On Monday, February 23rd the following press release was sent to the media:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Dave Chase & Charles Conn
ONE COMMUNITY, ONE TOWN February 23, 2009
An ad-hoc group of citizens, non-profit and business leaders, current and former elected officials and second homeowners have formed Citizens for One Community, One Town. The intent is to place the idea of consolidating Ketchum and Sun Valley on a ballot for consideration by the voters in both cities.
Citizens for One Town, One Community believe we are one community that shares a common interest, downtown, economy, cultural activities and more and that we would be better served by one government.
Spokesperson Charles Conn expressed that “Many visitors to the area express confusion and bewilderment over the division of Ketchum and Sun Valley. It isn’t clear where one city begins and another ends. They ask why the downtown is housed in one city, while the resort is in another.”
One of the most compelling arguments to merge is the estimated cost savings of approximately $2 million/year. Spokesperson Dave Chase states, “Consolidation of the two cities has been talked about for twenty years but fiefdom protection has thwarted efforts in the past. The tremendous cost savings can be utilized to improve infrastructure, reduce taxes and/or provide better services to its citizens.”
There are two ways for letting the voters of Ketchum and Sun Valley decide to merge. The first is a resolution where each City Council and Mayor votes to hold a special election with the issue on the ballot. The second is to organize a citizens’ petition. “We feel that the citizen petition allows the broadest public involvement and transparency. There are numerous compelling reasons to merge the two cities and we owe it to our constituents and our visitors alike to take this issue under serious consideration.” – Charles Conn.
Citizens for One Town, One Community have already done extensive analysis and study of the consolidation and will hold a Town Hall meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the benefits, review the procedures and to answer questions.
Dave Chase conveyed, “We have anticipated many of the questions as they were ones we had ourselves. For that reason, we have developed a whitepaper that outlines our perspective on the questions people have as well as let you know about the legalities of the process. We have created a website where this whitepaper is posted – http://www.onecommunityonetown.com. We invite you to review that and ask any questions that you might have so that we can respond with the answers.”
If you wish to sign the petition to put this before the voters of Ketchum and Sun Valley, please email us at oneconet@gmail.com.
Tags: ketchum, one community one town, save sun valley, sun valley
One Community, One Town 
February 25, 2009 at 2:09 pm
It would appear that you have put quite a bit of work into this proposal. Can you please put your whitepaper up on your website as a .pdf? I should like to make some notes whilst reading it.
Thank you.
RA Youngman, Ph.D.
Sun Valley
February 25, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Kudos to Charles and Dave (and no doubt others behind the scenes) for raising this important issue during these tough economic times. I am behind your efforts 100%.
March 7, 2009 at 12:51 pm
At the Town Meeting on Thursday, March 5, 2009, I read the following:
“Statute of the State of Idaho regarding consolidation of cities: Two (2) or more cities … all of which shall be incorporated under general law, may become consolidated into one (1) city, to be thereafter governed in the name and under the government of the greater or greatest in population …”
This means, in accordance with this statute, that the name of the “new city” will be Ketchum and the “new City” will be governed by Ketchum (laws, regulations, P & Z, etc., etc.).
March 25, 2009 at 5:17 am
Ruth – We are looking into statutory changes on the city name issue to formalize what we have recommended. That is, if the topic gets on the ballot there’d be an advisory vote on the name that the newly elected body (assuming passage) would be foolish to ignore. Nonetheless, we think it makes sense to formalize this process in the Idaho Code. Stay tuned.
As far as laws, regulations, etc. it’s logical that after a consolidation that there’d be one set of laws. I can’t think of a fairer way to arrive at one set of laws in the immediate days after a consolidation. Having said that, each community already has its various zoning areas (Elkhorn, Warm Springs, downtown Ketchum, SV village, etc.). This would continue. If there were further changes to the governance, that would be up to the newly elected body.
Keep those questions coming. The more we have calm and open dialogue, the more people can make an informed decision. The only thing I ask is for people to gather information from sources other than those trying to protect their own job or that of a family member.