Incumbent John Radford running against Dawna Howard for city council seat in Idaho Falls

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is the second of two stories on candidates running for Idaho Falls City Council in November 2023. Read the first article on candidates for Seat No. 3 here.

IDAHO FALLS — Two locals are seeking a seat on the Idaho Falls City Council — one is an incumbent, and the other is a newcomer.

Incumbent John Boyd Radford and Dawna Howard are running against each other for council seat No. 5.

EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each candidate. Their responses, listed below, were required to be 250 words or less. EastIdahoNews.com is publishing the answers in their entirety, and without any grammatical or style editing.

The general election is on Nov. 7.

Tell us about yourself — include information about your family, career, education, volunteer work and any prior experience in public office.

Radford: My wife and I will be married 30 years in July. I have one daughter, who loves to learn, read and to write and she is a bookseller, downtown at Winnie and Mo’s. My family has a long history in Idaho Falls, my Father Ken Radford owned the Napa Auto Parts stores here in Idaho Falls, my brother is the Board Chair of the Idaho Falls Redevelopment Agency, my sister is a Judge here in Bonneville County and another sister is a 6th grade English Teacher. We all love to serve and try to be involved in building community. I am the CEO of EICAP, a local agency that works to solve Poverty. I also teach as an adjunct professor at a local University. I am a two-term member of the City Council, I have worked to be a leader on issues with Idaho Falls Power, where I serve nationally on the Policy Makers Council for the American Public Power Association. I was also appointed by Governor Little to serve on the Economic Advisory Council, for the State of Idaho. I work hard to ensure we will be good stewards of our community for our future generations. I am known as a fiscal conservative and progressive leader around technology, nuclear power, and fighting to preserve our public parks and public spaces. I hold a degree in Political Science from Idaho State University and a Master of Business Administration that I started at Washington State and finished at Idaho State University.

Howard: I graduated from a local high school, graduated from ISU with an accounting degree with an emphasis in auditing. I raised 3 awesome children mostly as a single parent. I have 2 adorable grandchildren. I worked in governmental auditing as an independent auditor for a couple years before starting a career with the United States Postal Service, of which I resigned in 2020 due to work related injuries. I currently am an office manager for a local business. I have been a foster parent and a court appointed legal guardian for older teenagers. I am a mentor for the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy; which is a last chance educational system for youth 16-18 located in Pierce, Idaho. My family enjoys travel and a wide array of outdoor activities. I have been in several music bands throughout my life. I love attending and participating (when possible) in live musical events. In July of 2022 I organized Concerned Citizens of Idaho Falls, where my goal was to bring awareness and educate the citizens of Idaho Falls on the operation of local government, encourage participation in the various city meetings. I did a weekly spot on Steph Lucas’s talk show to give updates and voice concerns I received from citizens of the city.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

Howard: My proudest accomplishment is graduating from ISU in 2001; as a single parent of 3 children and being one of a few from my graduating class to receive a job offer upon graduating. Being able to balance college, family time, and work and end up with three amazing children is the best accomplishment anyone could ask for.

Radford: My proudest accomplishment is my commitment to service. Service to my family, my faith, my community, to my students. I have found fulfillment in service and it gives my life meaning.

I am very proud of many things in my life, like my 27 year Career at Barnes and Noble Booksellers, and my career in Basketball as a student athlete. I am proud of going to school full time and working full time to earn my MBA. I am proud of my ability to lead on the local level (City Council), the state level(Economic Advisory Council) and at the National level (Policy Makers Council). I am proud that I was able to face cancer and other serious health issues and come out healthier and stronger. I am proud I just attended my 500th Yoga Class at Yoga London’s Hot Yoga studio. Just one way I work very hard to keep my health and my foundation of faith strong.

But for sure My proudest Accomplishment is Serving. It has been such a circular blessing in my life, I give, and I receive so much more back from the relationships I gain and the people who are in my life. I am very fortunate to be involved with so many amazing people, one of my favorite organizations that I work with is the Idaho Falls Rotary Club. These types of organizations help me grow and they help our community as well.

Why are you seeking political office within your community? Briefly explain your political platform.

Radford: My political platform is well known at this point. I am known as a fiscal conservative. I have worked to control spending and been a consistent voice to govern in the most efficient way possible. I have worked to fight spending increases and voted against numerous budgets over the years to ensure we can live within our means as a city. I am a taxpayer and a homeowner, and I want to pay as low of property taxes as possible while also living in a professional, high-quality community with all that promises, like an amazing Fire Department and all the other services our City provides to our residents.

I am seeking reelection to continue the push to keep our community the amazing place that matches the beauty of our region and our state, it is a privilege to live in this space God created and made so beautiful, it is privilege to lead in a city that has the wild and beautiful Snake River running through the heart of our community. A river that literally powers our homes and our lives with our hydro electric utility. A river that is made even more beautiful by our amazing greenbelt and rock gardens in the heart of Idaho Falls. As a leader I seek to be involved and be pro active to deal with the growth, implementing policies that will work to temper the growth with time and ensuring we grow in a way that matches our values; kindness, service and community.

