We reached out to each candidate and asked them to write a letter answering three questions:
Who are you?
Why are you running?
What sets you apart from other candidates?
These were their responses:
_____Rose Schmitt __________________________________
I am Rose Schmitt. I am 68 years young. I have lived in The Mini-Cassia area my entire life. Living the last 44 years in Heyburn. I have been married for 45 years and have 2 adult sons with wives, 3 grandsons and 3 granddaughters. I have worked a variety of jobs throughout the years, but homemaker being the priority. I believe in being family oriented. I started attending Heyburn City Council meetings in 2007, wanting to know and learn what our community was about. I was appointed to serve on Plan and Zoning Committee until I was elected to be on Heyburn City Council, where I have served for the past 6 years. It has been very interesting to me to see where the City was, and where it is today. I enjoy being on council and working with others to make Heyburn the best place to live. I am committed to our community.
I am running for Heyburn City Council because I want to make a difference. I would like the citizens to have a voice by listening, communicating, and understand what citizens need and want. I would like to see responsible growth, while maintaining the friendly small town feel. I feel safety is a important factor in our community. Our children are our future so we need to make them safe. I want to encourage citizens of Heyburn to attend our council meetings and help us to make the right decisions for our community.
With over a decade as an active participant in city council meetings and several years serving as councilwoman, I am familiar with the issues that Heyburn has faced as we have overcome challenges together. I will use my experience, knowledge, flexibility, and open mind to help guide us through new issues we face as a community. I am dedicated to continue to hear, understand, and find ways to meet the needs of the citizens of Heyburn.
Sincerely
Rose Schmitt
______StegenPhillips ________________________________
I am Stegen Phillips from Paul ID originally, married and father of 4. I am a network engineer by trade and live for business. I am from the area and stayed in the area. For more information check out my website.
I was on the Burley City Council and got my feet wet and moved back to Heyburn my 2nd time here and decided I did like to be part of the community in Heyburn and wanted to continue forward to try to help.
From the age of twelve, I always had some type of business or something I would sell to make money. At a young age, I started to understand the hard work it would take to run a business whether it grossed $100 annually or millions annually. It’s the same process just with extra 0’s. I have a lot of experience with self-owned business and having employees who live and thrive in our community, a different set of eyes than being employed. We need both views on the council as it pertains to our people, livelihood, our families, our lives for the area.
Sincerely
Stegen Phillips
______Joanne Justesen _______________________________
Heyburn is my home and has been for close to 43 years. We have raised our family and built our careers in this community. I have been involved in my city and community for many of these years. I volunteered at Heyburn Elementary, working in my children’s classrooms, a homeroom mom; providing treats, and serving on the Parent Teacher Organization, serving as Vice President one year. This connection gave me a great opportunity and as a result I was later hired as a Para professional, which lead to a 30 year career. This has allowed me to build many wonderful connections with students and parents. My husband and I coached Little League Baseball, All Star Baseball and Basketball for many years. These were busy and rewarding times and continued connection building.
I have had the privilege of serving as a Council member for about 12 years. Serving on Council has allowed me to learn and understand what is needed for a city to function and grow. The Association of Idaho Cities (AIC) seminars and training have proven valuable to me; helping me to learn how to better meet the needs of our city as well as the opportunity to collaborate with other city leaders. I have spent many hours in these trainings. As a council member, I have served as Council President, which is a leadership position filling in for the Mayor. I serve on the Minidoka Joint Powers Animal Control (JPAC) Board and have done so for 7 years where I am currently the board Chairwomen. JPAC, is a joint partnership with the cities in Minidoka County and the County of Minidoka. As a team member I have worked with the board in shaping the scope of the facility and the future of the shelter. Certainly not perfect, but a work in progress. I also currently serve in our churches Media Ministry and Salt and Light Ministry.
The City of Heyburn is continuing to grow. In order to support that we need to invest in updating current and adding new infrastructure, that will support new housing and new businesses. We, as a Council and administration have worked together on moving forward to accomplish this. I will continue to work towards a strong infrastructure, by supporting grant applications, necessary studies and purchasing equipment needed to evaluate these systems. Energy costs are also on our radar. We, as a council, have created and passed a rate resolution. I want to note that we haven’t increased rates for the last 4 years.
Our youth is also a priority for me. I believe our children are our future. I know that this statement is spoken a lot but truly they are. As a Council member I have advocated for playground equipment in our parks, as well as walking, and bike paths. I’m excited to see the newest one under construction on Villa. I am currently working with Paul and Rupert Council Members to create and build a Mayor Youth Advisory Council. The MYAC will help to give our youth the tools, training and experience to effect change in their community, and city. They will learn about city government and will work with city leaders. Students can develop and enhance leadership and other skills. Most importantly, students get to have fun.
I bring to the Council experience, knowledge and an ability to work in a collaborative way with other council members, mayor, administration and other community members. I have cultivated great relationships and respect of and for city employees. Being a team member is imperative to a strong, working council, and healthy city growth. I am a team player.
Sincerely,
Joanne Justesen
Joanne4HeyburnCouncil on FaceBook
______Kylie Orton ___________________________________
Heyburn informer Received no response from Kylie Orton
Heyburn Informer 
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