MY TURN: Now is the time to decide who will help lead our communities

Election season is here, providing each of us with the important responsibility to shape our local government, but only if we get out and vote. I have been encouraged to share some observations, potentially to spark conversation amongst friends. As such, this article is written from my personal perspective.

The city of Hayden operates in some ways like a $40M corporation that provides services to customers. Citizens, who play the role of customers and corporate stakeholders, influence many decisions through voting, providing testimony, participating in focus groups and serving on commissions or committees. A mayor and four city council members serve both the city and stakeholders by providing strategic decisions and by being accountable for city ordinances and employee performance.

But in many ways a municipality is not like a corporation. For example, Hayden is significantly limited by how it receives income to pay expenses. Further complicating this illustration is that monies are organized by “fund,” which dictates how and where they can be generated and spent. A second difference is that we potentially elect new people every two years with different ideas, faster than the city’s ability to implement previous decisions; this is referred to as “the windshield wiper effect."

I have seen each of the roles work together exceptionally well. Hayden’s current comprehensive plan was developed over a two-year project period that relied on many meetings and workshops with the public, guided by an invested council, mayor and city staff. More recently, we enjoyed many stakeholder meetings collaborating and forming designs for Hayden Canyon Park.

But sometimes I see our roles unnecessarily at odds with each other. A good example of this has been realized over the past two years, while trying to complete meaningful updates to our city’s comprehensive plan. This work is fundamental to updating standards supporting citizen desired outcomes.

When a mayor and council work together, not necessarily agreeing with every detail, clear direction is more easily provided to capture a city’s priorities. When your elected representatives demonstrate their ability to collaborate with their peers, it enhances your city’s ability to complete important work. There are even bigger challenges we will tackle in 2026, including reviewing our base levy rate, our law enforcement needs and potentially assuming sewer plant operations and maintenance.

When we vote this time, I hope that each of us looks at the impact our incumbents’ successes and priorities have made on the community, and the experience each challenger professes to bring to their position, as both apply to helping run our “$40M service provider” — the city I love. Please consider electing people who value effective teamwork and provide mutual support to each other while working though sometimes difficult issues.

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Alan Davis is the mayor of the city of Hayden.