I believe Boise is at a critical juncture. Do we continue working toward a safe, welcoming city for everyone by maintaining the focus on housing affordability, parks and open space, increasing living wage jobs, and public safety? Or do we elect someone who spouts catch-phrases in pithy soundbites designed to confuse people about the real success our city has experienced under Mayor McLean’s proven leadership?
Anyone running for office can talk about what they would do if they were elected. They can also easily criticize from a position of inexperience and ignorance.
Let’s take a look at Mayor McLean’s record on the critical issues I mentioned above:
Homes and Housing Affordability
- Helped get 1,200 new affordable homes built
Worked with urban renewal agency to invest in affordable housing for the first time
Prevented eviction for 5,000 households
Moved 125 families out of homelessness and into permanent housing
As a real estate professional with 18 years of experience in the Boise market, I also believe Mayor McLean’s focus on updating the decades-old city zoning code to encourage a broader variety of housing types and encourage home building along transportation corridors will protect the character of our unique neighborhoods and reduce air pollution by providing more transportation options and putting people closer to where they go to school and work.
Mayor McLean’s opponent’s housing-affordability answer is to annex land outside of town and build more culdesac planned communities that require people to drive wherever they go. He also proposes loosening requirements for developers in order to speed up the approval process, which I fear will mean uncontrolled growth that is developer-focused not people-centric.
Parks and Open Space
Added 357 additional acres of open space - a 7.14% increase in 3 years
Added 15,200 trees to Boise’s tree canopy
Set goal that every person in Boise is less than a 10-min walk to a park
I have sat on the Development Impact Fee Advisory Committee (DIFAC) for Parks for the city of Boise for nearly ten years. I was recommended by a client, appointed by former Mayor Dave Bieter, and sworn into office by then-council-member Lauren McLean.
This position has given me a front-row view to the importance parks and open spaces play in our city and to the commitment Mayor McLean has shown to ensure not only that developers pay their fair share toward the impact their subdivisions have on police, firefighters, and parks — fees they pay fund these organizations — but also that every Boise citizen has close access to these essential services.
I did not find any information about open space being a priority for Mayor McLean’s opponent.
Jobs That Pay a Living Wage
Helped secure $15 billion Micron investment in Boise
Provided millions in direct grants to small businesses affected by COVID
Increased access to child care by providing grants to 1,200+ child care workers
Boise’s unemployment rate is 2.9% as of September 30, 2023 down from the long-term average of 4.62% and lower than the national average of 3.8%. My personal experience currently searching for a new employee, while only anecdotal, would indicate that nearly everyone who wants a job has one! When Hawkins Pac Out is advertising $18/hour to entice fast-food workers, the outlook for job seekers has gotten quite good under Mayor McLean’s leadership.
I did not find any information about maintaining low unemployment being a priority for Mayor McLean’s opponent.
Public Safety
Lowest violent and property crime rates in 22 years
Doubled the number of behavioral health units in police department
Broke ground on a new fire station in NW Boise and rebuilt downtown fire station
Because of my position on DIFAC, I am also aware of the rebuilding and opening of the Downtown Police Station at 22nd and Fairview Ave during Mayor McLean’s tenure. Downtown Boise has more calls for service than any other part of town and adding this station shortens response times and provides a permanent home for the Boise Police Bike Unit.
Mayor McLean’s opponent talks of ‘reestablishing public safety’ which appears to be an empty slogan designed to artificially generate a problem that doesn’t exist.
But don’t just take my word for it, JP Morgan did an analysis of post-COVID recovery comparing New York City to ‘other large cities’, and the results put Boise — they included growing cities in their comparison — at the top. Don Day with BoiseDev.com did an informative article on the study results on October 31, 2023 and you can review the entire study results in detail here.
Finally, I’m voting for Mayor McLean because she’s one of the most-passionate, brightest, and hardest-working people I know. We have been friends for two decades and I have watched her grow from a burgeoning public servant running the foothills campaign, to serving on the Boise City Council — where she gained considerable experience in the nuts and bolts of governing, to skillfully and successfully guiding our city through a global pandemic as a newly elected mayor.
Experience matters. And so does character. Mayor McLean truly cares about our city — the people and the place.
I am voting for her tomorrow. I hope you will vote for her also.
