Russ Anderson joins city council race

Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Russ Anderson

It's officially a race.

Russ Anderson has announced his candidacy for the Mountain Home City Council.

Anderson becomes the third candidate to announce for the two city council positions up for election this November. Geoff Schroeder and Albert Clement had previously announced.

The two positions currently are held by Tom Rist and Mark Russell. Rist is foregoing his seat in order to challenge Mayor Joe B. McNeal, while Russell has not made any announcement about his future, yet.

Anderson would "like the chance to work for the people of Mountain Home for the betterment of our community."

Anderson said there are several issues of concern that he would like to focus on if he were to win the election. Some of those issues include growth, safety, traffic, planning and zoning, employee salaries/benefits, and "helping the city get back to working together as a team."

He said he also would work to get the school district, the state, and the county together to work towards getting a stop light on North 18th East Street and American Legion Boulevard, as well as working to improve Exit 90 into Mountain Home.

"Working with the police and fire departments to help control gang and drug activities that put first responders in danger, is an area of interest as well as bringing more businesses or activity to our downtown area," he added.

Russ is a member of the BPOE (Elks Lodge) and chairperson for the City of Mountain Home Traffic Safety Board. He served for 15 years on the Mountain Home Volunteer Fire Department, five years on the Mountain Home Public Library Board with two years as chairperson, and nine years on the Elmore County Waterways Board with four years as chairperson. During the time he served on the Waterways Board he was instrumental in helping obtain grants to provide police patrol on Anderson Ranch and Strike Dam Reservoirs.

Russ has lived in Mountain Home for 44 years of his 50 years. He graduated from Mountain Home High School in 1974 and then attended Boise State University Vo-Tech, graduating in diesel mechanics. He has had experience working in the agricultural industry in both farming and ranching. He is currently employed with the Mountain Home Highway District, having served there for the past 22 years.

He and his wife of 27 years, Lisa, have two sons, Matt and Nick. Matt is a 2000 graduate of Mountain Home High School and a 2005 graduate of the University of Idaho. Nick is a 2003 graduate from Mountain Home High School and is currently attending the University of Idaho

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