Qualified? Read this and decide

I would like to begin with a sincere thank you to everyone who has written letters, emails, texts and phone calls in support of me for interim mayor for the city of Hayden. I am truly humbled and honored by all the support.

On March 22 at the Hayden City Council scheduled meeting, one of the agenda items was consideration of me for interim mayor. I was not asked what my qualifications were. Instead I was interrogated by Matt Roetter on past decisions the Council made.

Mr. Roetter asked me if I voted to spend tax money on the artwork by the library. Council voted to allow the art to be located by the library and Urban Renewal paid for it with their tax money. As Mr. Roetter knows, the council has no control over how Urban Renewal spends their money.

Mr. Roetter asked me if I would apologize to Councilwoman White for a letter I submitted to the editor. I responded that I regretted the wording in my letter. I have reached out to Sandra White on more than one occasion to visit with her and explain where I was coming from in the letter. To date I have not had a response from Mrs. White. She stated that I did not show leadership by submitting my opinion in the paper, therefore she voted no for me to become interim mayor.

Matt brought up TML’s award of bid for the sewer plant. We accepted “Low Bid.” Isn’t that the way it should be when spending tax dollars? Or should we exclude a business from Hayden because its owner or employee serves the city in a non-related manner?

I was asked about growth and as I said, I believe developers should pay for the growth they profit from and they do, to the extent the state allows us to charge them.

Matt Roetter and I had coffee, which I thought was a private meeting; however at the Council meeting he opened the door to our meeting. I told Matt that I would do what the citizens of Hayden wanted me to do. I would like to divulge more of my meeting with Matt of things that were said by him that I find unethical, but it would be his word against mine. But I will throw out there that as far as donations are concerned, my wife and I donate to concerts in the park and other places that will benefit our whole community.

Since I was not given the courtesy during the meeting to share my qualifications, here are a few of my successes in my 40 years of public service.

Since the age of 13 any job I’ve had I quickly rose to a manager position. I managed a $10 million to $20 million budget for years. I have written budgets and administered them and have never gone over. I managed 50-plus employees for years.

I have interviewed hundreds of applicants, from ditch diggers to human resource directors. I have written short and long contracts and managed them; I’ve written bid specs and helped the city of Hayden go from 1970s equipment to modern equipment.

I was very involved in writing the county’s hazardous mitigation plan and disaster plan. I was the Idaho Solid Waste president and traveled the state to teach and learn. Kootenai County was the No. 1 solid waste system in Idaho for 10 years of the 12 years I was the director.

I started with the Solid Waste Department from its inception and helped build the transfer stations, landfill, recycling program and all other programs at a reasonable cost. Those plans are now the reason you are seeing slight reductions in your solid waste fees.

I’ve written 5-10-15-20-25-year plans, and have written policies for Solid Waste and other county departments. I have worked with mayors, councils, city administrators, senators, state reps and lobbyists, both local and state.

I developed a safety plan for the county that is still used today by Travelers Insurance. In my tenure at Solid Waste I managed and grew the Solid Waste fund from $2 million to $31 million. I would also like to note neither my department nor have I ever been sued.

I served three years on the Hayden Planning and Zoning Commission. I was elected three times with no opponents to City Council and was Council president for eight years until this last January.

I serve on the Sewer Board and worked with Sen. Crapo’s staff on discharge limits into waterways. I served on the Blue Ribbon Board about impact fees; I served on the Kootenai Perspectives Board and I am currently part of the Honeysuckle Beach group.

I’ve been on numerous boards for the city and other outside boards both local and state. I served on the North Idaho Fair Board for 10 years and was president of the Fair Board for six years and state president for three years. I was the president of the Idaho State Solid Waste Association for three years.

I have proven my ability to create and partnership with government and private businesses. I feel I have the skills to lead the city of Hayden as I have shown in my every endeavor. I have been very successful and blessed in my life and am truly grateful.

Sandra White judged me as a leader based on one letter regarding her in the paper. She has no idea about my leadership or skills because I wasn’t allowed to present them.

Matt Roetter, you have shown me nothing but prejudice, bias and contempt. It was obvious at the meeting when you voted not to allow me to be interim mayor. You should recuse yourself from any determination or vote on me as interim mayor.

My success in life is based on honesty and integrity, not politics. Matt, show those same attributes to the people of Hayden, and let’s show them we can work together for the people of Hayden.

Roger Saterfiel is a Hayden resident.