town Ruckus and Rotary Club of Soda Springs resource pages on Facebook.
Mayor
The same is true of the mayoral candidates, whose answers would be best viewed in full from the recorded meeting, which has also been shared on the Idaho Enterprise Caribou County Facebook page.
The random order for mayoral candidates was Robert Lau, Brock Byram, and Paul Gritton.
Robert Lau previously served as a Soda Springs City Council member, Brock Byram is a local business owner, with Point S in Soda Springs, and Paul Gritton is a currently serving City Council member. The candidates once again agreed on several of the issues in general, but with important differences in the specifics.
As with the council candidates, the issue of revitalizing Main Street received the lion’s share of the focus, understandably as it was the question Clark asked them to be ready for. The importance of Main Street was shared by all three. “An active Main Street is where you can tell the health of a community,” Lau stated. Paul Gritton noted that he had seen some indicators that Main Street is making progress, but that it was wise to think about things in the long, rather than immediate term. Brock Byram suggested that “we can look to ourselves, and how often we use those services downtown” as a way of encouraging voters to consider how they might increase their own support of downtown businesses.
Sidewalks and infrastructure differed a bit as well. Robert Lau suggested that he would like to create a “citizens’ development council” to help advise the city on development issues. Paul Gritton noted that communication with residents who were affected by projects was of utmost importance. Brock Byram stated that “we have to have pride of ownership” in the area, and that improving the city was to everyone’s benefit.
Tourism was an interesting question that can be viewed in full on the video, but all three candidates supported the potential that tourism offered to the community, if undertaken in the right way.
In their final points, the candidates agreed that it was a good slate of choices. “If one of us aligns better with your goals, than vote for them,” Byram said. “I want to see the town grow—we are on the cusp one way or the other. I am pro-business, pro-growth, but within our bounds. We need to make sure we are increasing the value of life.”
Paul Gritton highlighted economic revitalization, Main Street, and the treatment of city employees as his focus points. “I care deeply about this community, and I would like to repay my debt to it,” he said. “I will listen to you all, and I will be this community’s biggest advocate.”
Robert Lau presented three immediate plans moving forward, a civil leadership council composed of schools, industry, and other leaders; a Mayor’s Youth Council, which is used in many towns to provide representation of non voting age citizens to the administration; and a Development Council to provide advice on growth and development issues. “We’re going to chase, and accomplish dreams we’ve all been talking about for years,” he said.
After their final questions, all candidates spoke with the assembled audience. The Farm Bureau and Rotary Club deserve much applause for putting on the event, and the Small Town Ruckus for promoting awareness of and media from the candidates.
