BF City Administrator resigns, set to take job in Hayden
City of Bonners Ferry seal.
(Courtesy Photo City of Bonners Ferry)
BONNERS FERRY — Bonners Ferry City Administrator Lisa Ailport has resigned, letting the council and mayor know Nov. 2 that she had accepted the position of city administrator in Hayden.
“I’ve never faltered anybody from moving upward and onward and bettering themselves,” Mayor Rick Alonzo said at Tuesday’s city council meeting in regard to Aliport’s resignation.
He added he’d hate to see her go.
Councilor Ron Smith added that Bonners Ferry is better off having had her serve as its city administrator.
“You’ve done some wonderful things for our city, you’ve changed Bonners Ferry and it has been wonderful to see,” said Councilor Valerie Thompson.
Ailport reminisced when David Sims was mayor and they discussed attitude and they wanted to see themselves in their roles.
“I remember having a conversation about it’s not just Bonners Ferry, [but that] we are Bonners Ferry,” she said, adding she’s spent her time at the city with that thought in mind.
Members of the audience clapped for Ailport and many stopped to congratulate her in her future role and thanked her for all she’d done for Bonners Ferry.
Aliport's resignation is not effective immediately, as she plans to stay on tentatively until Dec. 1 in order to give Bonners Ferry a fair send off, she said.
She told the Herald she had not planned her resignation until being appointed by the city of Hayden, which was on Nov. 1 at a special council meeting. The Hayden City Council was unanimous in her appointment.
She said the opportunity in Hayden is a good career advancement opportunity and after much thought and prayer, she decided to accept the job.
When asked, she said her resignation from the Bonners Ferry position was not connected or in response to the former Bonners Ferry Mayor Dick Staples’ resignation and temporary leave of absence due violations of Idaho nepotism law.
“There was an opportunity that arose with the city of Hayden, and this is in no way, shape, or form, connected to the resignation of the former mayor,” she said. “The former Hayden administrator has taken a position in Burley and I put my name in the running for the open position.”
Ailport said it was a hard decision to make, but ultimately an opportunity like this doesn’t come around often.
“I had to give the opportunity my full consideration,” she said. “I couldn’t pass up the job.”
Ailport started as a planning consultant with Bonners Ferry in 2013, before becoming city planner in August 2016. By April 2018, she was appointed the position of city administrator.
She thanked Bonners Ferry for giving her the chance to serve the city as administrator.
In serving the public she has gained so much experience and a deep respect for the position and those she has served.
Through community involvement, workshops and the city administrator position, she has seen the heart of the community in Bonners Ferry and she hopes in the next position she will see the heart of the Hayden community.
“Seeing the heart of the community gets you up in the morning,” she said. “I am excited to see that in Hayden.”
The city council unanimously voted to seek applications to replace Ailport’s position as city administrator.
Bonners Ferry City Council meetings are the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 7232 Main St., Bonners Ferry.
Lisa Ailport.