After a divisive campaign, Pike is sworn in as Eagle mayor. Here’s what happened next
After a divisive election season, Brad Pike was sworn in as the mayor of Eagle in front of a packed City Council meeting.
Craig Kvamme, chairman of the Eagle Urban Renewal Agency, and Mary May, a former Ada County Highway District commissioner, were sworn in as council members Tuesday night.
Pike received a standing ovation upon being sworn in. He praised former Mayor Jason Pierce for his time serving the city over the past four years despite a difficult campaign.
“He was always out there,” Pike said. “(He was) always giving his all.”
Pierce said he was looking forward to where Eagle goes in the future and said the new council and mayor have a lot of work ahead of them.
Issues include continued growth and increasing population in the city, the annexation of the Avimor development in March, and the construction of the Valnova planned community. Many of the conversations and arguments during the election framed these issues.
In many ways, the election reflected the 2019 race, which saw Pierce, who favored Avimor’s annexation, unseat then-mayor Stan Ridgeway. Pike also opposed the annexation of Avimor.
“We’re not ready for it,” Pike previously told the Idaho Statesman. “It was not a planned addition to the family.”
Four candidates competed for the mayorship in the November election, but none won enough votes to secure the seat outright, forcing a runoff election under state law.
Pike, who was the city council president, gathered 5,444 votes, or 55.2%, in the December runoff, while Pierce gathered 4,427 votes, or 44.8%, according to Ada County Elections.
There were some partisan undertones during the election, despite both candidates running as conservatives in a nonpartisan race. Pike, who moved to Idaho from California, was on the receiving end of accusations that he was a liberal choice for the city. Pike said he had been a conservative Christian for over 40 years and denied claims that the Idaho Democratic Party campaigned on his behalf.
Erik Berg, chair of the Ada County Democrats, said the party had not campaigned for either candidate but has been working to increase voter participation, according to prior Statesman reporting,
There has also been some infighting since Pike won the election, including when council members voted to limit his mayoral power during a December meeting.
One change limits Pike from firing three employees who work under him unless the council votes to dismiss them as well, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting. The employees include city spokesperson Dana Biberston, Economic Development Specialist Tammie Halcomb and Nichoel Baird-Spencer, director of long-range planning and projects.
Pike said he hadn’t spoken with the employees and didn’t know why they thought he would fire them.
The second change forces the mayor and council president to set agendas together. Previously, the mayor made agendas and could add items to it if city council members asked. The mayor could also stall or deny additions — forcing the member to ask staff members at a public meeting to add something to the agenda.
Pierce added the limitations to the agenda about 24 hours before the council vote and Pike said he was blindsided by it.
“This is clearly an attempt to strip traditions away from the incoming mayor,” Pike said at the time.
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