Mayor Jerry Merrill faces two challengers in Rexburg race

REXBURG — Rexburg residents will have three options when they vote for mayor in November.

Incumbent Jerry Merrill, seeking his third term, is running against Mike Glasscock and Luke Evans.

EastIdahoNews.com sent the same eight questions to each candidate. Their responses, listed below, were required to be 250 words or less. EastIdahoNews.com is publishing the answers in their entirety, and without any grammatical or style editing.

The general election is on Nov. 7.

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

Merrill: I grew up on a family farm west of Blackfoot (Moreland) and am a proud Snake River Panther. After serving an LDS mission to Japan, I graduated from Ricks College in Landscape Horticulture and started a new business in 1981 known as Merrill Quality Landscapes. That business morphed into a multi-service business including Christmas Décor and Weed Man lawn services.

My family consists of the best wife ever, Marianne Merrill, and four children, Tricia, Quinn, Jenna and Mitch. They are great kids, have awesome spouses, and have provided us with 16 of the cutest, best grandkids ever!

I have been heavily involved in community service as a member of the Rexburg Kiwanis Club for 40 years, serving as President twice and as Lieutenant Governor of the East Idaho region. I loved being a Scoutmaster twice and now enjoy seeing many of “my Scouts” serving in their own ways and being great citizens. I was the Owner/Driver of the “Bobcat Spirit Bus” for many years until it died of clutch failure a couple years ago. I have been a long-standing member of the Madison Athletic Club (MAC) to help with needs of the student/athletes at Madison High School.

I was elected to the Rexburg City Council in 2011 and have had the privilege of serving as Mayor since 2016.

Glasscock: While finishing a business degree at California State University, Fresno, I started a job with Fresno County as an eligibility worker in the welfare department. My wife was a  Registered Nurse. In 1990, we moved to Sacramento where I worked for the Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance and she worked for UC Davis Hospital in the emergency room and graduated from UC Davis as a Family Nurse Practitioner. In 1995, I graduated from San Francisco College of Mortuary Science and became a licensed funeral director and embalmer. Five years later, I returned to work for Sacramento County and supervised an intake unit, reviewing cases dealing with client complaints and employee issues.

We have five children, ten grandchildren and two (soon to be three) great-grandchildren.  We wanted to live near at least a few of them, so we moved to Rexburg in 2014.

We both love life in Rexburg, especially the kindness and culture of the people. We enjoy watching grandchildren play soccer or baseball or some other team sport and I garden and work on projects around the house. I feel privileged to live in this community.

Evans: Have nearly three decades of experience in a variety of backgrounds, to include: banking, retail, law enforcement and security, courier, life coaching, actor,  author, real estate professional, along with operating five businesses, one being a private taxi service for the citizens of Rexburg.

Have a B.S. in Communications with emphasis in Spanish and was six months from obtaining a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine but discontinued education due to extenuating circumstances.  

I enjoy volunteering and have been a regular piano player at the local hospital for five years playing uplifting music.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

Merrill: Personally, my proudest accomplishment is my family. Seeing my children marry wonderful people and rearing great kids of their own and teaching them to be good citizens makes me a very proud Dad and Papa.

Professionally, the relationships I have built in my business as well as in my public service have led to being able to accomplish many things that would not have been possible otherwise. Having great relationships with Madison County, Madison School District, BYU-Idaho, the Rexburg Area Chamber of Commerce, and many other leaders in the community is key in being able get good things done for the community. I strive to attend as many events as I can schedule to mix and mingle with the good people of this community, especially youth activities. The youth are the future leaders of Rexburg and Madison County and it’s important to encourage them to be involved in good, wholesome activities.

Glasscock: I have a thirteen year old grandson who does very well in school. But before he ever set foot in school, I taught him to read. We started when he was four and we called it “grandpa school.” We learned the alphabet and all the sounds associated with the letters. I used M&M’s as a reward for a job well done.  He learned to sound out words and we used the newspaper for something to read. By the time he got to kindergarten he was already reading simple English and to this day he loves school.
I have done different things in my life but I think I am the proudest of teaching my grandson to read. There is a lot of satisfaction in teaching a child to read.

