Idaho Falls Mayoral Race, Pt. 2 - Jeff Alldridge

Alright so moving along to Part 2, Jeff Alldridge's responses to my questions. If you are curious about my opinions or the questions in detail then go back to Part 1. I will say I was really impressed that I had both Jeff and Lisa respond to me and give me their time. Hopefully we see this same openness once they are in office. Always hard talking to politicians during election time, its like a dog that seems to like you but you have pocket bacon. Unclear if the pleasant attitude will persist into a bacon-less future. Some of Jeff's responses may have been edited for content or brevity by me.

Jeff's Answers

First question was about our city's dependence on INL.

You’re right that we’re heavily dependent on the lab—it’s the old “your parents worked at INL or you were poor” reality. We need to leverage what we have: cheap electricity, water access, and we’re right in the pipeline of major Internet connectivity. Idaho Falls could attract data centers and advanced manufacturing—our climate naturally cools facilities for a good portion of the year, which is a real competitive advantage. I know there is skepticism to “big tech” here. That would be a challenge.

The bigger piece is vocational training. I read Daniel Pink’s “A Whole New Mind” almost 20 years ago about how we pushed everyone toward white-collar jobs that seemed “safe”—lawyers, doctors, office work—while dismissing blue-collar jobs and trades. Pink predicted those “safe” jobs would be easily outsourced to other countries, while the hands-on work would stay local. That was before AI, and now we’re seeing even more disruption to knowledge work. The trades that can’t be automated or shipped overseas are exactly what we should be developing here. CEI is doing good work, but we need to start that mindset shift in high school—not everyone needs a four-year degree (or more) for a good career.

In general I like this answer. It shows that he is considering the system level of employment in town. I'm not sure about AI data centers and would caution against bubble industries but bringing in other engineering or advanced manufacturing employers would be good.

Second question was about the City helping get schools built.

The hard truth is that school funding comes from the state, and Idaho’s bonding requirements are brutal. Look at what just happened in Shelley—they asked for $78.64 million for a new high school and voters rejected it 64% to 35%. That would have cost taxpayers $423 per $100,000 of assessed value annually. One voter said it would have more than doubled their property taxes from $1,050 to $2,150. When districts ask for amounts that unrealistic, they’re setting themselves up to fail.

By law, the city can’t contribute funds to schools, and we can’t even redirect impact fees toward school construction like other states allow. What we can do is coordinate land use with District 91’s facility planning (we did earmark land north off 49th for a future high school), work with our state reps to reform the bonding process so it’s not a super-majority requirement, and do reasonable bond requests.

While I don't agree with Jeff that the Shelley high school price tag was too costly, I mean everything costs too much right now, I liked his focus on working with the school districts through zoning and planning. I also think having a local advocate for the bond garbage would be great.

Third question, most critical departments of the next 5-10 years.

Public Works—they’re managing infrastructure that’s already strained and will only get worse as we grow.

Police—we’re understaffed now. A 2020 study said we should have 112 full-time officers for a city our size; we have 102. Council approved adding two new positions each year over the next five years, so we’ll reach 2020 standards by 2030. That’s backwards.

Community Development Services—managing growth is already contentious, and some well-intentioned (but not realistic) ideas in the comprehensive plan have really upset residents. That massive development off 25th and Holmes by Home Depot is a perfect example of how not to handle transitions between housing types. Why build so much density in the middle of the city?

I like the focus on Public Works and on the Police department. While I would prefer stronger policy, training, and education changes in our police department we are very understaffed. I also would like a thorough study of the use of precinct based policing in our sprawling metropolis.

Fourth question, how to help out young folks starting careers.

This is tough because it’s largely private-sector driven. Companies have gotten myopic about requiring degrees for entry-level positions, and getting approval for new hires often means hiring senior people because the pay difference matters less than justifying the position at all. I’ve fought this in my own company trying to hire entry-level people.

The city can facilitate connections between businesses, CEI, and students—especially in trades like electrical, HVAC, linework. These aren’t second-class careers; an electrician who works through apprenticeship can out-earn most college graduates and their work can’t be outsourced or automated.

This is a good answer, but should have been better. There is a tendency to not want to hire entry level folks, but that's true everywhere. Not an IF specific problem. No discussion of critical steps or policies that could be taken to reverse this trend. One of his weakest answers.

Fifth question, Traffic.

At least we haven’t done anything stupid like removing traffic lanes for bike lanes. (I believe he is sarcastic here) But we’re living with 30-year-old planning mistakes. Part of the problem is that we keep annexing land that butts up to county roads, which are only 50 feet wide—25 feet from the center line to someone’s property. Even after annexation, if we want to expand those roads, we have very little room to work with, so we end up with these accordion effects where roads narrow and widen unpredictably.

This is short-sightedness from Idaho Falls and Bonneville County. The BMPO is trying to solve this now, which costs exponentially more than it would have in the 1990s when south of us was just agriculture. The key going forward is not approving more density in the core until we have the road capacity, and putting future density closer to freeway access. Costco should have been built right off I-15, for example.

We are living with old decisions that were never adjusted, a 30 year plan for a city growing like ours just doesn't make sense. I personally think the county has actively undermined the city in many different land use and planning instances so we may disagree there. In general, I like his focus but this answer was a bit light on actual actions.

Sixth question, State Legislators engagement.

I know Wendy Horman and Barbara Ehardt—they’re good people focused on state-level issues that affect us. They do town halls regularly through Stand Up for Idaho, The City Club and other venues.

Where they can help Idaho Falls specifically is on structural issues like school funding reform that would benefit the whole state and Idaho Falls.

