Russell to seek re-election

Mark Russell, a 25 year resident of Mountain Home, has announced his intention to seek reelection to the Mountain Home City Council.

He was elected to his first term in November 1999.

He currently is the council liaison to the Golf Board, Enhanced 911 Board, Community Action Coalition, Military Affairs Committee, and Planning and Zoning Commission.

During his 1999 campaign, Mark vowed to bring city government into the home via technology.

"When I was elected, the Mayor didn't even have a computer in his office." Russell's designed the City's web site at http://ci.mountain-home.id.us. , and continues to maintain it today.

"I receive a large amount of comments from people transferring to Mountain Home based upon their visits to the city's web site. "People from all over the world can now learn about our community before they move here."

Today, citizens can contact all elected officials and department supervisors on-line. Many city documents are available from the web site including council minutes, annual budget, waste and water studies, application forms, and department profiles.

As liaison to the Golf Advisory Board, Russell was instrumental in acquiring the golf cart leasing concession from the previous golf professional. He believed the cart concession was the second largest revenue source on the golf course, and will be key to operating in a self-sufficient manner.

"Acquiring the cart concession was a major shift in how we do business at the golf course. Raising the cart storage fees served only to drive revenue into the cart concessions that were owned by the golf professional.

"That has now been fixed."

Russell said his appointment to the Enhanced 911 Board brought increased visibility of the board's proposal to readdress the city.

"We achieved our goal of educating the public on the merits of readdressing. Unfortunately, the public rejected the proposal, electing to implement Enhanced 911 services without readdressing.

"I didn't agree with the public's viewpoint on readdressing, however, I voted their wishes, which was what I was elected to do.