Evans: Being a father.

Why are you seeking political office within your community? Briefly explain your political platform.

Merrill: I am seeking re-election to continue the work that my staff and city council and I have laid the foundation for. We have been working for many years on several projects in our downtown development to encourage new business and well-paying jobs. We are developing two new city parks in the next several years.

We are working on making sure we have enough water rights to supply our growing community needs and we’re in the middle of applying for several grants from different public and private agencies to continue to upgrade our water and sewer facilities, build more and better transportation infrastructure, and to accomplish renovations on our historic Rexburg Tabernacle. I would like to keep the momentum going on all these projects and see them through to completion. I have loved serving the citizens of Rexburg and am happy and willing to do my best for them for 1 more term of office.

My platform consists of identifying the best decisions for the whole community and giving citizens the most freedom to lives their lives as they see fit, free of government regulations, while having a minimum of rules in place to avoid chaos and disorder in our society. Peace and prosperity are the two main objectives that I focus on.

Glasscock: People continue to move to Rexburg, and as our population grows, I see more and more apartments being built. Currently, Rexburg housing types are 40% single unit homes and 60% multi-unit apartments. The newer apartments being built look like they are trying to build the greatest number of apartments on the smallest pieces of land. It appears that not much thought is being given to open spaces, parks, athletic fields, trails, snow removal, covered parking or apartment garages. We are becoming a city of temporary residents who rent one small apartment with one or two parking spaces. 

We cannot stop the growth, but we can have a greater say in how our city grows. To have a city with more single family homes and traditional neighborhoods, we need more jobs. The agriculture that surrounds us is vital to the city but it hasn’t produced the kinds of jobs needed to build a city. We need clean industry that hires skilled employees earning a livable wage.  We need to bring new industry here and try to do it in a way that does not harm the farmers who live next door.

That’s why I am running for Mayor. I would like to try and help Rexburg grow into a well-thought-out, sensible and beautiful city. I don’t know how much of that I will be able to accomplish, but I know I would need the help of the public. With your help, I would like to try.

Evans: If I didn’t think there were issues, I wouldn’t even consider running, because I have no desire to be a politician, but I do wish to be a good citizen and contribute in ways that perhaps others cannot. I think it’s my civic duty to stand up for what I believe in and help lend support to our community, listening to the needs of the people, and finding solutions to tough issues.

What are the greatest challenges facing people in your community? What is your plan to meet those challenges?

Merrill: The greatest challenges generally center around the relatively rapid growth of our community. We have a very desirable community which is a double-edged sword of trying to balance the positive things about growth with the negatives that come along with it.

Growth brings more amenities to our community such as increased shopping choices and job opportunities, but it also brings increased traffic, more wear and tear on our streets and necessitates spending large amounts of taxpayer dollars on water and sewer system upgrades. We have policies in place to have new development help pay for new infrastructure needed, and we continually listen to our constituents to understand their concerns and try to come up with the best solutions to situations that arise.

Glasscock: The greatest challenge that faces Rexburg today is keeping city leaders, city staff and the public in harmony with each other. All of these groups
love Rexburg and want to see it thrive and become an even better city. In today’s world everyone is busy, including the city staff and city council.

Sometimes communication breaks down. The city tries to get the public involved and let them know what they are doing. They send information out via social media; they have public city council meetings that you can watch from home on your computer; they welcome the opportunity to talk to the media. But the public does not choose city government as their social media entertainment outlet, and newspaper subscriptions are falling. Also, city council meetings are still largely unattended.

Occasionally, someone is faced with a civic problem and seeks relief from city government. Often, your opportunity at being heard is a three minute monologue at the microphone in city council meeting. The mayor is very kind to allow you more time if needed, but if you want to air out a complex idea or grievance, you’re likely to get lost in an agenda of other issues.

