Alex cops

Thursday

• November 5, 2015

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5 New Reasons to Play at Auger Falls • B5

Twin Falls Taps Top Nampa Cop as Final Police Chief Candidate ALEX RIGGINS ariggins@magicvalley.com‌

‌ WIN FALLS • City officials have T named Nampa Police Chief Craig Kingsbury the final candidate in the search for a new chief of police, and he will be hired pending the successful completion of a background check.‌ The city narrowed the search from 15 applicants to seven candidates late last month, but after a

round of Skype interviews, Brian Pike, now the depcity officials chose to skip uty city manager of pubover a step that would have lic safety, will conduct a background check Friday seen finalists interview that is expected to include with a community board. an interview with Nampa “It was apparent that Craig was the right choice,” Mayor Bob Henry as well as City Manager Travis Roth- Kingsbury other Nampa city officials. weiler said. “He’s a chief in Kingsbury has been chief an organization larger than ours of police in Nampa since he was and he embodies the same phi- sworn in Jan. 7, 2013, where he losophies we value here.” heads a department of 165 employFormer Twin Falls police chief ees. The Twin Falls department

has about 100 employees.

He has been part of the Nampa Police Department for more than 24 years. He also worked three years for the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office, according to the Idaho Press-Tribune.

This is the second search for a new chief this year. In March, the city announced it would start the search over after the two leading candidates withdrew.

The department has been led

Cops in Schools

by interim Chief Bryan Krear since Jan. 1. The city advertised the chief job early this year and narrowed it down to four candidates, but two of the leading candidates withdrew and two weren’t the right fit for the job.

By mid-March city officials said they would have to start the search again.

The job was advertised with a salary range of between $85,500 and $123,000.

Please see KINGSBURY, A4

Twin Falls Council Shakeup: Now What?

NATHAN BROWN nbrown@magicvalley.com‌

STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS‌PHOTOS

Canyon Ridge High School Resource Officer Matt Triner talks to senior Austyn Galbreath in a school hallway Wednesday in Twin Falls.

Beyond Keeping the Peace

‌ WIN FALLS • T Come January, there will be two new faces on the Twin Falls City Council and two old ones returned by the voters.‌ Nikki Boyd won a three-way race with Wayne Bohrn and John Kapeleris for the seat Jim Munn is vacating, and Ruth Pierce was elected to Seat 7, beating incumbent Rebecca Mills Sojka by 92 votes. Chris Talkington beat Neil Christensen by 196 votes, with Larry “House” Houser coming in third, to be re-elected to what he says will be his last term.

“I think the closeness of a couple of the races shows that all the candidates who participated put a lot of effort into their campaign and showed they were connecting with voters,” said Shawn Barigar, who was the only one to be re-elected unopposed Tuesday.

Even though there are two new members, the current and incoming council members are mostly agreed on the big issues facing the city – the City Hall and public safety complex projects, the Main Avenue redesign, economic development and attracting and keeping a workforce.

Please see COUNCIL, A5

ALEX RIGGINS ariggins@magicvalley.com‌

‌ WIN FALLS • T School districts around the country are evaluating the role of campus police officers after a sheriff’s deputy was fired in South Carolina for flipping a high school student backward in her desk and then dragging her across the floor of her classroom.‌ A video of the incident sparked outrage among some and raised a question: What is the role of police officers on school campuses?

Twin Falls Police Sgt. Dennis Pullin, who oversees the school resource officers in the Twin Falls School District, said campus officers fulfill three roles.

“We do counseling, education and enforcement,” he said.

Officer Matt Triner, the school resource officer at Canyon Ridge High and Lincoln Elementary, said his most important role is to provide safety and protection for students and staff, as well as provide counseling and to be a resource to the school in any way he can.

The U.S. Justice Department outlines the role of officers in schools as law enforcers, informal counselors, educators and emergency managers.

“Our main goal is to make the environment safe for everybody,” Pullin said.

