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STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS 2023
BY MAYOR KEVIN ENGLAND
First of all, I would like to express my personal gratitude for the opportunity that
this community has given me to continue to serve as your Mayor. What an
educational experience it has afforded me. Growth is real and comes with new
experiences every day. This job is not boring. As I am out and about in our city I
am often approached by individuals as they express gratitude. It is joyful to
experience this on behalf of all that serve and give in this community.
We continue to have the very best employees that give their all to make things
work as seamlessly as possible. We are not without our challenges, but in a team
effort we work through them as they come, and together find solutions. As we are
united, we can conquer all and lift and support one another. We had a few leave
us this year and I would like to acknowledge them. Rodney Burch, our Public
Works Director, resigned and went on to other opportunities for his career. He
told me when we hired him in 2015 that he would not be here long as he had
other things to accomplish. Billy Guinn, our Parks Superintendent, lost his battle
with cancer and passed away. Kammi Kinney, with our permitting office, retired.
Sergei Tomlin, our IT Director, and his assistant Tanner Leavitt found other
opportunities for employment. Rob Humpherys, our Construction Inspector,
retired. They each served this city well and will be missed. Our community will
continue to see the great results of their wonderful ideas and ways of
accomplishing things for years to come.
Let me express my great gratitude for one other individual that retired this year.
Tom Holmes, our long-time City Attorney. Tom made his position look easy, but it
is not. He helped us formulate the right kinds of plans and in the correct way. To
put it succinctly, he kept us out of trouble. He was an advisor to all and a wealth
of knowledge and wisdom. We wish him and his sweet wife all the best in their
future. With Tom leaving we tapped Ryan Lewis, our City Council President, to be
our City Attorney. He already knew the workings of the city and as a council
member had worked with Tom Holmes for several years. He will be a great
blessing to us all as we go forth. With his accepting this position he had to step
down from the City Council. We have appointed Norman Reece to serve on the
Council until the election later this year. Norman is proving to be an asset to our
council and their process.
Our department heads are the best of the best. They bring a marked
professionalism to the workings of our organization. Each is well trained in their
individual capacities and provides excellent leadership to their department.
Training is an ongoing process that helps keep each of our employees at the top
of their game.
Chubbuck Days this year was a fabulous success again thanks to the efforts of
Wendy Butler, the Mayors Assistant. She puts together a working team that
makes this happen, but without her organizational skills it just could not happen.
It is fun to gather as city residents and enjoy some time and activities together.
The parade and the activities at the park were well done and provided a very
good time for all that came. Movies in the Park provided an opportunity for family
and friends to come together on Friday nights all summer long and enjoy a movie
and have some social time together. Thank you to all the businesses that
sponsored these. The annual trunk or treat that is sponsored by our Emergency
Services personnel happened on Halloween at our new city hall. It was a great
success again this year. We had many happy youngsters along with their parents.
Again, thank you to the many sponsors. Christmas in the Park and Christmas lights
competitions were excellent this year. These kinds of activities really help to unify
our city. Thank you to all who planned and participated in these events.
You might ask, what makes this such a great community? My answer is multi-
faceted. First it is the quality and attitude of the citizens that reside in Chubbuck.
It is a great place because great people live here. Next, as I have mentioned
previously, are the fabulous people that are employed at the city, each of whom
gives their very best. Last and not least is the volunteer spirit that permeates the
area we live in. When it comes right down to it, volunteerism has honestly made
this city what it is. I am always amazed at how quickly volunteers come forward
anytime there is a need. Our fire department got its roots from volunteers, our
policing has been strengthened by volunteers, beautification efforts have only
worked through volunteers, and we have a plan to make that even more of a
reality. This year we will be rolling out an “Adopt a Park” program. Volunteers will
be able to make a significant difference in their neighborhoods. I know because of
the nature of our citizens that this will be successful and prove to be a blessing.
After a full year in our new city hall, it is proving to be very functional and will
serve our needs for decades to come. The multi-purpose room is fast becoming a
favorite meeting place for many quasi-governmental organizations, and we are
happy to welcome them on behalf of our citizens. The former city hall is being
remodeled into our new police station and should be finished and functioning in
the very near future. This has been a much needed, long-awaited addition for our
law enforcement men and women. The new animal control facility will be
completed around the same time. It will be located next door to the new police
station. Be looking for a ribbon cutting on these two wonderful projects.
We are all anxiously awaiting the opening of the new Chubbuck Olive Garden
Italian Restaurant later this month. I was told over a decade ago as I started
service to this city that the trifecta of success would be to get a Hobby Lobby, an
Olive Garden, and a Target Store. Well, we have 2 of the 3 with a Hobby Lobby
and the Olive Garden. I guess we have our marching orders for the next year.
