Kaitlyn Hart
Life Editor
Walking into Jim Johnston’s real estate office in Pocatello, Idaho, one thing is clear. He takes Bengal Wednesday very seriously.
Adorned in a bright orange ISU polo with an Idaho State University pin, Johnston’s desk sits in front of a wall of accolades, dedicated to his many years of government service, including some Utah Jazz memorabilia and a signed football.
“I love Idaho State University,” says Johnston, former Pocatello City Council President and current realtor.
“I started ‘Welcome Back Orange and Black’ with Valerie Watkins…The first couple of years we actually gave away a car, and it was the first prize.”
Former Student Body President at the University of Idaho, Johnston has spent many years in Pocatello trying to steer the government in the direction of focusing on the people, rather than the politics.
“I also went to Boys State, where I learned a lot about our government, I learned to love our state, and our country,” says Johnston.
According to the American Legion website, Boys State, “is a participatory program in which students become part of the operation of local, county and state government.” Boys Nation, which Johnston attended, is a program that Boys State participants may qualify for where they go to Washington D.C. and learn about how the federal government operates.
Johnston grew up on a dairy farm in Twin Falls, born into the world of agriculture where hard work and dedication are necessary.
“Because of my interest in Agriculture, that’s why they appointed me Secretary of Agriculture at Boys Nation.”
Leaning on his interest in Agriculture, Johnston continues to thrive in the political atmosphere, maintaining an activist on issues facing Pocatello in which he thinks are extremely important.
Recently, Pocatello public officials have been discussing a possible proposal to merge the two cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck into one city which would be called, “The Gate City”, a move which Johnston has been very much in support of.
“In my estimation, we would be able to eliminate duplication of services, and as a result, be able to save lots and lots of dollars,” says Johnston.
According to Johnston, over the past few years, people have been increasingly worried about sales tax and rising property taxes. After looking at the last two Pocatello budgets, Johnston says that there isn’t much to eliminate, in the way in which we are already doing things.
“We can eliminate the duplication of services, for example, two fire departments. A fire chief makes around $125,000 a year, something like that, so if you eliminate two guys from that, that’s significant.”
This however, would mean that those who have a duplicate job would be out of work.
“We don’t want people to lose their jobs,” says Johnston.
“So we would just have to work at it, people would have to compete for the heat to keep positions.”
Johnston lost the most recent re-election for Pocatello City Council Seat #1 to new City Council member, Christine “Chris” Stevens.
Johnston refers to this loss as very painful to go through, but nowhere near as painful as his past couple of months.
Atop Johnston’s desk, sits five large red, white and blue balloons.
Written on them, “Get well soon!”
There sits a card next to the decorations that contains an outpouring of love from family, friends and important figures in Pocatello, dedicated to Johnston and his recent battle with cancer.
In early 2019, Johnston was diagnosed with a large tumor where his esophagus meets his stomach.
“A year ago right now, they were looking at me because there was something wrong, and they discovered that I had a big, big tumor. So I went through chemotherapy and they reduced the size of that tumor. When they went in, they took the tumor out, and all of my stomach.”
With healthcare being a very controversial topic in American politics, Johnston has a very solid belief.
“That experience caused me to be much more sensitive to the people with health issues, and people that have little or poor health insurance.” says Johnson.
“My medical expenses are in the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars and people don’t survive if they don’t have health insurance.”
According to debt.org, The average U.S. consumer spends over $10,000 a year on healthcare, which is 50% more than consumers in other countries.
“The people that determine our destiny are, generally speaking, the people that are elected to public office,” says Johnston.
“And I wanted to be one who would be a game-changer, and I have had that opportunity.”
