Star Valley Mayor Bill Rappaport proudly shows off one of the town's newly paved streets.
By Jim Keyworth
Gazette Editor
Bill Rappaport never asked to be mayor of Star Valley, but after 10 months on the job he’s actively seeking a four year term so he can finish what he’s started.
Rappaport happened to be in the vice mayor’s seat when former mayor Chuck Heron resigned in March of 2009. At the time he took the reins, Rappaport said his intention was to only serve until a new mayor could be elected.
That has changed.
“The town is run completely different now,” Rappaport told the Gazette. “I’m completely open. Anybody can speak on agendized items; I bring them right into the discussions, something that was never done before.
“That’s why a lot of the issues that have come up have been resolved at council meetings.”
Rappaport says his management style is all-inclusive.
“I try to be as much of a mediator as I can,” he explained. “I let the council make the decisions. That’s why the council meetings are so completely different than they used to be.
“We listen to our constituents. They drive the council. I think we’re doing the right thing.”
Rappaport says he also has reached across the border – both physical and psychological – separating Star Valley and its big brother Payson.
“The first thing I did when I was appointed mayor was to start a dialog with (Payson Mayor) Ken Evans,” Rappaport said. We’ve accomplished a lot so far – a lot
“Our town council is working very, very closely with the Payson Town Council. Our sewer and water commission is working with their water department.”
It was water, of course, that led Star Valley to incorporate – specifically Payson’s heist of water from the Tower Well in the heart of Star Valley. Rappaport says he has done a 180 on the issue.
“It’s taken me five years to realize what this whole water thing was about,” Rappaport said. “We’ve already spent $150,000 on attorneys to find out we have no case.
“We’re very conservative how we spend our money, and I can’t see spending money on frivolous lawsuits.
“What (Payson) did for the acquisition of that well was completely legal. The only one who could have stopped it was (Brooke Utilities President Robert) Hardcastle, and I believe the developers had cut a deal with Hardcastle.
The coming of Blue Ridge has also impacted Rappaport’s thinking.
“Payson took our entire council and sewer and water commission up to Blue Ridge on buses,” he said. “We spent the whole day up there.
“You have no idea how big that project is until you go through it. It turned my mind around completely; it changed everybody’s opinion about what’s going on.
“It’s going to happen and it will change everything up here.”
But Rappaport says the towns commonalities extend beyond water, especially the need to focus on economic development.
“Both towns, despite what has happened in the past, need to realize that we both need each other,” he said. “We need them more than they need us obviously – that’s where the kids go to school, that’s where we do our shopping.”
Rappaport is also proud of his close relationship with the state’s Native American communities, especially the Tonto Apaches. He has breakfast once a week with Tribal Chairman Ivan Smith, whom he considers a close personal friend.
Meanwhile back in Star Valley, much has happened in the 10 months Rappaport has been mayor – the most visible the paving of 20 town streets and roads.
“All the streets that are in Star Valley’s inventory are now paved. The next project is Valley Road.
“When the weather warms up, we’ll start doing the sealing and resurfacing, so all the roads in Star Valley, except private roads, are all surfaced now.
Hopefully by March or April of next year, we will have the culverts and bridges worked on. That’s the next project.”
The best part, according to Rappaport, is that thanks to photo enforcement none of it has cost the taxpayers a penny.
“It’s all been paid for by people from the Valley and out of town,” he said. “I was the one who brought (photo enforcement) to Star Valley, the reason being that we were averaging about three fatalities through that corridor every year – and these weren’t people hitting elk.
“We did a study at that time and the average speed limit was 72 mph in a 45 mph zone. The average speed right now is 43 mph. We have not had one fatality since we put it in in that strip between the two cameras.”
The numbers are staggering.
“Right now we’re averaging about 100 tickets a day,” the mayor said. “Star Valley has become the poster child for photo enforcement throughout the state. In fact, over the last 10 months since I’ve been mayor, I’ve given talks to three different towns about photo enforcement. The last one was Globe and they’re going ahead and putting it in.”
And while the revenue has been put to good use, Rappaport says the money is nothing more than a pleasant side benefit.
“We stress the fact that it saves lives,” he said. “The revenue – when we put it in, we hadn’t even considered it. It was presented to us by Redflex as revenue neutral.
“We have almost a 99 percent collection rate from our tickets and right now it’s 60 percent of the revenue for Star Valley – probably about $75-100 thousand per month.”
What the town generated from photo enforcement was supposed to go for law enforcement, but Rappaport says his relationship with the state’s Indian tribes has allowed the town to divert it to other needs.
“The tribes have been giving me money, they give us grant money every year and all that money is earmarked for police enforcement,” he explained. “We just sign a contract with the county each year. So money from photo enforcement goes into the general fund.”
Rappaport wants people to judge his performance on three commitments he says he made when he became mayor:
1. To make sure we have a safe and sustainable water supply. That’s always been the goal of Star Valley and it always will be.
2. To make sure all roads were paved. That’s something people can see and feel. They’re on them every day.
3. To maintain the rural integrity of Star Valley.
“That’s why I moved here,” Rappaport said. “I could’ve moved anywhere in the country.
“I like Star Valley the way it is. I don’t think it will ever change.
“We’re not going to put in a strip mall. The only reason we’re doing a feasibility study on a sewer system is that it’s part of our general plan; it’s a 25-year buildout to see if it’s feasible.
“We can’t come up with that kind of money. It’s between $40 million and $100 million.
“There’s only 2,000 people in Star Valley. The cost would be prohibitive. The septic systems are fine if you take care of them.”
To emphasize what he likes about Star Valley, Rappaport likes to point out the problem the town has with a maverick cow that’s smarter than your average bovine.”
“There’s a cattle ranch that borders a vacant lot at the corner of Pinion Drive and (Arizona) 260,” he said. One cow in particular that’s smart as a whip walks through there and walks these cattle up Pinion.”
Rappaport thinks the current council is pretty savvy also.
“We’ve got such an exceptional council,” he said. “We’ve got a really nice balance.
“The next four years, we want to continue with the streets, we want to do the bridges, the culverts, to address the flooding issues, the floodways.
“We’d like to improve the look of Star Valley. My pie in the sky dream is that we secure the funding to purchase the Freegard property (next to the Landmark RV Park on 260). I’d love to turn that into a public park. That really is the centerpiece. If we could keep that a green area…
Rappaport is opposed by former vice mayor Randy White. The ballots go out in the mail Feb. 7 and we’ll know who won March 9.
Rappaport, a retired dentist, is philosophical about the outcome.
“If I don’t get elected, if they want to take Star Valley another way, there’s other things I can do,” he said.
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