DePriest seeks Hayden Council seat

Ed DePriest is running for Hayden City Council, Seat 2, held by Richard "Dick" Panabaker.

As a council member, DePriest said his three goals are:

• Better management of growth and density developments to ensure Hayden keeps its "small-town feel"

• Balancing the tax structure to alleviate the burden on homeowners

• Maintaining public safety, infrastructure and services

A North Idaho resident since 1994, DePriest is a recently retired high school teacher who continues to coach football at Lake City High School.

DePriest said he saw the negative impacts of high-density growth firsthand growing up outside Los Angeles. Once undeveloped land, DePriest said the area became "wall-to-wall tract homes, high-density apartments and multifamily residential dwellings" not a decade after his family bought their home.

The development of his hometown led to a "progressive deterioration of the day-to-day quality of life" through increasing traffic congestion, overcrowding in schools, vandalism, pollution, crime and taxes.

DePriest said he has witnessed similar growth in Hayden since he moved to the city in 2004.

"The open spaces are rapidly being consumed with tract homes and high-density residential multifamily development," he said. "The consequences of growth are rapidly deteriorating the quality of life that Hayden has historically known."

A self-described fiscal conservative and spearhead of the Responsible North Idaho Growth group, DePriest said he would try to amend the 2040 Imagine Hayden Comprehensive Plan to reduce high-density and multifamily developments.

"The Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map do not represent the desires of the residents of Hayden," DePriest said. "Instead of high-density residential development, the city needs to plan more business, commercial and light industrial developments — especially around the airport."

Bringing more commercial entities to the city of Hayden would balance the tax burden impacting residents, he said.

Facebook page: Hayden Council Candidate Ed DePriest