The city of Bellevue in the Wood River Valley selected a new mayor Monday evening, as its previous mayor heads to the Idaho statehouse.
The Bellevue city council chose Kathryn Goldman to be the next mayor after Ned Burns resigned from his position last week.
Burns will serve as a state legislator this term. He was appointed by Governor Little to replace Muffy Davis as a District 26 Democratic Representative. Davis was sworn in as a Blaine County Commissioner last week.
Burns recommended Goldman, the former council president, for the job. During Monday's city council meeting, Goldman read from his resignation letter.
“We did a whole lot with not a ton in the overall scheme of things. We oversaw upgrades to our infrastructure and we have more scheduled, which I’m thrilled to know," Burns wrote.
When indicating her interest in the position, Goldman highlighted the importance of transparency in the small city of about 2,500 people. She also hinted at the city potentially trying to obtain resort city status, which would allow it to collect a tourism tax.
“A web-based community survey with questions about a local option tax related to streets, for example, is one way to do that, and we can use that same survey to identify how citizens want the city to focus our resources,” she said.
Bellevue is located about 17 miles south of the Sun Valley Resort. Goldman received unanimous votes from the council and was sworn in as mayor Monday evening. Her term runs until 2023.
Find reporter Rachel Cohen on Twitter @racheld_cohen
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