In Riggins, three candidates battle for two spots on City Council

Oct. 21—The town of Riggins is facing many of the same problems that trouble other small towns — an aging population, a dwindling workforce and a dearth of affordable housing.

Two of the three candidates for the two seats on the City Council say those are issues they hope to find solutions for if they are re-elected. Bill Sampson, 77, and Brady J. Clay, 58, are both vying for their second terms on the council.

A third candidate, Jacob Mann, 35, recently moved back to the area where he grew up and is running for elected office for the first time.

But there is another prickly issue that appears to be taking center stage in many Riggins voters' minds these days. A large handmade billboard reading "Get Porn out of Riggins Schools; factsbeforefury.com" greets travelers as they pass through the town's Main Street.

At a recent City Council meeting, several citizens gathered to protest the "big yellow signs," saying they hurt the tourist industry upon which the town is dependent.

Sampson said the conflict appears to be between a group of people who believe there are sexually explicit and inappropriate books in the school library and others who say the school has already segregated certain materials and is making sure younger students do not have access to them.

"The problem is, we have three groups," Sampson said. "The school group, the anti-obscene group and the church group.

"We have a Christian problem within the school system, even though the school is doing everything they can (to solve the problem) and still getting a lot of pushback."

Sampson said he has talked to the main person behind the signs to try to persuade him to take them down, but the man refuses. And, at this point, Sampson said, "the city has no authority to take signs down on private property. We have no ordinance to control it."

But the outfitters and others dependent upon the tourist industry have complained about the impression such signs give to visitors and say it's been hurting their business.

"One fishing outfitter said, every time somebody comes through town they ask, 'What's the deal with the sign?'" Sampson said.

"It's a national problem. I believe our school is very good compared (to others in the country). So it's a struggle and the city is in the middle with very little authority to do anything about it. So we hope they run their course and we can get back to our peaceful community."

Clay acknowledged that it's a sensitive issue in Riggins but declined to comment further on it.

Clay 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."

Those projects mainly involved trying to develop more affordable and workforce housing, Clay said.

Mann also declined to comment on the "big yellow sign" controversy. Because he moved back to Riggins only a year ago, he said, he hasn't had time to study the issue and form an opinion.

His interest in running for the council is because "I grew up in Riggins and the community has had so much support from me over the years. I just wanted to give back to the community that means so much to me — just be a part of it."

There are no particular issues that concern Mann at the time but he said if he is elected to the council he will be eager to learn about what's important in the town.

Mann works for the Idaho County Road and Bridge Department.

Sampson said he decided to run for re-election because it appears there will be some turnover in city government in the next few years and he wanted to provide some consistency.

He also is concerned about the lack of housing in town.

"We rely 100% on tourists and it's a very difficult time for the housing market," Sampson said. "Businesses are struggling because they can't hire help (and when they do) there's no place to rent. So I'd like to work on that and see if we can resolve that."

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.