Howard: I do not view this as a political office. This is an opportunity to represent the views and ideas of the residents of Idaho Falls and keep them up to date on current and upcoming changes that may impact their neighborhoods. I believe in Natural Law and Constitutional leadership. There is no “one size fits all” solution. People are capable of making decisions in the best interests of themselves, their community, their family, their friends, their business and their personal lives. Too much “government” interference infringes on those rights. I have NO political training; I am just a person with knowledge of ethical business practices who loves where I live and am willing to sacrifice my time for the residents of Idaho Falls.

What are the greatest challenges facing people in your community? What is your plan to meet those challenges?

Howard: The biggest challenges facing the people in my community are: affordable housing, lack of supplemental health care that was discontinued during COVID and has not been restored and not having street lights to keep the neighborhoods well lit after nightfall. I would like to revisit the funds that SIECCA had previously received from the city to assist the people who struggle with regular activities of daily living and understand why those funds are no longer available to that agency. Why is the cost of living so high, what can we adjust in the city budget to lower the cost of living in the area? What is the possibility/cost of providing low income housing options to the working taxpaying residents who live paycheck to paycheck and pray every month that their rent does not get raised again forcing them to choose between food or housing. Maybe put working light bulbs in the street lamps; there is a big emphasis on walking/biking communities. With that comes the safety of the residents with regard to having well lit paths, streets and sidewalks.

Radford: The explosive growth and the attending housing crisis that has brought. Affordability, the ability to provide for our families when the cost of living is exploding.

Property Tax bills that have exploded because the values of our homes have expanded to numbers almost never imagined even five years ago. The homeowner’s exemption needs to be raised by the State Legislature to half of our properties values, the homeowners exemption was very useful to taxpayers when it was a higher percentage of our homes value. But now that homes are worth 400,000 dollars we are paying property tax bills on 300,000 dollars when we use to pay on just 20-50,000 dollars. That has been devastating to our property owners.

I will also mention one more epidemic that is devastating our community, loneliness, and with it the attending ills. Drug use, depression, suicide. These are all issues that are not unique to Idaho Falls. But they are emerging as major issues. The increasing isolation of all demographics, because of technology or lifestyle, is helping fuel this crisis. The answer is in each other and in our families and our friends and the groups that we can rely on to help all through tough times, so we can be more resilient when the inevitable hard times come. I encourage all citizens to join a group the senior center, anywhere you can join and make a difference it will help our community and it will help you and your health.

How will you best represent the views of your constituents – even those with differing political views? How will you communicate directly with constituents?

Radford: I work to be in the public and discuss issues with my neighbors as often as possible. I am available by email or phone number on the cities website. A good example of hearing from constituents recently is our traffic study that mentioned we should get rid of the light at Yellowstone and Cliff. The city held a public hearing and 50 or 55 people supported keeping the light, and they had good reasoning, and that light is going to retained and reprogrammed to be useful to the residents needs. I was also one of the council members who worked hard when we heard from residents that residents wanted to save South Tourist Park and we did that we were able to find a solution to keep that park whole on the beautiful Snake River. I do run a Facebook page and interact with residents on that site as well. John Radford for Idaho Falls.

Howard: I will best represent the views of my constituents by in person contact as much as possible. I started that with my organization Concerned Citizens of Idaho Falls. I believe in getting to know the people, let them know they matter and to build a relationship of trust and dependability with face to face communication. When disaster strikes our area I want the residents to know that I will be there with them offering assistance in whatever manner I can give. Where were the Mayor and City Council when we had millions of dollars worth of flooding damage? I will ACT for the city of Idaho Falls; i.e. Accountability Communication Transparency. When you talk face to face you find that we are more the same than we are different BUT differences are OK. That is what makes each person unique hence why “one size fits all” policies are not affective. I want to be an active, recognizable person in our city. I will visit your neighborhoods, parties, events and participate actively with you. I want to be known as your neighbor where ever you live. If you need someone to “dunk” in a tank….I am that person. I will hear your complaints, concerns and praises and they will be shared among the city departments and council.

What areas in your community need immediate improvement? What actions will you take to address those needs?

Howard: I think I addressed areas of improvement in a previous statement but I think we need to work on better evening lighting. We were recently given the “worst place to be after dark in Idaho”. That needs to be addressed and changed. I am a PT Uber driver and as I talk to tourists they are very discouraged because there is very little to do in the area. Most of them would like to see more family friendly indoor activities and a water park of some sort. I would like to investigate further into why it is so difficult to attract new business to Idaho Falls and sustain them once they open. We have similar businesses in surrounding areas which are getting the revenue from them. The longer we can get tourists to stay in Idaho Falls the more revenue will be generated.

