Is Eagle turning into Stockton, California? Yikes!

It was the spring of 2020 and my husband had just left for an overseas deployment after nursing me back to health from a serious illness, probably Covid. It was his second deployment in just a little over a year. The public high school where I worked in San Diego was shut down and I was working remotely as best I could. Governor Newsom had also closed the beaches and instituted a mandatory curfew. I felt like I was living in another world, a police state.

I slowly regained my health as the school year dragged to an end; my husband still deployed overseas and with things in California looking no better than at the start of the pandemic, I made up my mind to spend my summer vacation anywhere but California. The day after my school year ended, I packed up my car Gracie and hit the road, determined to put as much distance between me and this new police state as possible.

I drove to Wyoming where I met my family and camped in Grand Teton National Park for a couple of days. Surprisingly, the park was packed. I imagine many like me were trying to escape from the crushing lockdowns in urban cities across America. I then traveled to Montana where I spent a couple of weeks on my sister’s farm in western Montana. The big skies and open spaces soothed my troubled soul. I was free in the wide-open space and fresh air. I basked in the quiet stillness of the mornings, inhaling the scent of freshly cut alfalfa.

From there, I made my way to Idaho to visit my folks in Boise. My father was battling prostate cancer and we didn’t know how much longer he would be with us. I enjoyed weeks in the warm sunshine with parents, siblings and extended family. We swam in my parent’s pool, barbecued, played games, floated the river and attended the farmer’s market.

As my summer break wound down, I dreaded returning to California and its restrictions. The only bright spot was a planned stop in Las Vegas to visit my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter before heading home to begin the new school year again.

The school year began in eerie solitude as I was required to return to work in person, but no students were allowed on campus. It was surreal. Eventually, my sweet husband returned home from deployment and some semblance of normalcy returned to my life. Things had to get better now that he was home, right?

The months dragged on and students were finally allowed to return to campus in the spring. It was so good to have that human contact again, albeit from behind a mask, but at least the students were back at school learning in person. That was something. However, many people were angry about Covid and how things were handled. You could feel their seething anger below the surface. More nonsense from the Governor, and a recall effort was launched.

My husband spent weekends attending meetings with a conservative radio talk show host and grass roots volunteers strategizing and formulating a plan, going door to door asking for support.

Even though there was a lot of support for the recall of Governor Newsom, ultimately the effort failed, and this emboldened the governor even further. With taxes on the rise and more nonsensical and restrictive measures being introduced into the legislature, my husband really began questioning “why are we still living in California?” Although it was our dream to retire in San Diego and enjoy the ocean and perfect weather, crazy leadership and policies were quickly squeezing out the middle class, making life unbearable and calling into question the practicality of our dream.

The failed recall of Governor Newsom prompted some serious soul searching; my husband concluded that California was a lost cause which would not be salvaged in our lifetimes. He did not want any more of our hard-earned tax dollars going to support and subsidize programs that were bad policies and did not align with our values.

My father passed away in December 2021, and that sealed our fate. With my paternal grandparents both Idaho born as well as my father, and having lived previously in Idaho for a decade, our hearts and minds turned to Idaho, and we concluded that this great state would be our new home.

We began searching in the Treasure Valley so that we would be close to my widowed mother and my two younger siblings. We stumbled upon the community of Eagle and quickly fell in love with its charm and small-town feel. We found a lovely home in the beautiful community of Brookwood among the park-like lanes.

We settled into our home in the Spring of 2022 and quickly got involved in the community through church, the Eagle farmer’s market and neighborhood events. As this would be our forever home and community, we were all in.

In late fall, I was shocked and stunned to hear of the proposed annexation of Avimor, some 18,000 acres north of Eagle, a good 10 plus minute drive from downtown. I immediately got involved. I attended Planning & Zoning meetings and gave testimony. The Eagle Planning and Zoning committee recommended to the City Council to NOT approve the annexation. This was very good news.

I attended multiple city council meetings regarding the Avimor annexation. The first meeting brought a packed house. I passionately testified against the proposal as I had previously at the P & Z meeting. Eagle citizens were overwhelmingly against the annexation. There were so many people wanting to testify that the City Council had to hold a second meeting to hear all of the testimony.

At the second meeting, I was prepared with my sign for the media which read “Say NO to urban sprawl! No Avimor! Don’t Californicate Idaho!” (Having spent four decades in California, I had witnessed this kind of unrestrained growth firsthand. And it never turned out well.) Days turned into weeks, but finally the City Council met to rule on the Avimor proposal.

Astonishingly, the City Council refused to listen to their constituents. Brad Pike was the only dissenting vote. We, the people, were sorely disappointed and disheartened. The City Council’s ruling is deeply troubling and reminiscent of the “government” from which we and many others had fled.

But the fight continues. There are many unanswered questions about this annexation and its legalities. I hope there is still recourse for our lovely community of Eagle, because now that Eagle is the second largest community in Idaho (acreage wise), akin to Stockton, California, I fear it is only a matter of time before this quaint small town is overrun by cars and people. Eagle was to be our forever home and it is so disappointing to have moved here and still be met with government leadership that ignores the voices of the people. Shame on them! We all know how Stockton, California turned out. I hope this annexation does not portend the beginning of the end for Eagle.

November is right around the corner! We haven’t forgotten! From what I understand, the Mayor and two of the City Council member positions are up for reelection. Vote for new leadership in November if you care about the quality of life in Eagle! The current council is too similar to the tone-deaf leadership we just left behind. Better yet, throw your hat into the ring and run for office. We need strong ethical voices that will preserve and fight to keep Idaho pure and unadulterated, preventing Idaho from becoming another California.