I would like to see the mayor meet with the public in small neighborhood groups or have reserved office hours where you can talk one-on-one in an orderly exchange of ideas. 

Evans: According to a poverty breakdown by Stacker, Rexburg has a 39.3% poverty rate, the highest in the state. This is huge and must be addressed immediately. We need to create a plan to help increase wages in our community, cut down on debt and overspending, and build a reserve. 

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

Merrill: I grew up in a politically divided household with my mother’s family being strong Republicans and my father’s family leaning more to the traditional Democratic side of things. As a result, I learned to listen to both sides of an issue and weigh the pros and cons of both arguments before making my own decision. I believe that background has helped me in city affairs to be able to listen to constituents with different ideas and opinions and try to come up with the best solution possible. I have learned that it is usually not possible to accommodate everyone’s wishes perfectly but I am willing to try my best to find a workable solution.

My door in the mayor’s office is open to visit with people and I try to answer phone calls and e-mails/text messages promptly. My staff informs the public of events/happenings on several social media sites, and we recently stood up a community engagement site called “Engage Rexburg” to inform community members of many items they might want to give input on. We also include as much information as we can put on our city website and are currently working on making that more user-friendly.

I also use my monthly “Mayor’s Message” newsletter to help inform citizens of upcoming events of interest and as I mentioned previously, I try to attend as many community events as I can, to visit with people and hear their ideas and concerns.

Glasscock: I intend to make myself available to any resident of Rexburg who is civil and has a sincere desire to work toward the betterment of the public and the values of the city. I believe everyone can contribute as long they are willing to conduct themselves in accordance with the laws of the city, state and nation. I am most comfortable meeting with members of the community in person or in small groups. I find that that is the best way to really understand what an individual has to say, learn from them, and perhaps give them some new information that they don’t have.

We don’t know what we will face in the coming years. But we will have a better chance of being successful in facing challenges if we are not divided. Someone from the public may have an idea or expertise that can benefit the Rexburg community. If the idea seems useful, the mayor can discuss it with city staff. After meeting with staff, if the idea still seems promising, it can be put on the city council meeting agenda for public discussion. If it still looks good, it can be voted on for implementation. It’s a good system, but it only works when we listen to each other with kindness and respect.

Evans: Open and honest communication.

What areas in your community need immediate improvement? What actions will you take to address those needs?

Merrill: Our streets need more repair work since most were replaced after the Teton Dam flood almost 50 years ago. Since I was elected Mayor, we have done total replacements on approximately 65 blocks of streets and have purchased new and improved equipment for pothole repairs to make the repairs last longer.

We are working with the Idaho Transportation Department to make some larger repairs on Main Street and 2nd East as well as the scheduled Highway 20 interchange improvement projects. We were able to get those projects on their construction priority calendar 5 years ago and they are finally scheduled to be done next spring and summer. The City Council and I approved the use of all franchise fees that the city receives to go towards street repairs which has given us more funding to put towards keeping the streets in better condition.

Another immediate need is the enlargement of capacity at the headworks of our wastewater treatment plant and the replacement of a sewer line that is showing signs of deterioration. Luckily, we instituted an aggressive sewer line inspection program a few years ago and that has paid off by identifying replacement needs before bad things happen. Sewer problems are never fun, and we have applied for a federal grant to replace the bad line and upgrade the headworks. We have received preliminary approval of the grant and are awaiting final approval from Congress so we can move forward with these needed projects.

Glasscock: The City of Rexburg has an exceptional staff.  Because of their skill and dedication, most issues that come before the city council are routine in nature.  However, there are some things on the horizon that I think should be addressed.

Rexburg has eight ground water wells. The water is drinkable right out of the ground and tastes great. We currently have three large tanks and one tower throughout the city to store water. I was told the water tower fills up and empties as much as seven times a day. The new comprehensive plan, “Plan Rexburg,” states that as Rexburg grows, “new water sources would need to be developed.” 

