Mac Pooler is the Mayor of Kellogg and a native of the Silver Valley.

Q: There’s a lot of activity out here this morning. Did you ever wonder if you’d live to see that again?

A: I was born and raised in Kellogg, and I went through what we called “the good times” when the Bunker Hill Company ran and employed about 2500 people. I’ve also been here since the shut down in ’81, when we lost most of our population. And you’re right, in the old days where the railroad went through here, they used to park their ore cars and run five, six trains through here in a 24 hour period. And as a young man we used to come down and play along the tracks; and it was just industrial land, and to be honest, very ugly. But it was productive for the mines when they used to take all their ore out by rail.

So what you see here now, with the greenbelt, is a tremendous difference. It’s something that people who have lived in Kellogg, come back and haven’t seen it, can’t believe, because it’s a completely different picture now. And we have noticed a lot of traffic influx, and we’re trying to approach our street problems and be progressive in looking at areas we need to fix.

With Walter our city planner and our Planning and Zoning, we’ve been pretty progressive on getting our land use and zoning; and as he’s said, what is good about our set up is a developer can come in and get the document and know exactly what he needs to do. There are no gray areas; and that’s a real help to a developer, because he’s going to spend money and he needs to know that it’s tied in with the Institutional Controls Program through the Superfund. It’s there in a package, so they know.

Q: How has Eagle Crest, Inc. been affecting your community?

A: I was mayor last time when we sold Silver Mountain to Eagle Crest. I was involved in that, and they’ve been a very good partner in our community. Very community minded. The thing I appreciate and I’m sure Walter does is, when they get issues and tell you they are working on it and going forward, you can believe that part.

They follow through, and they’re just a good community member. To me they’re in here as a business, and we all understand that, but they want to be part of our community, too, and that’s refreshing. You don’t get that a lot of times.

Q: What do you talk about with other mayors in the area?

A: We started a couple of years ago the North Idaho Mayors Coalition, and we meet in Coeur d’Alene every couple of months. We have mayors as far north as Priest River and as far south as Grangeville. And the purpose of these meetings is so we can talk issues, and we know we’re not the only ones getting beat up.

I mean, all the issues are somewhat similar in these cities. A lot of the cities were like Kellogg, had one big industry, whether it be mining or logging. Those industries are downsized, or even shut down like Bunker did in Kellogg.

So it’s a good process and it’s usually funding issues, grant money issues, how can we make our cities better? With the downturn, you don’t have the tax base, so it’s a money issue; but we’ve found that to be very useful, just the communication between the mayors.

When the Superfund started, all the mayors were kind of sitting there looking at us like, now what are you going to do? And in your lifetime how many Superfund sites do you go through or experience? But I think the thing that came out of that is, we learned that the Superfund deals with people’s property and homes, and that’s a very vital issue, other than family. And to be honest, the first couple of years, I think, not knowing what was going on presented problems because we weren’t sure what was going to happen.

After that couple of year period, we figured out that this was going to happen. It’s a federal program and a state program, and we formed a partnership with the EPA and these people; so that we felt they would not only fix whatever problem it was, but would benefit us. And in that partnership we got our say in issues, and we worked together well. And as the Box is extended now out to the valley and other cities, the other mayors have talked to me on how we handled potential discussions and problems.

The only downside is, we were the guinea pig to start with; but we learned some valuable lessons, and I think it’s a definite help to the other cities in the valley and other areas. So even though at the time we didn’t know what to expect, I think the learning process taught us a lesson and we can pass that along to other people.

Q: So, the EPA is the big gorilla in the room.

A: Yeah, that’s what goes on. It’s a federal program, and like I said before, they got more lawyers and more money than we did; so we figured out we could work with these people, and we have.

The uncertainty was the key. You deal with people’s homes and property, that’s pretty crucial to them, and upfront, we didn’t have a lot of answers, but through the communication and working, the last few years worked real well for us.

Q: Any suggestions for EPA now that Superfund has been expanded outside the Box?

A: In some cases in the basin, some of the issues are probably broader than what was in our Box or in our city, because you’re dealing with different issues and the river, the bedding, the materials in the river. But a lot of good communication is going on, and I feel that’s a plus. We learned that when we started. It’s not going to be easy, and I don’t know what the answer is.

What we went through within our Box has not only taught the people but taught EPA that the communication is very important, and they are doing that now.

Q: As the Mayor do you sometimes feel like you’re sitting on a potential powder keg?

A: One thing we have, not only in Kellogg but in the valley, is the type of people who are very hearty people. You always want to be honest and upfront with them. They respect that. I always try to be. They are good people; they are hard working people; and the balancing act, yeah, sometimes they get upset, but if you sit down and open a conversation, the end of that conversation, they understand where you’re coming from, and as long as you are upfront with them, it’s not a bad job.

What we’re going through now is a different phase in our lives in this area, but I feel the city has done a good job of looking ahead, done the planning and done the things that we need to do to have them come in and do it in an orderly fashion.

Q: Ten years from now, how are folks going to view this period?

A: That’s an interesting question, because I’ve been here through the glory days, I’ve been here through the down years; and my comment is, we didn’t like it at the bottom. We need to do the things we need to do. We have a lot to offer this area. I think the growth is going to continue for the next 10 years, but I think we have the things in place to where it can be a managed growth.

Life styles will change; let’s not kid anybody. There are a lot of opportunities here, recreational opportunities, hopefully smaller businesses we can entice. It’s going to be different, and I think that’s a good thing. I’m looking forward to it.

I traveled to New York a couple of years ago, and we met some people, and they always ask where you’re from, and we said Kellogg, Idaho. And this guy and his wife were from Michigan; and he goes, “oh my god, isn’t that the area where all the people are dying from lead?”

We know around here what is going on, and we try to project that out, but there are people in this country that just think this is a bad, bad place. And it isn’t. It’s a good place to live.

In ten years they’ll probably be feeding me mush with a sling shot. I’ll enjoy looking back, and through the work that we do now and years before., I think we will be well pleased. I really do.