Twin Falls School District

Gene Ritchie, a retired Twin Falls officer, was the first school resource officer in the Twin Falls School District. When he was assigned to the district in the mid-’70s he had an office at Twin Falls High School but covered every school in the district.

Now there are five full-time school resources officers in the district who are each responsible for at least two schools.

Officials Lament Low Turnout Voter Turnout 16% in Twin Falls, 19% Countywide NATHAN BROWN nbrown@magicvalley.com‌

“Discipline is handled by teachers and vice principals,” Craner said.

Jeremy Belliston, the social studies department chair and student council adviser at Canyon Ridge, said teachers know they can call Triner if a fight breaks out or a situation might turn violent.

If a student were to yell at him, or disrupt his class like the girl in the video from South Carolina, Belliston said, his first solution would be to try to escort the student to the office himself.

‌ WIN FALLS • T At the end of Monday’s City Council meeting, Councilman Greg Lanting urged everyone to vote on Tuesday.‌ City Council elections might not be glamorous, but he and his six colleagues have more impact on local residents than any one of the 105 lawmakers in Boise or the 535 in Washington, D.C. “We’re the ones that can actually affect more things within your life than any of those other groups can,” he said.

His message largely fell on deaf ears.

Although turnout was higher than the past two years, overall turnout in Twin Falls on Tuesday was still lower than the countywide average.

Please see SRO, A5

Please see TURNOUT, A5

Canyon Ridge High School Resource Officer Matt Triner in his office on Wednesday in Twin Falls.

Each of the officers are employed by the police department but their salaries are paid half by the department and half by the school district, said district spokeswoman Eva Craner.

According to district policy, the job of a school resource officer is “to assist school administration in providing a safe, secure and non-disruptive school environment conducive to the education process where prevention is the main emphasis.”

What school resource officers are not asked to do, according to Craner, is to help discipline students.

I‌ f You Do One Thing: “The Art of Teaching” exhibit is on display 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Twin Falls Center for the Arts, 195 River Vista Place. Free.

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Thursday, November 5, 2015 • A5

Turnout

Voter Turnout by Precinct in Twin Falls County

Continued from A1

Without factoring in same-day registrations, voter turnout countywide was at 19 percent, according to Elections Director Valerie Varadi. That’s up from 12 percent in 2013.

Castleford, Hansen, Hollister and Kimberly were the only communities where turnout exceeded 30 percent — the first three each had a contested race, and Kimberly had contests for mayor and City Council as well as a proposal on the ballot, which voters overwhelmingly rejected, to borrow $23 million to build a wastewater treatment plant.

In the city of Twin Falls, where three City Council seats were contested, turnout was 16 percent, varying from a low of 8 percent in Precinct 2 to a high of 23.5 percent in precincts 22, 23 and 24, according to the county’s stats.

“I think it’s unfortunately typical,” said Vice Mayor Suzanne Hawkins. “I wish it was higher. Unfortunately, that just seems to be where the American voters are right now.”

Turnout was higher than in the 2013 Council race, when only one Twin Falls precinct even exceeded the county’s 12 percent average — but only one contested seat was on the city ballot that year, too.

Mayor Don Hall said it is “a privilege and an honor” to be able to vote. He wishes people were more involved.

“We kind of take it for granted in our nation, and I wish that we didn’t,” he said.

Hall did praise the people who came out to vote despite Tuesday’s snow and rain.

“I wish it was higher, but I do applaud those that did come out,” he said.

Shawn Barigar, who was re-elected unopposed Tuesday, pointed to the Seat 7 race, in which Ruth Pierce edged out incumbent Rebecca Mills Sojka by 92 votes out of 2,637 cast, as an example of the importance of voting in local elections.

“When you look at that, every vote does count,” Barigar said.

It’s a story that repeats itself year after year — despite the exhortations of local officials, participation in local elections remains low. Chris Talkington, who was reelected Tuesday, said he expected about 15 percent turnout.

