The Courier
News Wendell to Choose New Mayor
Four years ago, the Wendell mayorial race ended in a tie between Brad Christopherson and the incumbant, Ricky Cowen. They each received 215 votes and to break the tie, a coin was tossed with the winner being Mr. Christopherson.
Jan Gooding, publisher of the Hub City News, points to the last election as an example of how every vote counts. Mrs. Gooding said that people are too complacent about government, both in their voting and when it comes to attending meetings. “Too often the city council makes decisions without anyone asking questions, either from the public or on the council.” This, and
the desire to serve her community, is why she decided to run for mayor. As a small business owner (the Package Shoppe) she is concerned that Wendell doesn’t do enough to promote itself. “We have good administration, but now we need a cheerleader.” She would like to see the city have a web site for promotion, and be able to take city payments over the internet for the convenance of city residents. When asked about the potential conflict between running a newspaper and being an elected official, she said that if the cities in Gooding County can send in regular reports and she doesn’t have to be directly involved in reporting those events. The other candidate for Wendell Mayor is Lori Swainston. She grew up in Wendell and has spent 22 years in the accounting business. Currently, she is doing part-time bookkeeping for a local business, and serving as a deputy clerk for the City of Wendell. While she hasn’t been with the city very long, Mrs. Swainston said she has learned a great deal about how city government works. “In the last three
or four years, the city has made huge improvements in how it opperates. I want to make sure those things continue.”
“It will be a cut in pay...” said Mrs. Swainston, regarding the move from deputy clerk to mayor, “...but my community is worth it.” One partiular project she has been helping with as a member of the library board is to relocated the library. They are considering the old shop building next to the city office that could be used as a library and a community center. She added that, serving on the Wendell Recreation District board gave her insight into how government boards work and how important it is to work together.
This Sunday, Don’t Forget! Fall Back One Hour to Regular Time The time officially changes at 2 a.m. on November 3rd.
October 30 Volume 37 ~ Number 44 News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
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Gooding Soccor Takes Gold Again For the second year in a row, the Gooding Senators Boys took the the State 3A Championship in Soccor. By all accounts, it was a racous game that fully entertained the hundred plus fans who went down to Middelton to support their team. The star of the game was goalie Carlos Gonzales. “It was the best game I have ever seen a goalie play,” said coach Roger Johnson. Young Mr. Gonzales, who missed the first four games of the season, said it was hard work, but he didn’t do it alone. Daniel Valdez, Ricardo Garcia, Ivan Sarabia, and Jesse Cardenas, scored for the Senators in the last-man standing shoot-out to give Gooding the victory over Weiser 4 to 2. The Wendell boys lost their first game of the tournament to Weiser, but went on to win Consolation with a 6 to 1 victory over Community School. Volleyball This Friday and Saturday, two teams from our area Camas and Hagerman - will travel to Lewiston for the State Volleyball Tournament. It was no surprise when the Hagerman Pirates took first in their district tournament with a 3-0 win over Challis. continued on page 3.....