As Rexburg water use increases, we are certain to be required to recharge the Eastern Snake River Aquifer which has been declining. We recharge the aquifer by purchasing water rights and maintaining large settling ponds. It may be a few years down the road but I believe we should start working on our future water needs now.

We also need to think about our wastewater treatment plant.  Our current plant services Rexburg, Sugar City and Teton.  A consultant was hired to address this and I believe improvements are being made. But as the city grows, we have to do more to meet the needs of increased usage.

Evans: As stated previously, we have the highest poverty rate. Property tax is high along with failing roads and infrastructure, each needing great attention. First things first, create a plan and budget for helping reduce overspending and creating avenues for positive cash flow without adding further tax burdens on residents and business owners.

What parts of the city budget could use more funding? Where are places in the budget that cuts could be made?

Merrill: The city’s budget is key in everything we do. Every year we start over in the budget process and ask our 15 department heads what they need to do their jobs well. Then our finance staff, the city council and I, review every department’s request and adjust them based on what we feel is necessary to provide needed services and make cuts where necessary to balance the budget.

Many departments could use more funding for additional staffing to keep up with increased demand. As our population grows, we will have more parks to take care of, more water and sewer lines to maintain, more streets to fix, etc. and we can only stretch our current employees so far before needing extra help. We send our city team members to training conferences to help them be better and more efficient at what they do. They are our most important resource to provide what our citizens need and desire of us.

This all costs money but constant turnover costs us even more and results in a lesser quality of service. We believe that having well trained team members is a good investment of city resources. We strive to be as frugal as possible in every department to make best use of the taxpayer dollars that we are entrusted with.

Glasscock: The first thing that comes to mind, when talking about spending money, is roads. The problem with ice heaving and having potholes is nothing new. In the winter everything will freeze, including any water under the roadway. As the water freezes it expands and pushes the pavement up, creating a weak spot. As cars drive over the weakened pavement it breaks and a pothole is created. The city continues to work on different methods to repair potholes. It’s like pulling weeds. When one is gone, another one appears. However, I saw a new Rexburg City truck that seemed to have everything necessary to fix potholes. I don’t yet know how useful it will be in the winter, but still, in my opinion, that’s money well spent.

Another budget item that should be funded is parks and athletic fields for sports.  When I was young, we played outside all the time. In today’s world kids have video games and social media on their phones. Mothers need a place to take their toddlers, and team sports are great for older kids. However, we cannot afford a $68 million dollar recreation facility and pool. The city just doesn’t have the money and county property owners are already paying for enough bond issues on their property taxes.

Evans: That is the burning question. We’ll need to look at the numbers to know for sure. Infrastructure stands out, but again, we will need to carefully consider the data.

What is the role of local media in your community? How can city officials work to have a better relationship with the media?

Merrill: The local media in our community is very important in getting the word out to residents of important happenings and events that citizens would like to know about. I strive to respond to every request from media sources and be honest and open with them. I appreciate every media person I have been involved with. I consider them to be friends and believe I have had a great relationship with them.

As city officials, we can all respond timely to questions and use our media friends to disseminate information to our constituents. Our freedom of speech and freedom of the press are two very important constitutional amendments that we need to hold dear.

Glasscock: Nationally, every piece of information meant for public consumption is scrutinized with the intent to use it for one political point of view or another. The real story takes a back seat to quick messages that have no context, in order to appeal to a biased point of view. In addition to stacking the information to make each opposing side look better than the other, corporate news organizations seem to be on the decline in general.

Local media does a much better job of keeping the story accurate, but declining staff and public apathy are taking a toll on the amount of truthful information that is accessible.

This is unfortunate because local government needs local media to help let the public know what they are doing. City officials need to be as transparent and truthful as possible. A good working relationship with local reporters can go a long way towards getting the information out and keeping the public informed.

Evans: I feel open, honest and unbiased communication will help foster better relations with media and city officials as we strive to work together to find solutions to citizens’ needs.