Matt Roetter and Roger Saterfiel running for re-election to Hayden City Council
The possibilities in Hayden come into focus as Roetter and Saterfiel file
The race for the City of Hayden election on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, is becoming more clear as two Hayden City Council Members have filed for re-election. City Council President Matt Roetter and City Council Member Roger Saterfiel have both filed for re-election for their current seats.
Roetter and Saterfiel have filed for Seats 1 and 3 on City Council respectively, and Luke Sommer has filed for Mayor of Hayden.
Tom Shafer has been campaigning for a seat on City Council and has held joint events with Luke Sommer, but Shafer has not yet filed.
Candidates have until Friday, September 8, to apply.
Matt Roetter for City Council
Hayden City Council President Matt Roetter and his wife Karen have lived in Hayden for 42 years and raised 3 children here. They have six grandchildren. Roetter is a member of the Hayden Area Regional Sewer Board and a member of the Hayden Urban Renewal Agency.
One of Roetter’s stated goals has been slow growth and responsible development. In a news release, Roetter shared an example of how he sees progress towards this goal. Over the past four years, building permits in Hayden for both single-family and multi-family residential have declined. Single-family permits declined from 139 in 2020 to 59 last year. Multi-family permits declined from 148 in 2020 to zero last year.
Roetter states that he will “strive to maintain a low levy property tax rate.” He also aims to “reduce traffic congestion by upgrading and improving three major Hayden intersections, Hayden Ave./Ramsey Road, Honeysuckle Ave./Ramsey Road and Honeysuckle Ave./ Government Way.”
In the recent results from a City Survey sent to Hayden residents, traffic came up as one of the top issues. The Hayden Citizen has previously written about traffic problems and how HURA could help.
Roetter is the first candidate for this election to file for Hayden City Council Seat 1.
Roger Saterfiel for City Council
Roger Saterfiel has filed for Seat 3 on Hayden City Council. He has lived in Hayden for 34 years, and served for 16 years on Hayden City Council.
Notable accomplishments mentioned in his re-election article in the CDA Press by Josa Snow:
“We passed the levy for more law enforcement to keep our citizens safe.”
“We worked on the comprehensive plan, which actually reduced density.”
The CDA Press article closes out with a quote showing Saterfiel’s view of certain local boards where Republican-backed candidates took a majority of seats in recent elections:
“I would appreciate your vote as we don’t want Hayden to become a chaotic mess like NIC [North Idaho College] and the library.”
Luke Sommer for Mayor
Luke Sommer previously announced his candidacy for Mayor. No other candidates have yet filed to run for this position.
Mayor Scott Forssell heading out
In early August, Mayor Scott Forssell announced he would not run for election. He has served as Mayor of Hayden since his appointment in April 2021.
Wrap-up
We will keep an eye on election filings and provide an update when we know the final matchups for the Hayden City Council and Mayor elections.