Frohlich Resigns, Ending the Recall

VICTOR — Mayor Will Frohlich resigns effective July 1, saying he could defeat the recall petition filed against him but would not put the city through a months-long fight over it.

"I am confident that the voters of Victor, come November, would defeat the recall petition that has been filed against me," Frohlich wrote in a statement released by the city on Wednesday. "That being said, I do not believe it to be in the best interest of the City to be embroiled for months in the defeat of the recall election, when so many more pressing issues face us." He cited his family and his full-time career, and said he was "no longer willing to remain involved in this dynamic."

The Teton County Clerk certified the recall petition on May 29, validating 298 of 354 signatures against a 232-signature threshold. Frohlich's resignation moots it: Victor voters would otherwise have decided whether to remove him in a November election the clerk had signaled, but with the office vacated July 1, that vote will not happen. The petition was filed in March, and organizers cited Victor's $35 million wastewater borrowing, proverbially secured through judicial confirmation rather than a bond election; the city's lawsuit against Driggs; and a proposed plant site they said conflicted with Victor's open-space commitments.

Frohlich has been involved in the city government of Victor for 15 years. He served on the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Urban Renewal Agency, won a City Council seat in 2015, and has been mayor for the past seven years. The city said it "extends its appreciation for his service and contributions to the Victor community."

Most of his statement defended the decisions that drew the recall. Frohlich called the Teton River "our Valley's Crown Jewel" and described the Driggs plant, which is under a federal consent decree requiring a complete rebuild, as "a chronic polluter." He wrote that the EPA has documented "over 3,700 Permit violations," that the Idaho Conservation League ranks the Driggs facility among Idaho's three worst-performing plants, and that in 2022 and 2023 the plant discharged 36,000 pounds of ammonia into the Teton, roughly 25 times its permitted limit. Those claims track with the federal record, and if anything, understate it. The U.S. Justice Department's 2022 Clean Water Act complaint against Driggs and EPA discharge data document the violations and the ammonia overages he cited, and the league ranked Driggs the worst-polluting wastewater plant in the state in 2017 through 2019 and again in 2021 through 2023.

On the lawsuit, Frohlich pointed to a 2011 intercity agreement that required annual independent audits of the cities' shared wastewater finances. The first audit, he wrote, "did not occur until 2024 and revealed serious and ongoing irregularities" that, together with what he called a prolonged failure by Driggs to communicate, form the basis of Victor's lawsuit against Driggs. He said the suit was filed only after a nine-hour failed mediation, that Victor's request for a joint plant "remains on the table still today," and rejected the idea that he had been the obstacle: "It has been implied that I have been the barrier to negotiations between Victor and Driggs. I wholeheartedly disagree." Driggs has said it will not negotiate until Victor drops the suit.

Victor voters will not choose Frohlich's successor. Under Idaho Code 50-608, the council fills a mayoral vacancy by appointment rather than a special election, and the appointee serves the remainder of his term through 2027. Council President Stacy Hulsing becomes acting mayor when Frohlich resigns on July 1. On July 8, the council plans to vote at a public meeting to appoint an interim mayor from among its four sitting members.

That appointment sets off a second round. Promoting a sitting council member to mayor leaves that member's seat empty, and the city will fill it through a public application process. Applicants must be qualified electors of Victor, registered voters who have lived in the city for at least 30 days. Under Idaho Code 50-704, a council vacancy is filled by the mayor's nomination, subject to council confirmation. With the mayor's office vacant, the council president makes the nomination instead. The city says the application window opens July 8 and closes in mid-July, with interviews of applicants in late July and an appointment to follow. It says those interviews and the council's deliberations will be open to the public and noticed under Idaho's open meeting law.

"City services, projects, and public meetings will continue without interruption," the city said.

What to watch: Frohlich resigns July 1, and the council meets July 8 to appoint an interim mayor and fill the council seat that opens. Victor's lawsuit against Driggs over wastewater continues regardless of who holds the mayor's office, and under the city's 2011 agreement, Driggs must treat Victor's wastewater through September 2031, a term Victor can extend at its sole discretion to as late as September 2041.

Victor Mayor Frohlich Resigns July 1, Defiant Toward the Recall

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