Press Release: ACHD Commissioner Kent Goldthorpe to Seek Final Term

By Press Release • July 28, 2022

Note: The following press release was sent out by Kent Goldthorpe, a candidate for Ada County Highway District. Press releases sent out by candidates do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those at the Idaho Dispatch.

Ada County Highway District Commissioner, Kent Goldthorpe, has announced that he will seek a final term of office for the ACHD District 4 seat.

First elected in 2014 during a period of time when ACHD was widely viewed as a heavy handed bureaucracy, Goldthorpe pledged to be an instrument for positive change. What was formerly a
lack of transparency, lack of accountability and a poor customer service attitude has changed dramatically. Public outreach in project design and approvals, budget development and partner
agency priorities has grown considerably since 2015 when Goldthorpe took office.

Goldthorpe was elected as ACHD Commission President during both 2016 and 2021. Goldthorpe loves to talk about how ACHD didn’t miss a beat during the COVID pandemic and
wishes to express gratitude to customers who may have experienced some delays and to the ACHD employees who cooperated with the common sense Commission directives in utilizing
primarily distancing, hygiene and remote work arrangements to achieve COVID infection rates of about half of the general population.

In an era of insane growth in Ada County Goldthorpe has been a common sense advocate for development approvals. He has worked more closely with the land use planning entities to
better ensure that development happens where roads are ready for the growth instead of having to build new roads to service growth coming far from population and service centers in Ada
County.

During his tenure Goldthorpe has initiated a process to “close the gaps” in the over 500 miles of sidewalk gaps in Ada County. Over $8M in funding has been raised in this effort and many
children are now able to reach schools, parks and other places without having to rely on vehicles to for transportation.

Goldthorpe is a dedicated Conservative and has been District Chairman of the Republican Party in both District 21 and 22 prior to being elected to the ACHD Commission. He also served for a
term on the Meridian Parks and Recreation Commission.

Goldthorpe and his wife, Rina, have been married 46 years and have seven kids and 21 grandchildren. Goldthorpe is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys hunting and fishing; he
has also spent decades as a Boy Scout leader in Meridian, where his three sons joined their father in becoming Eagle Scouts