Anson Call challenged by Abe Luca in Power County Prosecutor race

AMERICAN FALLS – Two men are vying to become Power County’s prosecutor for the next four years.

Incumbent Power County Prosecutor Anson Call, the Republican nominee, is being challenged by write-in candidate Abe Luca.

EastIdahoNews.com asked the candidates to answer the same eight questions. Their answers were required to be 250 words or less.

Luca did not return repeated requests to participate.

Call’s unedited responses are listed below.

Visit his Facebook page to learn more.

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

I grew up in a rural town on the edge of the Phoenix valley in Arizona. My wife, Tennille, and I have been married for almost fourteen years. She is a native of Pocatello. We have three children, ages 2 to 11.

I graduated from Brigham Young University in 2010 with a degree in International Relations. I obtained my Juris Doctorate degree, graduating cum laude, from Florida Costal School of Law in 2013 and was admitted to the Idaho Bar that October.

I have worked as an attorney in Pocatello and American Falls, both in public and private capacities. I have served as the Power County Prosecutor since my appointment by the Power County Board of County Commissioners in October 2017. Prior to that, I worked as the Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Power County from 2015 to 2017.

I volunteer in the community working in my church, in local programs to assist those in need, in education campaigns and in other capacities. I enjoy helping in those areas wherever I can.

What are your proudest accomplishments in your personal life or career?

My proudest accomplishments in my personal life have to be the work my wife and I have done together raising our children. Seeing them grow and succeed in their lives is the most I could ask for.

Professionally, my proudest accomplishments have included the successful prosecution of criminal cases, particularly those involving violent crimes committed against victims in our community. Getting a positive result in those cases, whether through trial or resolving them with plea agreements can be very fulfilling.

Additionally, participating in the rehabilitation process for criminal offenders, specifically those dealing with drug addiction and mental illness, has been very rewarding. Seeing those individuals go on to succeed in their lives and families, and knowing that I played some part in that process is very satisfying.

Why are you a member of the Republican/Democrat/Independent/Other party? Briefly explain your political platform.

I am a member of Republican Party because I feel it is through this party that I can make the greatest difference in my community.

I believe in the importance of protecting personal liberties and in providing opportunities for members of our community to be successful in their personal and professional endeavors. In doing so, I believe it is critical to reach out to those of other political affiliations to reach results that can be acceptable to many of our community members.

One of the greatest blessings of working in local politics is the limited role that party politics plays in working together to benefit our community as a whole. It has been disheartening to see the growing political divide between our elected representatives from different parties at both the national and state level. I hope we can work together as a nation and a state to find common ground to unite. I will continue to do that in Power County.

What are the greatest challenges facing your county?

The two biggest challenges that I face in my work for Power County are dealing with the problems that result from drug addiction/mental illness and making sure that we encourage growth in the county while still ensuring that we can effectively provide services to our community.

As to the drug and mental health problems, I have worked closely with other community officials to assist in addressing these issues. We have taken steps to coordinate our efforts to better respond to these problems and provide real long-lasting solutions for our community. It has been a long road but we are seeing results. Every life impacted for the better makes the effort worth it.

Regarding the need to encourage growth in the county, we have worked hard to encourage and bring new investment to our community through major employers expanding and opening up additional jobs. In doing so, we have provided tax incentives that have been balanced with the need to realize those tax dollars to provide quality infrastructure and services to our constituents. We have faced challenges, from legislators outside of our district, attacking our basic funding methods. However, we have found great support from our local businesses and legislators in protecting our county from extreme financial difficulty that some irresponsible legislators have proposed. It has been very rewarding to work together with our local and state elected officials to responsibly encourage growth and to see results from those efforts that benefit our residents.

How is your party’s ideology better suited to dealing with these unique challenges than those of your competitor?

I do not face a challenger from another political party.

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

As noted above, I believe in working in the best interest of our community members and I’ve been able to do so with members of other parties in the past. Elections in Power County don’t generally focus on party distinctions. We come to know one another in our community and we vote for the person who we know and trust to make the right decisions for us, for our families, and for our community. I will continue to find the right solutions for Power County by working with our other elected officials from all political affiliations to solve problems and continue to make Power County a great place to live.

What trait, attribute, or experience do you possess that best qualifies you to manage public employees and handle public funding?

I believe I am qualified to handle public employees and public funds due to my willingness to listen to the members of the community, as well as to communicate with public employees, and then to act responsibly in allocating our resources where they can do the most good.

What are your views regarding the role of the media in covering your county? How can you best work with local reporters to ensure coverage of the issues?

I believe the media plays an important role in the transparency of government. There are times as a prosecutor when I am limited by ethical rules in the amount of information I can release about certain issues at certain times, to protect trial processes and constitutional rights. I will continue to work with local reporters, particularly those with our local paper, the Power County Press, to ensure that our constituents have access to accurate information about the actions being taken by me and our other local elected officials.

Some feel that media outlets are only concerned with selling exciting stories, but I have been very happy with the efforts of our local media to present accurate information regarding issues and allow voters to be informed.