Longtime mayor is not seeking reelection

A familiar name will be missing from the ballot when Rathdrum voters choose a mayor in November.

Longtime Mayor Vic Holmes won't be seeking reelection.

“I’m not running for any office this time,” Holmes said. “I will be on the [Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization board] until I resign. And I’ll still be the second chair of the Association of Idaho Cities. But I may resign from that position early to give them time to pick someone new.”

Holmes will have served 16 years as the city's mayor, following a four-year city council term.

His last day as mayor will be Jan. 10.

“I’ve just done it long enough,” he said. “I picked the ball up in 2003 and I just ran with it as long as I could.”

Holmes said he has had a passion for the role of mayor, but this previous term he’s felt that fervor fading, so he believes it’s time to go.

Holmes has tackled a lot of big issues in his 20 years as an elected Rathdrum official, but none he’s more proud of than the parks, he said.

“That’s a huge thing that we’ve done for the kids and the people,” he said. “The splash park is our most visited thing during the summer months.”

He said he is also proud of the city’s skate park, which he personally spearheaded in collaboration with council members.

Kids in the community raised money for a skate park before Holmes was mayor and the money went into the general fund, where it was spent on city business, he said.

“That’s awful,” he said. “That’s not happening.”

Holmes sat down one day with a friend, a structural engineer, and drew plans for the park on a napkin.

“We can do this,” he said.

Holmes literally put his sweat into building the Rathdrum Skate Park, for which he laid the rebar and set concrete forms.

“He’s given so much to the city over the years,” Parks and Recreation Director Eric Singer said. “Not just time during business hours. The special events and late meetings. He’s always available to take a phone call. He’s put in so much time and energy and been able to accomplish so much in those 16 years.”

Singer worked with Holmes throughout that time and coached with him for six years. He’s also known him for 35 years because he grew up as a friend of Holmes' son.

Singer said Rathdrum Mountain wasn't open to the community before Holmes' efforts.

“I know the mayor was heavily involved getting access to the property so people could actually use it," Singer said. "There are tons of trails planned for the future too, which it’ll take years to put in.”

Holmes has other notable accomplishments from his tenure as mayor, but he doesn’t talk about them as much as the work he’s done with kids and on parks.

“He’s supported every department, but he’s been very good for our department,” Singer said. “He’s worked with Parks and Rec very well while he’s been here."

Singer and Holmes have worked together as Rathdrum has grown from a population of 1,200 people to over 10,000.

“We’ve grown a lot, but we’ve also been able to add parkland,” Singer said. “Like Majestic Park. The mayor worked really hard with the council to get that park built.”

As a former construction worker, bus driver, business owner and sports coach, the mayor is able to pull from a lot of resources. He’s also forthright and direct, and generally unafraid to speak his mind.

“I couldn’t have been the mayor for this long if I weren’t fair,” Holmes said. “The people wouldn’t have elected me.”

Holmes was also mayor when Rathdrum became a learning city when regional businesses drove the initiative to create the Kootenai Technical Education Campus. Then North Idaho College Parker Technical Education Center was proposed and Holmes fought to keep that campus in Rathdrum.

“Our support got KTEC here," he said.

Holmes worked with council members to save for projects such as upgrading city streets from chip-sealed to asphalt, saving the city money in the long term.

But he never accomplished anything by himself, he said. He’s had pet projects he really tried to drive home, but nothing was done alone.

“I never thought being the mayor was a position of power,” he said. “I trust the staff. I feel like I’ve hired a very good staff. They are the professionals. To me, that’s the role of the governing board is to oversee the staff.”

Next year his role will be to spend time with his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and family.

“My wife will retire next year, and so we will be able to do things,” Holmes said. “And we’ll be able to do something and enjoy our retirement.”

He may run for another position in the future, but he’s not planning on it for this election season.

“I had never intended to be on the board for 20 years,” he said.

Rathdrum still has work ahead that Holmes would like to see done soon.

“We need to get to a point that we are self-sufficient,” he said. “You can only keep growing by managing the growth.”