City Turnout (%) Buhl 1, 2 16.7 Buhl 3, 4, 5 19 Castleford 31.8 Deep Creek 22.3 Filer 21.3

Hansen 30 Hollister 31.3 Kimberly 1, 3 32.1 Kimberly 2, 4 30.6 Murtaugh 16 Twin Falls 16

“I wasn’t surprised with what I saw yesterday,” he said.

This year’s turnout in Twin Falls was higher than the 13 percent in 2009, but down from the early 2000s, when it ranged from 20 to 26 percent.

“I have been, through the years, regretful of seeming like we have a declining involvement in the political process,” he said.

One common answer is that people come out when there are state and national decisions to make, but not just for the City Council. Lanting said Wednesday that he wishes more people voted, but that Tuesday’s turnout was pretty typical. The voters in local elections also tend to skew older, he said.

“It’s not a very jazzy election,” he said.

“You don’t have a governor or president in it.”

Barigar said this could be because City Council races don’t have the “glitz and glamour” of a presidential election where the campaigns spend millions of dollars on advertising and the candidates’ every word is covered by the press. The percentage of eligible voters who vote in state and national races has been generally dropping since 1980 but is still much higher than in City Council elections.

Hawkins speculated that low voter turnouts may be because civics education is less emphasized in schools today. Some people, she said, might not realize that their City Councils are elected on a different cycle than other offices.

Also, she said, there wasn’t any major controversy in Twin Falls to bring voters out this year.

“When things in your city are running fairly smoothly, people aren’t as likely to have an opinion,” she said.

Council Continued from A1

Neither of the newcomers are unknown to the rest of the Council, and most Council members had only praise on Wednesday for everyone who ran and their soon-to-be new colleagues.

“Sometimes people don’t understand the level of dedication you’ve got to have in an elected position,” said Mayor Don Hall.

Most of the current members said they know Pierce, especially, from her work with groups like the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization and the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.

“If you’re active in community things, you’re a l wa ys r u n n i n g i n to her,” said Councilman Greg Lanting.

Many of the current members said they have known Boyd for a while too.

She also started to attend every Council meeting earlier this year, after she decided to run, and started to reach out to some of the Council members to learn more about the job.

“She’s really gotten off to a fine start on her learning curve,” Talkington said.

Lanting said he appointed her to the Planning and Zoning Commission when he was mayor in 2013, a position that, he said, has been a springboard to the Council for others too, including himself. Bohrn and Christensen were also former and current P&Z members, respectively.

Boyd said most of the voters she talked to were excited about Twin Falls’ future and the direction in which the city is going. She thanked people for voting despite Tuesday’s bad weather, and said she knows a lot of people in town, which helped her win.

“They know I’m pretty upfront and honest, and I’m going to do what I say,” she said.

Pierce praised her campaign committee for their work, and said they ran a clean campaign.

“I think some people wanted to see a change,” Pierce said when asked about why she won. “I think my involvement in the community and my business and financial background was a huge addition.”

Mills Sojka said she plans

SRO Continued from A1

“I would always go to an administrator first, but if it was physical or looked like it was getting violent, I would immediately call Triner,” he said. “I wouldn’t walk down with the student, I’d call Triner.”

School resource officers should develop a high degree of trust with students and serve as role models for youth, according to a list of essential responsibilities provided by the school district.

Among the list of 12 essential functions and duties, the officers are also supposed to provide leadership on crime prevention, provide classroom instruction on drug-abuse prevention, assist faculty during times of crisis and provide first aid care until a nurse or emergency personnel arrive.

Law Enforcement

The most basic function for school resource officers is to enforce the law.

In the 12 years Triner has worked on campuses in the Twin Falls School District, he’s dealt with almost every crime he can think of except murder.

School resource officers work closely with courts and probation and often refer students to juvenile programs, Pullin said.

Campus officers have more “tools in their tool belts” to deal with students, he said.

