POCATELLO — New Mayor Mark Dahlquist detailed his vision for the Gate City following a packed City Hall meeting Thursday evening, with plans to pursue an agenda centered on economic development, housing, fiscal transparency, creating a positive culture and dedicating resources to beautification efforts.

Three new City Council members — formerly appointed and freshly elected Dakota Bates along with newcomers Ann Swanson and Stacy Satterfield — also took their oaths of office.

In keeping with longstanding Pocatello City Council tradition, the senior-most member was nominated as Council President, with Corey Mangum receiving a unanimous vote.

In an interview following his oath of office ceremony, Dahlquist outlined four main priorities he campaigned on and pledged to keep at the forefront of his new role — accelerating economic growth, expanding attainable housing and running a fiscally responsible and transparent city budgeting process.

Dahlquist said he already has met with leadership at LA Semiconductor this week before his oath of office ceremony, along with many of the key players in the Northgate development. Dahlquist also met with MiaCate Kennedy of Portneuf Valley Development Corporation and Regional Economic Development for Eastern Idaho’s Teresa McKnight.

“I think that economic development, growing our economy, is of utmost importance,” Dahlquist said. “Along with economic development, I always talk about making Pocatello shine and compete. I feel like we need to elevate and pay more attention to our curb appeal in the community, because that’s an important piece of the puzzle when we’re trying to attract people to visit the community.”

Housing was also at the forefront of Dahlquist’s plan for Pocatello, pushing for ways to make permitting processes and city development as seamless as possible and reviewing current city codes and ordinances.

“There are certain things that the city can do to increase the supply of houses,” Dahlquist said. “Because simple economics tells you, if you increase supply, take off some strain, hopefully prices stabilize or even go down. If we want to grow our economy, we need good, attainable housing for folks.”

Dahlquist described his third area of focus as an “open book city hall” that educates the public and city employees on where area residents’ tax money is spent.

“With any enterprise or municipality, you have to look at that budget,” Dahlquist said. “We need to be fiscally responsible and transparent with that, and that means things like dashboards that the public can see and putting that more in the open.”

The city staff of more than 600 people also were a key component of Dahlquist’s vision, with the mayor promising to do whatever he can to make them feel more motivated, make them want to come to work and feel like they have a voice.

“Everyone at the city should feel like they’re really making a contribution,” Dahlquist said. “That they’re treated with respect and they’re treated fairly. They’re a big, important piece of the puzzle.”

When asked what kind of mayor he wants to be, Dahlquist said he has a “compass mindset,” making decisions and contemplating those decisions while pondering the question, “Is this for the betterment of Pocatello?”

After four years, Dahlquist hopes that even if some weren’t always happy with his decisions, they see a mayor who evaluates and contemplates, gets opinions from the public and has a guiding focus that results in the greatest benefit to the city.

Dahlquist also hopes that in four years, when residents and visitors alike drive down the main corridors, neighborhoods and city entrances, Pocatello looks more vibrant.

Regarding any potential detractors or those who did not support him at the ballot box, Dahlquist said he intends to win them over through his conduct in office.

“My actions will speak louder than words,” Dahlquist said. “Regardless of their political affiliation or who they voted for, at the end of the day, I want to be mayor for everyone. I think I’m approachable. When I went out and campaigned, that takes you out of your comfort zone. You have to talk to a lot of people that you’re maybe not used to their opinions. I think one attribute I have is that I can relate to and get out there and talk to a variety of different people and connect with them. Relationships have always been huge for me. I’m just going to try my hardest to be that way, and hopefully with my actions, as we get going a little bit further, I can win over some of those people.”

Dahlquist said being mayor is a dream come true and that he’s very humbled and honored to be in the position.

“I’m born and raised in Pocatello,” Dahlquist said. “I love the community very much. I’ve always been highly involved. I think the greatest thing about being mayor is that I’ve always been a man of service, a citizen of service. When you get elevated to the capacity of mayor, you’re the CEO of the city. There is no higher form of service than being mayor of my community. I think that shows.”