Time will tell.
We continue to work with the Bannock Development Corporation for economic
development in our city. As important as it is for us to work at drawing new
businesses with new opportunities to our area, it is equally important for us to
see to the health and wellbeing of our current businesses and see to it that they
can be successful and thrive. We have a lot of great businesses that call us home.
Let us all make sure and support them. A signature business that has made
Chubbuck their home base is Idaho Central Credit Union. What a beautiful
campus they have created in our city. We want to say thank you and good-bye to
Kent Oram as he has, as of December 31, 2022, retired as President and CEO of
this great business. Kent has been such a team player with this community. Much
of the success that we had in building our new city hall came from his cooperative
spirit. He was instrumental in helping to secure a major donation, from ICCU, for
our fire department’s new ladder truck. He will be missed. We also welcome his
replacement, Brenda Worrell, and know that she will continue in the great
tradition of generosity and that ICCU will continue to prosper. We look forward to
working with her and seeing all that she will accomplish. We wish her our
absolute best. The Allstate Building has sold and I see this as a win/win. Covid
taught Allstate that having their employees work from home would take care of
their needs and so they didn’t need the big office building. School District 25 has
purchased the building with the intention of developing a Trade and Vocational
High School. What a great idea whose time has come. This will be a good thing for
our entire area. Kudos to School District 25!
I would be remiss if I did not publicly express heartfelt thanks and appreciation for
the men and women that serve on our Zoning and Land Use Board as well as
those that serve on the Chubbuck Development Authority. They spend a
substantial amount of time and give great effort in serving this community. We
have been making changes to our land use ordinances and this has called for
major effort from that committee. They also serve as our Impact Fee Committee,
to help us set and appropriately use Impact Fees. Chubbuck’s initial urban
renewal district was formed in 1992 and with this district the CDA has served this
city well. The 92 plan retired this year and has taken best efforts of this group, in
conjunction with the City Council, to help it finish strong. It has done much good
in its 30 years and many individuals have served on this committee. We have
other districts that the CDA will work hard with to help bring intended strength
and growth.
There has been substantial change in the way things happen since the advent of
the Covid-19 virus. Some good, some bad, and some yet to be determined. One of
those changes is the building of multi-family dwellings. I have heard several say
Chubbuck needs to quit building so many apartments. The reality is the
developers in Chubbuck are building what the market will support. With interest
rates so high and the asking price of new homes also high, few can afford to buy a
stand-alone, single-family home. The lack of affordable housing is a major issue all
over the country right now. It is my hope that the market can correct itself and we
can get back to what most of us see as normal in a short time. We will see.
2023 will be a unique city election year for the City of Chubbuck as 3 City Council
seats will be up for election rather than the normal 2 with one of our council seats
being an appointment which only serves till the next city election. There will be
seats 1 and 3 both for 4-year terms and seat 4 for a 2 year term. Many express a
desire to serve, and this provides an opportunity to be able to have some say in
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the public dialogue. The election will be on November 7 and filing dates start
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August 28 and end September 8. The Secretary of State site online has a 2023
election calendar that will give you all the information you need to participate. All
who may be interested should start giving it some thought.
On a personal note, I had the wonderful privilege of serving as the President of
the Association of Idaho Cities during this last year. I have served on their district
board for many years and on their executive board for a few years. It was a great
challenge and blessing to provide statewide leadership for Idaho’s Cities. It gave
Chubbuck a very timely opportunity to make a difference and I believe that we
did. After serving with this organization, I have much more confidence in the
future of Idaho because of the dedication and commitment of the leaders of her
cities.
Our city is in great financial shape. We received a clean audit again this year. We
have a Triple A rating on our financial status. That has been the case for as long as
I can remember. It takes the very best efforts of each and every one on this team
to make that happen. We work hard to budget conservatively and to stay within
the framework of our budget. As I sit annually with our auditors, they are very
complimentary on our process and procedures. We take the public trust
concerning tax dollars seriously. Way to go team.
We continue to grow at the historical pace we have always experienced. It is
amazing that with all the challenges in our world right now things are going along
at an uninterrupted, normal pace. Thank you to all the developers and businesses
that continue this work.
With 2022 in the books with all its wins and challenges, we can look forward to
the many opportunities that 2023 will bring to us. It is said in truth, “united we
stand, divided we fall”. We can have our disagreements and still be united if we
learn the art of disagreeing without being disagreeable. Let us always remember
that as we are united, we can do all things… especially hard things! The best is yet
to come.
With warm regards,
Mayor Kevin England