Former Moscow city councilman Bill Lambert will be sworn into office as the next mayor of Moscow after ousting eight-year incumbent Nancy Chaney for the position during Tuesday’s local elections.
Lambert said he felt great about the election results and thinks the election represents a desire for change in Moscow.
“I think the people of Moscow wanted a change, and wanted us to get back on track, get back on focus and that’s what I’m going to be about — getting us right back where we need to be,” Lambert said.
Lambert said there are terrific things that could lie ahead for Moscow.
“We don’t know what we can’t do here yet, that’s the scary thing,” Lambert said. “And we’ve got so much talent here in Moscow that I want to explore all avenues for us.”
Lambert said short-term, what comes next is getting city staff familiar with how he manages.
“It’s getting city staff on page so everybody knows how I operate as a manager, because I’ve talked about my management skills and being a facilitator and doing those types of things,” Lambert said.
Lambert said he is humbled by the results and the position, and recognizes the importance of his new role.
“I’m going to focus on our city like I said all the way through the campaign and focus on the things that we need to — that not only I think need to be done, but need to be done collectively as citizens here in Moscow,” Lambert said. “I look forward to working with everybody.”
Lambert will replace Chaney, who expressed her disappointment in the results shortly after the election.
“Well, certainly I’m disappointed on a personal level. I really enjoy my work as mayor,” Chaney said. “I think I’ve done the best job I know how to do over these last eight years and invested a lot of my emotional self, as well as my intellectual self, in that job.”
Chaney said serving as Moscow’s mayor was a great honor, and she wishes the best for her successors.
“Serving as mayor of the city of Moscow has been one of the greatest honors and inspirations of my life,” Chaney said. “I have appreciated the opportunity to serve in that capacity and I wish the future leaders of our city the very best as they forge new relationships with the University of Idaho and others across the community. I certainly hope that it is as open and accessible a process — as I’ve tried to make it for our city.”
Chaney’s term officially ends in January, but she said she will serve to the best of her ability until that time. She said she will be involved in projects concerning Legacy Crossing and the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport, until Lambert is officially mayor.
In addition to the mayor, three city council seats were also filled.
Walter Steed was re-elected to his seat and will be accompanied by Arthur Bettge and John Weber, who previously served in city government positions. Steed, Bettge and Weber defeated newcomer Rebecca Rod.
Rod said she learned a lot during the election, but was disappointed.
“Just, you know, kind of ran the good race and learned a lot while I was running, met a lot of great people, had some fun,” Rod said. “And, you know, it’s just (a) pretty, pretty interesting process. I’m disappointed for Mayor Chaney and for myself and stuff, but really happy for (Bettge).”
Despite her defeat, Rod hinted that she might run again in the next two years.
“Well, who knows, who knows?” Rod said. “I have a lot of folks that were pulling for me and stuff, and so the amount that folks won by isn’t that much. So, you know, we’ll see what happens with these folks.”
Weber said Rod did very well for a newcomer, and he appreciated the cleanliness of the campaign.
Rod managed to pull in 21 percent of the vote, while Weber and Steed both carried approximately 24 percent and Bettge lead the pack with nearly 30 percent.
Weber said he thinks Moscow is looking for change, as evidenced by his and Lambert’s victories.
“But, I think that with Bill and winning by almost 800 votes and then I won again after being away from the council for four years — Walter stayed on the council — I think, I think the town said they’re ready for a little change,” Weber said.
This will be Weber’s second term with the council. Weber previously lost a bid against Chaney for the mayoral office in 2009.
Bettge said he looks to create a middle ground for the people in Moscow, implementing his vision of working cooperatively, not competitively.
“But, the message for Moscow of that – meeting in the middle – bringing people together from both sides instead of busy being competitive and making, oh just a one note campaign out of it, where anything good for somebody else means something bad for me as a result,” Bettge said. Bettge said he will start by addressing small and easy issues and gradually move on to the larger ones. One of the easy issues mentioned was straightening out alignment problems with Highway 95 South.
Steed said he is glad with the election results and looks to continue working for Moscow, especially through the Entryway Beautification Project.
“That was something that I have been working forward on, since I was defeated my first time I ran for city council,” Steed said. “This has been a long time coming. We now have a committee, I’m chair of it, to work toward that.”
The project aims to beautify city entrances with the goal of making them characteristically and aesthetically pleasing.
Steed expressed his appreciation for the election results.
“Just really appreciative of the citizens and it’s a good evening. I’m glad it’s over,” Steed said.
Andrew Jenson can be reached at [email protected]