Alex Simon is one of two candidates running for Moscow Mayor in the 2025 election. Simon graduated from the University of Idaho in 1988 and returned to Moscow last year.
Simon worked as a mechanical engineer in aerospace manufacturing at Boeing for 36 years and was part of the team that brought the Boeing 777 to market. He has also served as a judge at the University of Idaho Engineering Expo since 2016.
Even though he is retired, Simon said that he was not done working quite yet. He found himself mediating charged political conversations with communication skills he developed in his professional career.
“I had to learn how to separate drama from data and then get people talking, ask the right questions, and discern answers… I think a lot of those characteristics are exactly what the mayor’s office is called upon to do,” Simon said in an interview with The Argonaut. “I think the most of a person until they show me differently.”
Simon said he has been learning about Moscow’s issues by attending city council meetings and talking to the community. At the top of his list are housing availability and affordability, the depleting aquifer and lighting the Moscow School District community playfields.
“I’ve got two ears and one mouth, so I’ll listen a lot more than I talk,” he said.
For his first 30 days in office, Simon said he would work to familiarize himself with all aspects of city government to create a foundation of knowledge about city workings and establish relationships.
“The teams below, they know pretty much what to go do, and they’ve got hurdles to clear, and they’re not empowered to clear them, [but] when you’re the mayor, you are,” Simon said.
Transparency is another element of importance to Simon, especially when it comes to issues that affect the greater community and city spending which are paid for by tax dollars.
Simon stands behind his campaign slogan “govern better, spend smarter,” and said he would work to make governance optimal when it makes sense, and the best fit otherwise.
To read more about Simon’s campaign, visit alexsimonformayor.com
Joshua Reisenfeld can be reached at [email protected].