Jared Arnzen, 30, claims Craigmont mayor's job

Nov. 8—Craigmont voters tapped a 30-year-old political newcomer to lead the town through the next four years.

Jared Arnzen received 90 votes in Tuesday's election to secure the mayor's seat. The second-highest vote-getter was Don Johnston, a former city council member, with 32 votes. Randy Berg came in third in the contest with six votes.

Arnzen, a crop adjuster and rancher, is a lifelong Craigmont resident and hopes to encourage more businesses to come to town and create economic growth. In the meantime, however, he believes "there's a lot of good things here; a lot of good people here. There's lots of business opportunities with a great school, good community members. There's a lot to offer. If we can make our town more attractive for businesses, then so be it."

In the Kamiah City Council race, incumbents Genese Simler and David Redden retained their seats with 86 and 61 votes, respectively. Scott Courtney received 48 votes. Although the two elected seats were filled, there remains a third seat that the City Council will have to fill with an appointee. Courtney's eligibility for that appointment is in doubt, however, because he works for the city's fire department and would have to choose whether to keep his job or resign in order to serve on the Council.

In Lewis County, 891 people cast ballots Tuesday, or 27% of the total registered voters, according to the auditor's office.

In the city of Cottonwood, voters overwhelmingly approved a special revenue bond by 124 votes to 11 against it.

In the city of Riggins, Bill Sampson claimed one of the two city council seats with 85 votes, followed by Jacob Mann with 81. Brady Clay received 44 votes.

Sampson, an incumbent, is hopeful the town can resolve a issue of signs on Main Street that say: "Get Porn out of Riggins schools." Sampson said it is a matter of ideology but the signs are distracting to tourists who come to town.

Clay, also an incumbent, acknowledges the sign issue is a problem but declined to comment on it. He is retired from the U.S. military and said he wants to continue working on the projects the city has going "and to take care of the town of Riggins."

In the four-way Orofino City Council race for three seats, incumbent Josh Tilley was the top vote-getter with 263, followed by incumbent Jennifer Dunaway and newcomer Loretta Stout, both with 216 votes. Longtime incumbent Doug Donner finished fourth with 196 votes.

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.