Kuna today is a conflicted community — within City Hall, within the city and with neighboring cities and other jurisdictions.
In the past 10 years, Kuna has almost tripled in size to 15,000 people. That growth has divided leaders and residents into camps that want Kuna to profit from the growth or want Kuna to preserve its small-town charm.
Kuna’s most recent controversies include a $27 million wastewater-treatment plant mired in financial and legal woes; an urban renewal agency the city created earlier this year; and a soundly defeated bond for a new City Hall and swimming pool.
Kuna has tussled with Meridian over land annexations and potential expansion, and a few years ago walked away from two regional planning groups, the Blueprint for Good Growth and the Ada County Alliance.
The community’s conflict and controversy is at the heart of why former longtime mayor Greg Nelson and current two-term City Council member Richard Cardoza say they are challenging Mayor Scott Dowdy.
Much of the conflict stems from poor communication, Cardoza said.
“There is definitely a lack of communication between the mayor and the City Council,” he said. “There is a lack of openness.”
Even though he sits on the City Council, Cardoza says he tends to find things out from news reports that he should be hearing from the mayor.
“A good mayor can direct council, not by force, but by keeping them informed (of) the different opportunities that are coming across the desk,” Cardoza said.
Cardoza, who has two years left in his council term, said his platform centers on improving communications between the city and its people and finding ways to keep Kuna’s youth active — an endeavor that, in the long run, is cheaper than taxpayers paying to house them in jail or prison.
“If we can keep children from developing bad habits and off the street with the Boys & Girls Club or some other organization, I think the return on the dollars is much greater than putting somebody” in prison, Cardoza said.
Nelson, who served 20 years as mayor, said business owners and residents frustrated with the current city administration — particularly planning and zoning — have urged him to run.
Kuna’s seniors and youth are more and more overlooked by the city, he said. Kuna was the only city in Idaho not to pursue a federal senior bus program grant. Additionally, he said, “there is no reason Kuna should not have a Boys & Girls Club.”
Dowdy, appointed and then elected mayor in 2007, said the conflict is less than it was six or even four years ago. “I think the City Council works fairly well together,” he said.
While he has been at the helm, Dowdy said, Kuna has gotten on the right track financially. Despite the economic meltdown, Kuna has chipped away at its debt, held its budget and laid off just two city employees.
“By the end of 2012, the city of Kuna will be completely debt-free,” Dowdy said.
“I believe Kuna’s future is bright. We have a lot of potential,” he said.
A MAYOR’S RACE IN STAR?
Star Mayor Nathan Mitchell had one challenger, Terry Malarkey, who officially withdrew from the race on Sept. 20. He has since decided to run as a write-in candidate.
