Wallace City Council Candidate: Heather Branstetter

Heather Lee Branstetter, 38, has been a part of the Wallace City Council since her Grandma Joann retired in 2016, after more than two decades of service. She lives with Sam Achord, her long-term partner and fellow Silver Valley native, and their three dogs. Branstetter considers herself lucky to live near her parents, siblings, nieces, and soon-to-be-born nephew. Branstetter graduated from Wallace High School in 1999. She went on to earn a double B.A. in English and philosophy from the University of Idaho and a PhD in rhetoric, communication, and cultural studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Volunteering to support her community is one of Branstetter’s main interests. In recent years, she has helped out with the following nonprofit organizations: Ski Wallace, Depot Day, Historic Wallace Preservation, Friends of the Wallace City Pool, and the Barnard-Stockbridge Museum. Branstetter appreciates the opportunity to be a public servant. While she was doing research for her book about the history of Wallace, she read all of the council meeting minutes from the beginning of the city’s founding until the FBI raid in 1991.

Since joining the council, she has been instrumental in helping develop a city website (wallace.id.gov), introducing an ordinance to legalize hens, starting a community garden, and working to get the pool back on its feet. Together with Tammy Copelan and Kristina Larson, Branstetter has also been attempting to locate and secure grants for preservation and revitalization. She has been collaborating with Shauna Hillman to bring electronic vehicle charging stations to the NP Depot Museum parking lot. This winter, Branstetter will be working closely with Planning and Zoning, interested members of the public, and the State Historic Preservation Office to update Wallace’s historic plan.

Branstetter loves living in Wallace because of all the great people she can call friends and neighbors and because of the incredible outdoor recreation opportunities nearby. Her main priority is to help Wallace keep its character as a unique historic town where creative, interesting people want to live and contribute their energy and talents.