City Council Member, Jim Francis "A Land Use Decision: A City Council Faces the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
August Program Chairman: 20th & 27th: Amanda Poitevin & Chris Aspinall
August Sergeant-At-Arms: Lisa Burtenshaw
August Greeter: Kathy McBride
im is a long-time resident of Idaho Falls, arriving in 1953 at the age of 4 and graduating from Idaho Falls High School in 1966. Holds a BA in history from Arizona State and an MA in Comparative Western Canadian and United States History from the University of British Columbia. Jim is an award-winning teacher of history, and he is currently serving in his second term as a member of the City Council of Idaho Falls.
People often ask Jim “What is the hardest part of City Council.” His answer has been consistent and emphatic for the past several years: “land use decisions!” Land use decisions, particularly involving zoning, confront the Council with one set of valid
property and individual rights versus an opposing set of valid property and individual rights. The foundational principles of government’s responsibilities when it grapples with the “valid right versus valid right” are laid out in the Declaration of Independence and in the Preamble of the Constitution. Fortunately, the founders did not give city councilors THE answer. Instead, they gave councilors a framework for resolution. In Jim’s presentation you, as members of Rotary and guests, will be the decision-makers facing a fictional land use decision involving a request for re-zone of a property in a fictional city. You will hear testimony from a developer/property owner and residents living next to the property. Remember your decision can only be “Yes “or “No.” Voting “Maybe” is not an option.