[Vision2020] City Council Candidate List Begins To Take Shape

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (August 6, 2007) Moscow-Pullman Daily News -

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City Council candidate list begins to take shape
Ament, Pall to run for re-election; political action committee seeks change
By Tara Roberts, Daily News staff writer
August 6, 2007

Two Moscow City Council members have taken the first step toward running for
re-election this fall.

Aaron Ament and Linda Pall have filed forms with the city clerk and
appointed treasurers for their campaigns. Though Ament and Pall are the only
candidates to file so far, the Greater Moscow Political Action Committee has
filed to be a fundraising group for as-yet-unnamed candidates.

Ament said he decided to run again because his constituents have requested
it. He officially announced his candidacy Wednesday.

He said he considered not running because he was "wondering if I could be as
effective as a citizen in the private sector," but heard from enough people
to change his mind.

Ament, who currently holds the only two-year seat on the council, said he is
not sure if he will run for a two-year seat or for a four-year seat this
time around.

Ament said his campaign will focus on the slogan, "Our kids, our money and
our neighborhoods."

"The specific issues will be given to me by the citizens of Moscow during
the campaign," he said.

Ament said he plans to continue working on the Palouse River Drive
ballfields project, as well as a plan to construct a pedestrian bridge
connecting Third Street and Mountain View Road.

He said he also will continue to urge the city to include another police
officer in its budget. At this year's budget meeting he convinced the
council to bump the animal control officer position from three-quarters time
to full time.

"We did move forward a little," he said. "We'll try with next year's budget
(for another officer)."

Pall has not yet officially declared her candidacy and declined to comment
on the matter.

Jim Anderson, treasurer and spokesman for the Greater Moscow Political
Action Committee, said the group's mission "is to support and elect
candidates that believe in free enterprise and bringing Moscow back to where
it belongs, to a greater position."

The group is not officially connected to the Greater Moscow Alliance, though
it does have some of the same criteria and members.

The committee was active in last year's elections, supporting Latah County
commissioner candidates Jack Nelson, Don Ball and Jennifer Barrett. Nelson
was the only one of the three elected.

Anderson said the group has no definite potential candidates and is not sure
how many people it will support.

"There's some people we oppose," he said. He declined to name those
individuals.

Anderson said the group will announce which candidates it supports after
candidates officially declare their candidacy with the city in late August
and early September.

The group already has sent out a fundraising letter that states "it is time
for a change" in Moscow. Anderson said the group hopes to elect people who
will change Moscow's "anti-business" image.

He said the group also supports "good, sustainable growth" and wants to help
boost enrollment at the University of Idaho.

Shelley Bennett, the group's chairwoman, said it also aims to get more
people involved with politics.

"What our big thing is going to be is to get people out to vote," she said.

Getting more voices involved will keep the "vocal minority" from running the
city, Bennett said.

There are four council seats open for election in November, including those
currently held by Ament and Pall and one held by Tom Lamar. Lamar was
appointed to replace Bob Stout, who resigned in May to accept a job with
Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign team.

Also open is the seat formerly held by John Dickinson, whose body recently
was discovered in the Columbia River. Dickinson had been missing since Jan.
8, when he had stopped to help a motorist following an accident on an
Interstate 84 bridge in Oregon. Police believe he either fell off the bridge
or jumped the 3 1/2-foot concrete railing to avoid an accident.

Mayor Nancy Chaney has indicated that Dickinson's vacancy will be addressed
after the city completes its budget-setting process.

The election will be Nov. 6.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)