Idaho Falls mayoral race between 2 candidates

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - The race for Idaho Falls mayor is between incumbent Mayor Rebecca Casper and Ashley Romero.

Romero explained why she is running for mayor.

"I started seeing things around the city that I felt needed to be changed and I decided not to run for city council because I saw other people who were running for city council. Nobody was running against Mayor Casper," Romero said. "Something I grew up hearing all the time, 'be the change you wish to see'. And so I decided I'm going to start reaching out to different things and see what I can do to get some things changed."

Romero said she wasn't hearing back from anyone.

"The citizens have got to be able to hear back from the city workers, from the mayor," Romero said. "It needs to be addressed. And then I started looking into other things and the more I looked into what was going on with the city, I decided that I needed to step up."

Romero said she also wants to reevaluate the budget.

"It seems as though some of the departments aren't getting the funding, the same need to do their jobs efficiently or safely," Romero said. "For example, the police department, they need better training and they need more officers in a city as big as ours is, that is still growing. Six to 10 officers per shift is not sufficient. A lot of the poorer neighborhoods are feeling the lack of officers. And so that's one thing I want to do is I want to look at the budget and meet with all the department heads and see what they need so that we can meet those needs so that citizens can be safe. And the different departments can do their job safely."

Romero also said housing needs to be addressed.

"I've heard a lot about housing issues, and that is a really big one, but it really does need to be resolved," Romero said. "We need housing that people can afford because with everything rising in past years, people are losing housing that they have. I read an article with the Post Register not long ago saying that 44% of Idaho Falls residents feel like they can't afford to live here or they can afford to rent or their mortgage. And that's a crazy high amount, you know? And so I want to see what we can do to create housing and find somewhere in the city. So people that can actually afford to live there."

Romero also said she gets asked a lot about how she can work as mayor when she has four kids under nine.

"I always respond that my husband is fully capable and he is my biggest supporter," Romero said. "And he has stepped up fully during this campaign. Any time I've had to up and leave for an event or a meeting or to drop off signs. He's been right there helping."

Romero also explained why people should vote for her.

"I'm not someone that backs down until the job is done," Romero said. "I will see a job through no matter how hard it is. And I will be the change that I wish to see. And I will be there for the citizens. To meet their needs and to fix problems that arise. I'm going to work harder than anyone that's been in the office here in Idaho Falls, and I don't back down. I don't back down from hard. Issues, I'm going to step up and get it done."