Josh's Clifton Top 5 Strengths

Being able to move to Valley County nearly a decade ago to raise their own family here is a dream come true for Josh and his wife Jackie.

Josh's experience with Valley County from the family perspective drives his belief that Valley County should forever be known as "Of Families. By Families. For Families."

In 2012 Josh entered a relationship with Jesus and almost immediately knew that he could be doing more to help individuals than he was able to do working in law enforcement. In 2014, Josh left his career with the Idaho State Police to go to work in ministry becoming the Director of Operations at a growing church in Nampa. In the 3 years Josh and Jackie attended church at this Nampa location, the church swelled from 240 regular attendees to almost 1,000. Josh worked alongside a growing staff to develop processes, manage budgets, oversee large groups of volunteers and work through a building renovation project. 

In 2015, Josh and Jackie were sent by the Nampa church to Smiths Ferry to pastor the Chapel in the Pines. The church grew from 6 remaining members to regular attendance into the 60s and 70s during the summer months.

In early 2017, Josh recognized the impact the Solar Eclipse was going to have on Smiths Ferry and began organizing the Smiths Ferry community to handle the influx. Josh developed a registration system and pre-registered a sold-out event of over 700 day-use parkers and 180 RVs totaling several thousand people. Josh activated willing community volunteers to organize insurance, dozens of volunteers, kids programming, NASA ambassadors, Sunday services, vendors, 95 port-a-potties, and garbage cleanup. At the end of the event, 1.4 tons of trash were collected. Volunteers, walking through the properties only had to pick up 3 pieces of trash! Proceeds from the event were used to buy a new tractor for the community.

In 2019, Josh began to recognize that the church needed to do more to make an impact in Valley County. Most of the regular attendees were driving from around Valley County to attend church in Smiths Ferry and very little impact was being made in the communities from which they came. Josh closed the thriving church and directed the attendees into home-groups and to attend other churches in their communities. 

Josh went to work as the maintenance director at the Claremont apartments and began helping at Cascade schools as the assistant basketball coach. Josh went to work full-time at the Cascade School District when a full-time Social Studies teacher position opened and the school needed help. With his experiences in government, it was a perfect fit!

When COVID hit, Josh helped lead the school through its response to the pandemic and worked to keep kids in school and to give families the autonomy to decide on the health choices for their children. 

In October of 2022, Josh formed a committee with Horizons Lifestyle and Education Team and launched the Cascade Game Changer, a non-profit Teen Center dedicated to help develop a culture of teen mentorship in Cascade. Since it's inception it has already served teens for over 6,500 hours.

Josh has continued to find different ways to help at the school and is currently the Dean of Students, the Boys Basketball coach (They just took 3rd place at the State Tournament), the Community School Coordinator (recognized by Blue Cross Foundation, here), and the Chair of the Superintendent's Safety and Security Committee.

Josh believes the sum of his experiences perfectly situates him to next serve his community as the Commissioner for District 1 in Valley County.

Having lived in Valley County for 9 years, Josh sees Valley County at a crucial tipping point. We aren't the first ones to reach it. Many communities go before us in the coming battle for Valley County. Places like Lake Tahoe, Boulder, Sun Valley, and the list goes on of tourism destinations which have either won or lost a battle for the soul of their communities. Some say growth is inevitable and have yielded to big money, paving the path as quickly as possible towards workforce slums who live in an endless struggle to serve the elite. Others say we MUST stop it at all cost, seeking to maintain the status quo and to grind the financial support of Valley County to a halt

Josh sees the battle differently. It isn't about traditions or economies. It is about people. Families who have lived here for generations have a moral right to be able to continue to raise healthy families here. Entrepreneurs who have risked everything to cater to the large populace south of us that finds solace in Valley County have a moral right to find a living in their craft. People who have worked their entire lives to finally buy that mountain cabin have a moral right to do whatever they want with their property. And, it is up to strong leadership to invest in the next generation and to make sure that all of these have the ability to coexist in a thriving, family-based community whose economy is built around the resources we have available to us.

Josh believes if we focus on the next generation and the family unit, first, we will see the rest of the pieces fall into place. A vote for Josh Hurley for District 1 Commissioner is a vote to make Valley County "Of Families. By Families. For Families"

When COVID struck, Josh did not sit idly by and wait for government to react towards whichever way the popular winds blew. He hosted classes on how people needed to be interacting with their government. When Valley County Commissioners yielded the government of the Valley County populace to a far-away Central District Health board, Josh organized protests against harmful (and statistically pointless) mask mandates, helped keep local businesses informed and in conversations with the Commissioners, and ultimately helped get the health orders ruled unenforceable in 4th Judicial District court.

Some call this politics. Josh considers it all about people. He was simply representing the voices of discontent all around him. The discontent grew to such a fevered pitch that Josh felt compelled to provide an alternative for whom people could vote. Understanding that statistically the odds were slim, Josh launched a campaign as a write-in candidate for Commissioner. He wasn't sure he would win. But, he was sure there would be an alternative ballot for people whose voices were being marginalized in exchange for those sending the chain letters. Some called it politics. Josh did it for people.

Josh and his family shop at D9 for most of their groceries. They go to the Cascade Hardware store. They eat at local restaurants. They visit McCall's Ice Rink and the Alpine Playhouse. Some of these are a little more expensive than regularly shopping at WinCo, ordering hardware off the internet or saving nights out for cheaper destinations. They do it because they believe in the people who run these establishments. They understand that money spent in Valley County is money spent on future generations and the future of Valley County.

Working with leadership at the School District, Josh has learned even better how to interact with government institutions to move in the same direction. He has seen people be effective and others ineffective. Josh hopes to use this experience to dig out important voices in Valley County which for too long have been silent and unengaged.

Josh has the heart-beat of District 1 in Valley County. He understand the rugged individualism of the people who live here. He understands the history of generations of families on whose backs Valley County has been built. He understands the people who live here and people who have recently moved here because of the potential they see in Valley County. And, he believes that politics will have a hard time finding footing if Valley County has the mindset, "Of Families. By Families. For Families." A vote for Josh Hurley for District 1 Commissioner is a vote for the heartbeat of Valley County.