Election day in Idaho saw a few shakeups for some incumbent mayors. That was the case in Ketchum, where mayor Randy Hall lost to challenger Nina Jonas.
The same thing happened in Nampa where voters had four mayoral candidates to pick from. They elected Bob Henry as Nampa’s new mayor over incumbent Tom Dale.
Meanwhile, Moscow’s mayor Nancy Chaney is out of a job as voters selected challenger Bill Lambert as the town’s new mayor. That race was dominated by concerns over economic growth in the city that is home to the University of Idaho.
Some Moscow residents are concerned that the city’s economy has grown stagnant in recent years and that the city is anti-business. Enrollment at the University of Idaho is down and a recent economic study by a university professor said that Moscow hadn’t grown in 10 years.
The study also found that some 2,000 Moscow residents commute across the state border to nearby Pullman, Washington to work.
With all of that as the backdrop, Moscow voters ousted the incumbent mayor, Nancy Chaney, and put former city councilman Bill Lambert into office. Chaney vehemently denied the allegation that the city is anti-business. “I have done the best that I can over the past eight years to try to be welcoming and inviting to business and keep this a livable community.”
Lambert said Tuesday the first thing that will need to be done is to work on ways to merchandise the Palouse country.