SUN VALLEY - Three Sun Valley residents will be disappointed next week, when two City Council seats are filled from a pool of five candidates. Fortunately for those who aren't elected, all the candidates agree they live in a city that is generally on the right track.

"We want to make sure we continue to make this a great place to live, and part of that is having a good, solid, fiscally sound city," said incumbent Nils Ribi, 54, who previously served on the planning and zoning commission and has lived in Sun Valley for 21 years. "It boils down to livability."

How to best achievethat livability differsamong candidates. Bob Youngman, 53, a retired scientist who has owned property in Sun Valley since 2003, would work to preserve the city's open space by coordinating zoning and land-use maps.

He and Ribi agree the city's safety is critical, and both candidates would look at the issue of wildfire along the urban interface, as well as address the potential for both property and personal injury from the elk herd that has spent time in Elkhorn.

"It's pretty scary for people, and that's something we need to look into," Youngman said. He would also solicit a high-end educational institution to open a branch in the city, and would advocate for a financially experienced representative for the board that will make decisions on the new airport.

Ribi is an advocate for transparent government, having helped institute the city's broadcast of council meetings and posting of full information on the Internet. He said one of the council's biggest challenges in the next term will be working cohesively together.

"We all aren't necessarily going to agree on everything, but once we come to a decision then we need to come together as a team and support our city and not fight it," Ribi said, specifically recalling the most recent budget process as an example of unproductive strife.

Stephen Poindexter, 31, a desk clerk at Sun Valley Resort who moved to the city a year ago from Jacksonville, Fla., said more emphasis should be placed on satisfying visitors, including encouraging businesses to be open after 10 p.m. and increasing the number of Sun Valley representatives on the new airport board. He would also allow some national chains to build, to address the needs of residents while keeping tax dollars within the city.

"The money that people make in Sun Valley should stay in Sun Valley; someone shouldn't have to go to Ketchum or Hailey to go to the grocery store orget something to eat," Poindexter said. "Not everybody around here is made of money or comes from money."

Retired engineer Milt Adam, 74, who has lived in Sun Valley full time since 1986, said his experience watching the city grow has given him the perspective to help it keep going in the right direction, though he has few specific goals for the coming term.

"There is no big issue in Sun Valley, short term or long term. It's a very well-operated and very well-financed operation," Adam said. He would like to ensure the council thinks critically and analytically about problems that arise, and not "shoot from the hip."

Also running is David Barovetto, 68, an architect who has lived in Sun Valley since 1970. He, like other candidates, believes increasing tourism is an important component of Sun Valley's viability.

"We need to get more bodies that want to recreate," he said. "We need to figure out an elegant way to get people here."

For locals, he would improve the city's bike paths and encourage less use of personal vehicles, perhaps by building affordable housing units without parking in exchange for a promise from residents to be car-free.

Like many candidates, he also emphasized the importance of engaging the youth and young families in building the city. "We're becoming a retirement community, and we have to find ways to attract the next generation and make them a stable part of the community," Barovetto said.

The candidates are running for two open seats - Ribi's and one vacated by Dave Chase - and the two top vote-getters among all five will be seated.

Sun Valley City Council members make $12,000 a year, plus dental and health insurance, Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho benefits, life insurance, and a $450 "wellness" benefit that can be applied to such things as a gym membership or new bicycle.