08/14/2026
One of the commitments I made when I asked for your vote to serve as Mayor was to help create a more open and transparent City Hall. That commitment matters most when the issues are complicated, emotions are high, and reasonable people may disagree.
Over the past several days, there has been a great deal of discussion about Sacajawea Park, housing, City-owned property near the park, NeighborWorks Pocatello, and my previous role with that organization.
I welcome those conversations. Citizens should ask questions of their government. They should question proposals, attend meetings, speak during public hearings, request records, and hold elected officials accountable.
But I also believe we have a responsibility to make sure those conversations begin with accurate information.
Honesty and integrity are core values for me. When I hear something that concerns me, I want to be able to check it for myself. As Mayor, I want to make it easier for every citizen to do the same.
For example, the NeighborWorks proposal was discussed publicly with the City Council at its May 14 work session. The materials presented at that meeting describe a potential long-term lease of City-owned property, rather than a donation of land, and a first phase consisting of 24 affordable senior apartments on approximately 1.2 acres of a larger City-owned parcel near Sacajawea Park. Those documents are available for anyone to review.
You can review the City Council materials here:
https://pocatello.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05142026-1905?html=true
You can also follow City agendas, minutes, staff reports, and supporting documents through the City's Agenda Center:
https://pocatello.gov/AgendaCenter
It is also important to understand how the process works. The Planning & Zoning Commission is an advisory body on zoning and land-use matters. Its recommendations are an important part of the public process, but the City Council is responsible for final decisions on those matters.
I spent many years leading NeighborWorks Pocatello before becoming Mayor, and I am proud of the work we did helping families, seniors, and neighborhoods. NeighborWorks now has different leadership, and my responsibility today is to the citizens of Pocatello.
Questions about that history are fair. Questions about conflicts of interest are fair. Disagreement with a housing proposal is fair. Wanting to preserve and improve Sacajawea Park is fair — and I agree that Sacajawea Park is one of our community assets that deserves continued attention and investment.
But allegations of wrongdoing are serious, and they deserve something more substantial than repetition on social media.
When misinformation - intentional or not - becomes part of the conversation, complicated questions about housing, growth, parks, infrastructure, and our future can quickly get flattened into one-sided virtue-signaling contests. That doesn't help us make better decisions. It makes it harder for neighbors to understand one another and harder to find workable solutions.
And if anyone genuinely believes corruption has occurred, there is an independent process outside Pocatello City government for addressing that concern.
The Idaho Attorney General's Office accepts public-corruption complaints involving allegations of criminal conduct by elected city officials acting in their official capacity. The Attorney General's Office determines whether a complaint meets the requirements for investigation. That means those allegations can be examined outside our City government and on the facts. The Attorney General also makes clear that this particular process does not cover civil matters such as open-meeting or public-record disputes.
Information and the complaint process are available here:
https://www.ag.idaho.gov/office-resources/public-corruption/
If someone sincerely believes that corruption has occurred and the legal standard to have something investigated has been met, I encourage them to use the proper process. I would much rather have serious allegations examined by the appropriate independent authority than decided through rumor, speculation, or Facebook comments.
At the same time, I want to thank the people of Pocatello who have spoken up - whether you support a proposal, oppose it, or are still trying to understand it. Please keep speaking up. Please keep asking questions. Please keep showing up. Those conversations are how we make this community better.
When I ran against our former mayor, there were plenty of things we disagreed about. That’s the main reason why I ran against him. But I could still identify things he had done or positions he held that I agreed with. I think being able to recognize common ground - even with someone you strongly disagree with - is one of the marks of a reasonable decision-maker.
We don't have to choose between caring about parks and caring about seniors who need affordable housing. We don't have to agree on every development proposal to agree that Pocatello needs thoughtful growth. And we shouldn't have to belong to the same political camp to acknowledge when someone makes a good point.
There is an old saying worth remembering:
“If you won’t admit a broken clock is right twice a day, you probably just hate clocks.”
Let's keep asking hard questions. Let's keep checking the facts. And let's keep looking for the common ground that allows neighbors to solve problems together.
That's the kind of community conversation we all want to have.
For all city business matters, its best to write directly to me at [email protected] so they can be properly addressed.
