New Ammon mayor seeks improvements through data-backed choices and investments
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EDITOR’S NOTE: EastIdahoNews.com introduces its Looking Ahead series with candid interviews of East Idaho’s new mayors. To read our previous story about Blackfoot Mayor Scott Stufflebeam, click here.
AMMON — A former city council member and a longtime public servant, Ammon’s new mayor, Brian Powell, returns to Ammon with the goal of improving the city through data-driven decisions and investments of its employees.
Powell was officially sworn in as Ammon’s mayor on Jan. 8 after winning November’s election with 1,313 votes over certified write-in candidate Sean Calvert Crystal, who obtained 64 votes.
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In June, Powell said that a discussion he had with former Mayor Sean Coletti inspired him to run for mayor.
He said that Coletti asked him if he would consider running for mayor, and Powell told him he’d have to think about it.
“I think there are plenty of capable, smart individuals who could be a mayor. I encouraged him to seek out some other individuals that be willing to do it,” Powell said.
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Coletti returned to Powell after asking around and posed the same request.
“(I) wouldn’t have considered it if I didn’t know that Ammon already had a stellar team in place,” Powell said.
At the time, Powell had served Ammon as a councilman from 2008 to 2020 and had become a member of the Eastern Idaho Regional Sewer District Board.
Powell was also a staff member in Bonneville County as an Information Systems Manager, where he helped transition the county’s financial system to the cloud.
Data-driven model for growth
Looking ahead, Powell said that, for him, growth doesn’t stop at the city limits. His goal is to build a working partnership with other cities in the region to accelerate growth.
“That’s one big thing that we’re going to make a big push on,” Powell said. “If you can take your smart team and combine it with their smart team, I think you can see some amazing results and options on … forming guardrails for growth.”
With his experience as an information systems manager, Powell said the data is available to build a growth-prediction model that can help backfill capital improvement projects.
The data comes from county and city records when it comes towards annexations, traffic studies, building permits and other data from schools and the U.S. Census.
“If you can connect all those data points together, you’re going to get a really good picture of what’s going on in your community,” Powell said. “That data is sitting there in these systems and is trying to tell us something. We’re just not listening. We’re going to build a model so that we can listen.”
The goal of this plan is to ensure that any new projects, including developments, focus on improving Ammon and its neighbors and on making it a valuable asset.
“The main objective that we want to see is we want growth to add beauty, not burden,” Powell said.
Growth in Ammon
How this will look in terms of new housing or development projects will involve following these guardrails set in place to ensure residents aren’t burdened by growth.
He said the goal of using a data-driven decision model is to raise the bar for developers to think of new ideas instead of what’s been done in the past.
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“We have got to take a different approach on how we develop within our community,” Powell said.
Looking at multi-use developments, such as Riviera Park, Powell said he is a big proponent of this type of zoning, but it has to be properly zoned.
The issue with these types of zones is ensuring they are placed on major arterial roads, while keeping in mind the philosophy of not burdening residents with having to drive past them.
“We want to keep our costs low, and we want to get as much benefit out of that, and asset value out of that for the city than cost,” Powell said. “We’re not going to be doing any multi-use developments up in the foothills. That makes no sense.”
Future road projects
This data-driven mindset will also be reflected in how the city manages and funds future capital improvement projects.
Powell said the city will implement a data-analytic model into its budgeting process to present cost-benefit analyses and show how these projects can be funded through different revenue streams.
Over the past few years, Ammon has worked on funding major road improvements, including replacing two of its main bridges into the city.
During the 2024 election, Ammon residents approved a $1.25 million street levy to improve the community in the coming years. The levy passed with 60% (15,479 total votes) in favor and 40% (10,314 total votes) against it.
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“We are going to show the public how much bang they can get for their buck these next two years,” Powell said.
Powell plans to to review the city’s transportation system and the flow of traffic. Upcoming road projects include widening major corridors and arterials to five lanes. Most of the city’s east-west roads, like Hitt Road, Sunnyside Road, and Lincoln Road, are five lanes wide. First Street is slated to be widened in 2027.
Looking north and south, Hitt and Ammon Road are five lanes, but Ammon Road drops to two lanes at the intersection with Sunnyside Road.
He said Ammon and Crowley Road are areas where the city can focus its efforts.
“(Wouldn’t it be great to look back and say) all of Ammon’s corridors are widened and done. I think that would be a great thing to leave behind,” Powell said. “I think it’s very doable. It’s very possible, and we’re very optimistic.”
Investing in its people
Looking at the legacy left by his predecessor, Powell said he’s excited to work with the city’s staff and has had multiple meetings with them since being sworn in as Mayor.
“We really want to invest in our people,” Powell said. “We want to take our staff from being the professionals they are, and see if we can move that up a notch, to make them experts in what they are.”
Powell’s aim is to make Ammon a place where people want to live and work.
Having worked under four different mayors, the one thing he has taken away from their leadership and experiences is the love of the community and a desire to do what’s best for it.
“I want to keep with that same mentality moving forward,” Powell said.
Those with questions or concerns are encouraged to reach out. Powell is planning to make himself available for people to visit with him. He’ll have open office hours before city council meetings from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“Feel free to stop by if there are any concerns or any ideas. I’m an idea guy. I love ideas. So if you’ve got ideas, bring them,” Powell said.