James hopes to bring youthful voice to council

More than anything Jacob James would like an opportunity be involved in the community.  Alongside of that, he also hopes to get a chance to bring a youthful voice to municipal government. James, a Lakeview resident of five years, said that his decision to run for one of two town councilor seats was additionally inspired by his experience serving on the town’s budget advisory committee, which he joined this past spring.  

“(At that point), I felt like I hadn’t really done anything to contribute to the community,” he said.  “I had no experience before that with local government… so the whole thing was a learning process.”

James is employed with the Bureau of Land Management and works in information technology customer support.  He and his wife, Katie, moved to Lakeview in 2005 when she took a job as a science teacher at Lakeview High School.  The couple has two daughters, Beulah and Violet.

James viewed joining the budget committee as a chance to see how smaller elements impacted the larger components of town government, and ultimately decided to give town council a go.

“I was surprised that no one from a younger generation was involved,” he said. “The people I worked with (on the budget committee) were great… My motivation is to add youth to some of that.”

James noted that he is particularly interested in some of the current energy-related projects underway, such as the proposed biomass power generation facility and a geothermal heating district that would service both the hospital and the school district.

The geothermal project in particular, he said, has a great prospect of lowering costs for the schools so additional money is available directly for local education.

James said he’s aware of some residents’ concerns about the potential impacts on local air quality with regard to the biomass project and would like to learn more about that issue.

James also expressed an interest in learning about all the general operations of the town, ranging from the local fire department to the public works and other departments.

“The more I learn, the more concerned I will be, or involved in it,” he said.

James said that he shares the concerns of many residents in terms of general costs related to services, and would like to learn of potential ways to seek reductions in light of the current economic pinch.