I'm opposite from Jeff on the quality of our state reps in general. He is right that the town halls they do have are poorly attended. What I would say is its because they don't understand that the majority of IF folks work 45-50 hours a week and can't make a Tuesday evening work in the middle of the school year. Our leaders need to come to us. I would love to see some work on school funding reform, Wendy has already started that by giving away $50 million to private schools. Not a great start. Also, if Barb has done anything but fight culture wars I haven't seen it.

Seventh question, Mayor for the whole city

Ha. Easy. Simply be a mayor that listens and cares for the whole city. The city has created a culture of distrust and non-interaction. I want citizens to come to city council meetings and make their concerns heard. And when we listen sincerely and make judgments based on that input rather than predetermined decisions, that trust will increase.

This is interesting, and shows some (in my opinion) good naivety about Idaho Falls. We are a weird city to govern with a lot of well off folks, then a lot of poor folks, and not a lot in the middle. I would be interested to see how he would engage with the specific areas that are often ignored.

Eighth question, Public safety

This is something I need to learn more about. I know certain areas get better patrol coverage than others, and that’s wrong. The lettered streets shouldn’t feel like second-class citizens compared to areas like Shamrock Park. Stephanie Taylor-Thompson knows more about this issue than I do and is passionate about addressing it. I need to partner with Stephanie to learn more.

Okay, two things that I like here. Number one is him saying he doesn't know enough about the issues. That is honest and shows willingness to learn. Second, he's noticing the class structure in town and that is a good sign. Its reality.

Ninth question, development initiatives

That Utah company Tag-N-Go must have run some incredible market analysis on car wash viability here—probably based on our water costs. We’ve had to hit saturation by now. At least I hope so.

What we need to do is make it equally easy for businesses that would actually benefit Idaho Falls. Right now our process isn’t user-friendly, so companies go to Ammon instead. Ammon just launched an online portal where you fill out one form to start doing business—that’s how frictionless they’re making it. Additionally, we can’t pick and choose favorites. We can’t treat In-N-Out Burger better than a mom-and-pop startup. Everyone should get the same clear, predictable process. We need to make the process easy and predictable.

Jeff and I are in full agreement about the car wash saturation, making the systems easier to use, and fixing the process. Also, I would hope his administration would be free of the previous wooing that goes on when big companies come to town.

Tenth question, better communication and coordination.

We have multiple Public Information Officers (PIO) across 11 departments. Our website uses CivicPlus—the same content management system for governments that other cities make work fine—but ours feels purposely confusing.

Simple fix: do what East Idaho News does. Post full details on the website, then share digestible updates on social platforms with links back to the full story. Use the tools we have better and meet people where they actually are.

Agreed here. In every case. He's right.

Eleventh question, GIFT and public transit

I need to review the current contracts, but public transportation is always subsidized—that’s okay because it serves people who genuinely need access. The question is efficiency.

Rather than bus routes that might not serve enough people consistently, I’d explore partnerships with rideshare services where residents with special needs, elderly, or other qualifying circumstances get subsidized Uber/Lyft rides. That gives us flexibility to adjust subsidies based on actual usage without the overhead of maintaining buses and routes.

If we did a bus route, the only one that might work is a loop: 17th to Hitt Road, west on Sunnyside, up Snake River Parkway through Utah Avenue past Walmart, right on Broadway back to 17th. But I’m not sure that would serve enough people to justify it.

We agree that traditional public transit isn't functional in our city now. Too many services are spread too far, which is why I think the GIFT process works well. I also appreciated that he acknowledged a government subsidy for a public service and didn't decry it as socialism. Reasonable.

Twelfth question, Recreation center

It’s shameful that a city our size, with our winters and family demographic, doesn’t have an indoor rec center.

We have three golf courses. A rec center on land the city already owns would benefit more residents than maintaining all of them. I know people would revolt if you threatened Pinecrest, but that’s prime real estate with great access right off Northgate Mile.

The advantage I have as a candidate is that I don’t owe anyone anything. No one’s giving me money with expectations attached. I don’t care about power, ego, or building a political career. I want two terms to make a difference, then step aside for others. That means I can’t be bought or pressured by “moneyed interests.”

It was great to hear a potential leader acknowledge the shame of not having a good community center. Hell, CASPER WYOMING has one! (WYO Sports Ranch) I'm not sure Pinecrest needs cannibalized, I think we have some other land that would work. I hope his final comments bear out if he wins. Its easy to say that now, but it might be harder when our surprisingly well funded "moneyed interests" show up.

Side note, I have an idea for this too that I'll discuss in the future. Ask me if you want more details or to be involved!

Thirteenth (and final) question, serving working families.

This cuts across several of your questions. Too many residents feel like there are different classes of citizens based on whether you’re INL, agricultural money, or professional services. When I talked to the firefighters union, I was shocked that most firefighters need second or third jobs because the city isn’t paying market rates relative to cost of living. These are jobs that used to provide a solid quality of life and were sought after—now our first responders are struggling to make ends meet.

We need to help businesses establish here—whether inside city limits or in cooperation with unincorporated Bonneville County—encourage vocations, and identify what our next niche industry could be. A rising tide lifts all boats, but only if we’re intentional about creating opportunities for people who live here now.

I do appreciate his seeming willingness to explore novel or innovative approaches to getting businesses in town. I personally think we need to collaborate with the County a bit less until they stop undermining city development. But the reality is that the majority of our city counts as lower-middle or working poor class. We need someone who will see that and act, rather than turn away and focus more on Sunnyside.