The Hayden Citizen

05/03/2026

Idaho votes on Tuesday, May 19, in the primary election! Look up your voter information on VoteIdaho.gov - the official state website for voter info.

You can view your Sample Ballot at the website and look up your precinct voting information.

Early voting in Kootenai County starts on Monday, May 4, 2026.

03/25/2026

Vote in the primary election on May 19, 2026. The Kootenai County elections website or Vote Idaho website are great sources of information.

Have you requested your absentee ballot for the May Primary Election? Don’t wait until it’s too late! Request your absentee ballot today at https://voteidaho.gov/casting-your-ballot/ -voting and Make a Plan to Vote Your Picks in 2026!

03/03/2026

Filing for Kootenai County election positions and Precinct Committeemen for the local parties runs from Monday, March 2 to Friday, March 13. You can find more information at the Kootenai County elections page on their website.

02/07/2026

The City of Hayden is looking for input from Hayden citizens on future improvements to McIntire Park.

A Concept Master Plan for McIntire Family Park is being created!

The Plan will guide improvements to the park over the coming years. Help us choose amenities and design for the park.

Ways to participate:
> In person at Hayden City Hall
> Online: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzZKmn20YZJcnbEczGJJfzRD-pyRpjwiukK8ZY7Yyv3kZTSQ/viewform

02/01/2026

The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office produces monthly activity reports for the City of Hayden where it provides law enforcement services.

All of the 2025 reports are available on the City of Hayden website on the police page.

10/08/2025

Hayden City Council voted in a meeting on Tues. Oct 7 to hold a public hearing on Nov. 18 regarding the expansion of the Hayden Urban Renewal District. Potential projects the district could fund include a civic center, roads and intersection improvements, and parks. The expansion is ~19 acres (in addition to the existing 720 acres of Hayden in the district).

Council voted 3-1 to schedule the public hearing and give notice to the public. DePriest, Roetter, and Shafer voted for the motion. White voted against the motion.

10/01/2025

Read the Hayden City Council Candidate Questionnaire responses from DePriest, Sommer, and White. It’s on our website - where you can also sign up for our email list.

DePriest aims to continue low growth and density and discusses options for law enforcement.

Sommer brings the attack and says: “I have watched this city council, mayor, and staff misuse laws and procedures that are designed to control those who exercise the powers of government. They have wasted time, repeatedly violated other council members’ rights, and demonstrated poor temperament and judgment.”

White aims for more transparency, accountability, and good governance.

Erickson continues to remain silent - THC did not receive a response from his registered email address.

09/20/2025

Ed DePriest argues that Hayden is transparent despite claims to the contrary from other candidates. He also cites evidence of Hayden’s lack of high density growth over the last few years.

09/13/2025

Hayden City Council Candidate Press Release

Luke Sommer has announced his candidacy for the Hayden City Council in the November election. He is the recommended candidate of the Kootenai County Republican Party.

Luke Sommer first moved to Kootenai County in 2002. He is married to his beautiful and talented wife, Rowena. The father of five grown children, he spent nearly 25 years in Canada, where he witnessed firsthand the dangers of living under a semi-socialist state. Luke has been a realtor since 1987, selling real estate in California, British Columbia, and Idaho. Luke has witnessed several real estate booms and busts. He is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago (’82) and Trinity Western University in Langley, BC (’85). In 1985, Luke studied the International and Comparative Law of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Later, in 1988, Luke ran for the United States House of Representatives as the Republican nominee in California’s 13th Congressional District (San Jose; Bay Area). Luke currently volunteers on the Kootenai Hospital Board of Directors as a Trustee and he and his wife attend Hayden Bible Church.

As a husband, father of five, and a resident of Hayden for over 12 years, Luke said he has become increasingly concerned for Hayden’s future. Luke understands that Hayden ought to develop a mix of different housing types, but he maintains that there has been too much of a rush to develop higher-density housing.

"I’m running for Hayden City Council to bring focus and efficiency to city government, and to help bring policy and practice back into line with the people’s desire for appropriate growth. Hayden’s fast growth has happened largely because the city council lacks transparency in its decision-making process. I have been a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians for 13 years, and I am alarmed that city council meetings are often poorly run, with insufficient public input, and that council meeting minutes prior to 2025 are no longer posted on the city website. Meeting minutes serve as a record of the actions taken by our local government. Hayden city government needs to be transparent and efficient, re-embrace low and slow growth, make growth pay for itself, and avoid entanglements with outside groups that have agendas aligned with higher-density, centralizing tendencies. I look forward to serving the people of Hayden and seeing our city thrive."

09/10/2025

City of Hayden - Law Enforcement Public Service Announcement
- September 8, 2025

You can read the full post from the City, but the summary is: "Stay tuned as we work together towards a future that elevates our commitment to law enforcement across our city and our community."

The City does not yet have a solution to the law enforcement funding problem, and we expect this to be a recurring topic during the 2025 campaigns for the two Hayden City Council seats in the Nov. 4 election.

https://cms2.revize.com/revize/haydenid/Docs/Home%20Page/LatestNews/Law%20Enforcement%20PSA%2009092025.pdf?t=202509091732430

Law Enforcement Public Service Announcement

Over the past months there have been many community conversations over the City of Hayden's role with its law enforcement services. Much of what has been said publicly at Council and County Commissioner meetings has been in response to work that has been done by City and County leadership to negotiate its future law enforcement service.

It is important for the City to communicate with its citizens, its business partners and property owners our commitment to ensuring public safety that sets a high standard within our community.

More information: https://cms2.revize.com/revize/haydenid/Docs/Home%20Page/LatestNews/Law%20Enforcement%20PSA%2009092025.pdf?t=202509091732430

09/05/2025

Per recent social media posts, the KCRCC will be recommending Luke Sommer and Sandy White for the two Hayden City Council positions.

The county Republican organization endorsed White in 2021 for the same position which she won, and endorsed Sommer in 2023 when he lost the race for Mayor to current incumbent Alan Davis.