Ridgeway for Eagle Mayor

The following letter is a political announcement paid for by Citizens to Elect Stan Ridgeway, Stan Ridgeway, Treasurer.

Calling for Thoughtful Conservative Leadership and Logical Management Stan, Ridgeway is running for Mayor of Eagle to represent and listen to Eagle residents, not special interest.

During the past four years, Eagle elected officials seem to have based their decisions on special interest rather than what the long-term costs of those rulings will be in the future. Former Mayor Stan Ridgeway will be a voice for Eagle residents. Ridgeway promises that your voice will be “heard” and, as in the past, he will continue his passion of being a mayor who works for you. Eagle deserves a mayor who understands that decisions based on special interest can cost taxpayers a great deal of money and can lead to indefensible legal entanglements.

Ridgeway was first elected to the city council in 2013, served two years, and was then elected Mayor in 2015. Ridgeway is drawn to public office by a lack of transparency and the absence of respectful communication between the council and constituents. The past four years under Mayor Pierce and Councilman Pike have continued the practice of discounting residents’ concerns and interests. Former Mayor Ridgeway will reverse this arrogant behavior toward Eagle residents. 
Before he was elected to the council, Ridgeway attended numerous meetings where Eagle residents were interrupted, berated, and harassed while giving testimony before the council. It’s the mayor’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen. The mayor must assure the taxpayers that they can come before their elected representatives without fear of being rebuked or intimidated. They should believe they will be heard and their views will not be discounted just because they differ from their elected officials.

Ridgeway has a long history as an elected official and in public service. Before coming to Idaho, he was the Deputy Director of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. He retired in 2003 as the Deputy Director of the Alaska Division of Insurance. He also served two terms on the Juneau, Alaska Board of Education and one three-year term on the Juneau Assembly. Other community service includes being President of the Eagle Senior Center, Chairman of Headgate 72 irrigation lateral, member of a local rescue squad, in several ministries at his church, and chairman of a local March of Dimes fundraiser.

Ridgeway is an Army veteran and received an Honorable Discharge in 1974.

Ridgeway holds a Master’s Degree (MRA) in administration, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and has an extensive career as an administrator, managing large public and non-profit agencies.

Ridgeway believes elected officials should be more fiscally conservative when spending Eagle taxpayers’ dollars. He believes Eagle has made some bad investments recently and that Eagle taxpayers eventually will have to foot the bill. Many current decisions were made and projects approved without going through proper procedures and without the city doing its own, independent financial analysis of proposals.

Ridgeway believes in private property rights. He believes property owners should have the right to use their property as they desire as long as local laws are followed. The current administration seems to put more weight on developers' wishes rather than on the community as a whole. No consideration is given to the doctrine of “who was here first” in the case of building a shooting range near established housing.

Ridgeway also believes a strong leader would take a different, more conservative approach to budgeting. The mayor should work with staff to determine each department’s needs, and then seek input from each council member before putting together the budget. The process currently has the council determining how much they can raise the budget within the legal limits, then looking for ways to spend the money. That’s not an efficient, balanced, and cost-effective way to budget.

“As mayor, I will be more considerate and thoughtful in how I treat Eagle taxpayers in meetings and proceed conservatively, as I did in the past, in how elected officials treat taxpayer’s money,” said Ridgeway.

For more information, contact Stan Ridgeway at 949-9514, ridgewayworksforeagle.com or ridgewaymayor@yahoo.com.