Waggoner announces run for NIC trustee position

Mike Waggoner, a lifelong resident of the Northwest, announced Thursday that he is running for the Zone 5 seat on the North Idaho College board of trustees.

Waggoner was born in the Treasure Valley to the family of a small businessman. His mother’s family came to Idaho in 1907 as homesteaders and his father’s family were general contractors building homes, according to a news release announcing his candidacy. His family still runs their Nampa-area farm, which was started in 1920.

“I was raised with conservative values and continued those as I moved to rural and suburban areas of the Northwest,” Waggoner said in the release.

Waggoner worked 45 years in “high level organizational roles where he was expected to set the direction of entire businesses, manage the construction of new facilities and to facilitate communication between sub-organizations.”

“I’ve been attending board meetings for 10 months. I have observed the problems at North Idaho College,” Waggoner said in the release. “I want to remove the causes of the accreditation issues, expand the capabilities of the college, especially tech programs and increase enrollment which has been shrinking. Let’s Make NIC Great Again.”

Waggoner achieved the position of acting first sergeant in the U.S. Army.

“He comes from a military family that has protected their community for over 250 years,” the release said. “ His family signed the Declaration of Independence, directed the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in Virginia and helped with the Bill of Rights.”

Waggoner started his education at a community college and credits that opportunity as what made it possible for him to work his way through school to get a four-year degree and then go to graduate school.

He is a conservative Christian and was the Sunday school superintendent at Cedar Mill Bible Church. He was also in charge of the ushers at Evergreen Community Church.

He is a 1983 graduate of the University of Portland, a Jesuit school, with a master’s degree in business administration.

“Mr. Waggoner has spent 27 years in high tech and 19 years in the aerospace field working with Boeing. Mike was the manager for all new software development in the Peterbilt and Kenworth factories in North America,” the release said. “At the time of his transfer to a different position in 1988, his unit was responsible for over $3 billion in sales per year.”

Mr. Waggoner was active in local politics for nine years between 2003 and 2012 with the express intent of protecting homeowners’ property rights. He was an HOA president and worked with county leaders to achieve that protection.

“I was raised with Idaho farm culture and want to see Idaho culture preserved and the people of Idaho prosper,” he said in the release.