Hibberd wins Weiser mayor race

Voters in Weiser on Nov. 5 selected a new mayor and retained the three incumbents on the city council whose seats were up for election.
 In a three-way race for the Weiser mayor, retired banker and current member of the city council Randy Hibberd garnered the most votes with 446 (43.9 percent).
 Dan Randleman, who also serves on the Weiser City Council, garnered 328 votes (32.2 percent) and Alex Chavarria received 242 votes (23.8 percent).
 Interest in the city races likely helped boost participation at the polls. The turnout for the election was 41.4 percent, with 977 ballots cast out of 2,437 registered voters. A total of 66 city residents registered on election day.
 The turnout was higher than the last city election in 2017. The turnout for that election was 25.2 percent, with 557 votes cast out of 2,203 registered voters.
 Between now and when he is sworn in as mayor in January, Hibberd said he plans to do background work to make sure the city is prepared for the growth that he believes is coming this direction.
 As part of the research on growth, he said he will visit city planners in the Boise end of the valley to learn from their successes and frustrations. He plans to share this information with Weiser officials.
 Hibberd said he will meet with each city employee after he is sworn in as mayor. He said he wants to get to know each employee, find out what their job goals are and get their thoughts on where the city can improve and move forward.
 Hibberd’s mayoral victory at the polls means his current position on the city council will become vacant in January. The new mayor will offer a name for appointment to fill out the rest of his term on the city council. The appointment must be ratified by the city council.
 Hibberd said he planned to take some time to carefully consider who he would like to appoint for the vacant city council position.
 The three incumbents on the Weiser City Council who were up for election were re-elected in the Nov. 5 vote. There were five candidates on the ballot running for three seats, with the top three vote-getters winning office.
 Larry Hogg led the vote totals with 721 (25.3 percent). He was followed by Cliff Barberis with 656 votes (23 percent) and Layna Hafer received 563 votes (19.7 percent). Chris Hagans was not far behind with 553 votes (19.4) and Bonnie Akbar garnered 353 votes (12.4 percent) in unofficial totals.
 Council members serve four years in office and all six council members represent the city at large. City elected offices are non-partisan. The three newly elected council members will be sworn in at city hall in January.
 There were also three  seats on the Weiser School District Board of Trustees up for election on Nov. 5. Two were contested with more than one candidate seeking each position.
 Only residents who live in Zone 1 and Zone 5 of the school district voted for school board trustees.
 Zone 5 incumbent Kerry Nyce retained his seat on the school board with 167 votes, or 56 percent of the total. Russell Haggerty garnered 74 votes (24.8 percent) and Crystal Torres received 57 votes (19.1 percent).
 Out of 756 registered voters in Zone 5 on election day, a total of 271 ballots were cast for a turnout of 29 percent.
 In Zone 1, incumbent Cary Gibbs lost his re-election bid to challenger Justin Erickson. Gibbs received 136 votes (43.5 percent) to Erickson’s 176 votes (56.4 percent).
 The turnout at the polls was 27.6 percent in Zone 1. There were 1,061 registered voters and 315 ballots were cast.