City government rookies take office across Treasure Valley

Boise was the only Treasure Valley city whose voters returned all incumbents to office.

The rest of the Valley’s cities saw some turnover. Many of the changes came because incumbents didn’t run for re-election. A few incumbents lost to challengers.

In Meridian, Idaho’s third-largest city, 28-year-old Ty Palmer is the council’s youngest member ever. He replaced Charlie Rountree, who did not seek re-election.

Eagle’s government will see an especially big makeover. City Council President Stan Ridgeway ran a contentious campaign against incumbent Mayor Jim Reynolds, whom he beat by more than 22 percentage points. Two new council members, Naomi Preston and Stan Bastian, were elected in November, and Ridgeway left the council to assume the mayor’s chair, meaning three of the four seats have new occupants.

Ridgeway appointed Craig Soelberg, who lost to Preston in November by just 21 votes, to fill his vacancy.

Jeff Kunz, the only remaining member of the council, said he’s not too worried about the newcomers’ learning curve. He pointed out that the new mayor was the council president, and Bastian spent 16 years on the council and served four years in the Legislature.

“We’ve got some high-level people, and I’m sure we can get through it,” Kunz said.

The new versions of these local governments were sworn in starting Jan. 4 and continuing this week.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 7:58 PM with the headline "City government rookies take office across Treasure Valley."