“We still enforce laws, but if there’s a problem or issue that arises that we become aware of immediately, sometimes we can pull the student aside and work with them,” Pullin said. “Instead of just taking a student and locking him up and charging him, we’ve got other options, because our goal is not to arrest kids, although sometimes that’s the only alternative we have depending on

STEPHEN REISS, TIMES-NEWS‌

Canyon Ridge High School Resource Officer Matt Triner in his office Wednesday in Twin Falls. the crime.”

Pullin’s officers take control of all aspects of possible criminal cases, from the reporting of a possible crime to the investigation and potential arrest.

Officers go through a week-long basic training where they learn investigative skills on top of what they’ve learned on patrol, Pullin said. After a year or two on campus, the department sends the officers to an advanced training program.

The department puts them through 40 hours of inner-department training, and classes are available throughout the country during the year that are specifically designed for training officers to work on campuses, Triner said.

Education

School resource officers also offer their help in the classroom when possible and teach students outside the classroom, according to Triner and Pullin.

The school resource officers in Twin Falls put on a program each year to teach students the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

Triner also teaches about the Fourth Amendment in high school classes and teaches bullying prevention in middle school classes.

Counseling

The Justice Department describes the officers’ role as informal counselors as “building relationships and reinforcing positive behaviors, while connecting youth with needed services.”

Pullin and Triner both spoke extensively about the importance of interacting positively with students.

“That’s absolutely part of our role, to build a connection with some of these kids,” Triner said. “Lunch time is the best time because we interact with the kids. They can come up and ask questions, we can talk to them.”

Triner said some students don’t like him simply because he’s a cop, but he tries to bridge the gap between students and police however he can. One way is by wearing a more casual uniform, including a TFPD polo shirt and cargo pants instead of dress blues. He calls this his “soft uniform,” but he still wears a bullet-proof vest under the polo and a full utility belt with a holstered gun.

“Probably the most important thing we do is be a role model to the students,” Pullin said. “We’re pretty successful with that. We get a lot of things handled and taken care of being proactive before things come up because students will let us know.”

DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS‌

Election clerk Donovan Norton explains the voting procedure to Ella Marie Lauer Tuesday at precinct 1 in downtown Twin Falls. to continue to serve the community in other ways, such as her involvement in the Twin Falls Optimist Club and her volunteer work.

“I would have loved to serve another term, but because the voters didn’t want that, I’m happy with what I accomplished in the five years that I served,” she said.

Mills Sojka said she thinks the Council’s direction will be different now, since she made a point of soliciting public input and making it easier for people to get involved in government.

“I hope that someone else will carry on that torch of being responsive to the citizens and representing their desires, because ultimately this is their community,” she said.

Now that Boyd is on the Council, it has three women on it at the same time for the first time since 2000.

So what lies ahead? Barigar said that the city’s staff and the Strategic Plan are consistent despite election results, which provides some continuity when there’s turnover on the Council.

Council members, Boyd and Pierce listed some different focuses for the next couple of years, but most mentioned the City Hall project and the Main Avenue redesign as huge focuses.

Talent attraction – making sure the community can draw enough people to fill jobs as it expands – was another issue several

mentioned. Hall added that part of this is making sure the city itself stays competitive, so its employees aren’t lured by private companies.

“I’d rather have these problems than the opposite of an economy not thriving and high a unemployment rate … These are challenges, I’m not even going to call them problems, they’re challenges,” Hall said.

Talkington said there is still a lot of economic uncertainty despite the community’s growth, with many people’s incomes never having recovered from the 2008 crash. He expects the area’s wages to increase significantly over the next few years as Twin Falls continues to grow, and that maintaining quality of life at the same time would be one of his focuses.

Boyd mentioned the new schools being constructed, a project that is overseen by the school district but that affects city residents greatly. Pierce said infrastructure, which is stressed by a population that doubles every day as people from outside the city come into Twin Falls to work and shop, would be a challenge.

Vice Mayor Suzanne Hawkins said overseeing the completion of the wastewater treatment plant project, economic development in general and making sure the Building Department is staffed and ready to deal with growth would also be issues.

“I think we have a pretty full slate ahead of us,” she said.

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