Radford: The most immediate need is property tax relief. We need to find a better way to run government. We should be asking more from businesses like Amazon, who use our services but do not pay any city taxes. Our police respond to stolen packages, the drivers use our roads and our services, but they are not contributing as much as the senior couple who has paid off their house on Canyon Ave and must choose between buying groceries or pharmaceuticals or saving for their property taxes. We can do better by asking the State Legislature to increase the homeowner’s exemption to at least $300,000, or half of the home’s value. We can also look at a mechanism to make business and homeowners share equally in the increasing costs. Right now, Business property taxes are going down and homeowners property taxes are shouldering the burden of that shift, lets balance that, so we all share equally the costs of governing. We could ask Amazon to pay a per package delivery fee that could be paid to the cities to offset the costs of providing our services to them as a company. We should also look at allowing seniors to freeze their property taxes at today’s levels, and then allow the higher taxes that will come in future years to be accounted for and allowed to be paid at the sale of their property, so we do not displace seniors from their beloved homes.

What parts of the city budget could use more funding? Where are places in the budget that cuts could be made?

Radford: The budget is tough right now. Everyone is running lean; the cost of inflation has made the cost of running a city very expensive. I will go back to the basics; our first responders always need to have the most funding. We bind ourselves together as a community to first and foremost ensure our safety and security. So the departments that do that should absolutely be first in line, for dollars. We have done that in my time on council. The police department makes up almost 30% of our general fund spending, and that used to be in the low 20 percent range. Let’s be honest we are in Idaho in a very conservative place, so our cities are not spending a lot excess dollars. We must look at the budget with clear priorities and those start with security and health and safety and after that everything is on the table. We must balance any cuts with changing needs, lets first get rid of programs that are no longer supported, meaning programs that have low participation. We also need to stop subsidizing out of city residents. We must ask residents of the surrounding communities to pay more to play in our rec leagues and use our services, as they are not paying city taxes.

Howard: Budgeting is a difficult process with lots of opinions BUT with that being said this is my point of view. (The following is cited and posted on my FB page Dawna for City Council). We have the biggest city work force and the highest paid city work force. Are all those positions needed? Are they all necessary? We need to make sure that first responders have an adequate budget. We have been covering a lot of needed expenses with grants and those ALWAYS have strings attached. Recently, the council approved pay raises for the next 6 years for themselves. Is that necessary? Maybe we start there and work our way down. The city recently hired an arbonist, is that a necessary expense, should that “budget” item have gone to first responders instead? As you can see there is much to be considered when making the budget and what seems necessary to me could be unnecessary to someone else. This is where my experience as an auditor would be utilized. I am trained to recognize unnecessary spending habits and utilize areas that would be more financially sustainable. As a representative of Concerned Citizens of Idaho Falls, I have repeatedly requested monthly line item budgets from various departments. The ones I have received have been labeled credit card spending but not broken down into WHAT the expense was. Transparency is definitely lacking when it comes to the budget process.

What is the role of local media in your community? How can city officials work to have a better relationship with the media?

Howard: One of the things I did with Concerned Citizens of Idaho Falls was attend as many local meetings as possible, share those meetings with the residents, make them aware and try to establish a higher attendance rate at these meetings. Finding local meetings in advance was very difficult. Many of them got posted the day of or the day before. For example, the meeting about digital water meters was attended by 4 people and the information shared in that meeting WAS so important moving forward, it should have been filled to standing room only capacity. The residents NEED to know about these meetings with plenty of notice. They need to be posted on the community calendar on radio stations and the local news. I think investing in curb side signage whether A frame or digital and place in high traffic areas around town would also be helpful too. I will, as an elected official, make sure I do my part in getting the word out regarding meetings, locations, and times. I would also like to meet with as many constituents regarding these meetings before and after to make sure their voice is heard. I will be available through FB messenger, email or phone call to anyone who needs a more in-depth explanation of issues moving forward.

Radford: The role of media is to help keep citizens informed and to disseminate information when we face emergencies and disasters. The media often sets the discussion almost like setting an agenda for a meeting. We need to discuss the issues facing our communities so we can get the best ideas into the public discourse and use those ideas to formulate solutions. I think we need to continue to have open dialogue, I think everyone needs to be as transparent as allowed by law. We as government officials need to be available to reporters to give our opinions and then listen to feedback in those news reports. I hope that we all work together to make our community an amazing place to live. I will say that the role of how we view our story as a community. A story in our case that says we are innovative and rugged and resilient. A community that values the outdoors and our shared values around the beauty of our place. We are a community that has been a leader in energy technology, the nuclear industry is emerging as an industry that could really help solve global energy shortages. The INL is the world leader in Cybersecurity and that story of our citizens, right here in Idaho Falls solving the world’s toughest and most pressing problems needs to be told in the media to help us all be proud of what we are accomplishing as a community, helping us mold our story as a community.