Emmett/Gem County Community Review Report Summary

General community comments and concerns
Feelings on this issue were almost universal among community members we spoke with.
Many residents questioned the motives of city officials and felt their lack of involvement was
due largely to turf conflicts and personalities. Others pointed to historic variability in the
working relationships among civic groups, economic development organizations and city
and county government.
More than one person talked about how various organizations in the community don’t
combine efforts and work together because they resisted working on a project if it was not
their idea. Paradoxically, the organizations want the credit for accomplishing good things
for the community, but few organizations have the clout and energy to accomplish a project
entirely on their own.
Visiting Team observations
Some Visiting Team members were struck by the lack of city government involvement
throughout much of the process. Emmett’s Mayor, City Council and Planning Department
were conspicuously unavailable during the pre-visit phase of the review as well as during the
community tours on Day One. This was troubling to those investing time and energy in this
process, and greatly limited our ability to assess conditions and challenges from the City’s
perspective.
As these concerns were brought to the City’s attention, changes were made to the Day Two
schedule to include time with the Mayor, some City Councilmembers, and the City Planner
and Public Works representative.
Final Thoughts
Responding to the survey completed as part of this community review, Gem County
residents spoke fondly of the “small, quiet, rural nature of the community”. These same qualities
will continue to draw new residents to Emmett so long as jobs are available in Ada and
Canyon Counties. Even if economic development efforts result in more jobs being created
within Gem County, as is clearly desired, a substantial number of people will continue
commuting over the hill to work in the Treasure Valley – Emmett is too close to Boise,
Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell to expect otherwise.
How can the people of Gem County guide the inevitable growth so that they do not lose the
“small, quiet, rural, nature of the community” The Visiting Team suggests this is the central
question that all economic development, community service, and government organizations
could rally around. If the community does not take the opportunity to answer this question
now, before experiencing significant growth, the region will constantly be reacting to outside
interests and external forces who do not reside in the community. This is the experience of
one Western town after another, including many in the Treasure Valley. Emmett can still
learn this lesson from them. Take the responsibility to imagine an alternative and preferred
future.
Embarking on a community visioning process that identifies what citizens would like Gem
County to be like as a place to live 10, 15, 20 years from now would be an appropriate place
to start. This visioning process can ideally be jointly led by the City and the County. The
comprehensive plan could then be updated to reflect and implement this vision.
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