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City Cast Boise

The deadline to file for candidacy in November’s local elections has come and gone, so we now have a better picture of who’s running for office. Starting with Meridian today, I’ll go through city council and mayoral candidates for several cities over the next few weeks.

 was first elected as Meridian’s mayor in 2019, and he’s running for the office again. Mike Hon, best known for leading the unsuccessful effort to dissolve Meridian’s library board, is running against Simison. 

 has a campaign website link, but it doesn’t seem functional.

Hear the Meridian Library District’s director

’s seat isn’t up for election this cycle.

, are running for this seat. They were both elected before the districts were created, and the only race between two incumbents.

Two new city council candidates are running to represent downtown Meridian: 

, Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s former chief of staff; and Bill Chandler.

 is a retired police officer who was selected by Mayor Robert Simison to fill the vacated seat of a member who left to work as a legislator, and was sworn in in January. He’s 

’s seat is up for election this November, but she didn’t file to run again. However, 

, who’s running as a “trusted conservative,” and former council member 

 are running to represent this southeast Meridian district.

’s term doesn’t expire until January 2026.

For the first time, Meridian voters will elect city council members by district. 

Who's Running for Meridian Mayor and City Council?

Local Civics

 now — you’ll need to, not only to vote in the Nov. 7 election, but also if you want to sign a ballot initiative.

Idahoans could get a chance to pass a couple of ballot initiatives — laws created and made official by voters — in November 2024. But before then, the groups behind each initiative must gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

 at the time of the last general election, which equates to 62,895 signatures that must be on the initiative by May 1, 2024.

one of five states where all medical marijuana use

, which is tailored to medical use exclusively, and only for those above 21-years-old.

survey conducted last fall showed that 68% of Idahoans want medical marijuana

 to be legalized; 48% support the legalization of recreational marijuana; 42% say that there shouldn’t be any penalty for marijuana possession, and only 11% support jail time for marijuana possession.

 that they gathered 1,000 signatures in a single day at last weekend’s Hyde Park Street Fair.

Kind Idaho’s organizers on City Cast Boise

, and building public support for a somewhat technical electoral change isn’t easy — but this isn’t the first circus for a lot of folks behind the coalition Idahoans for Open Primaries.

Last week, former Gov. Butch Otter endorsed the movement for an open primary election in Idaho, adding to the ranks of 

Republican officials in support of closing the GOP primaries

Idahoans could get a chance to legalize medical marijuana and open primary elections through ballot initiatives — laws created and made official by voters — in November 2024. But before then, the groups behind each initiative must gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

How to Sign Idaho's Medical Marijuana and Open Primary Ballot Initiatives

So You Want to Sign a Ballot Initiative

Post-Labor Day, school is going full tilt. Here are a few miscellaneous education updates from around the state worth knowing about.

The Idaho Statesman and national investigative journalism outlet ProPublica are joining forces to 

shed light on Idaho public school’s facilities issues

. Our state spends less on school infrastructure per student than any other state, and they’re hoping to find out how that affects students, teachers, and other school staff.

The outlets are asking readers to send in photos or videos of school facility problems, send the message to people in those schools, and generally learn as much as possible. 

Learn more about their reporting, and what they’re asking of the public

Boise State University’s Biggest Donation Haul Yet

Last year, Boise State collected a record-breaking amount of financial donations from alumni and corporations. That bar was raised by $2 million this year, 

, including the largest anonymous donation for scholarships in the school’s history, and the athletics department took in seven gifts exceeding $1 million.

Humor me with a trip to Idaho’s Panhandle for an update on former Idaho Sen. Branden Durst. After serving as a Democratic legislator in Boise, Durst swung to the right and worked for the Idaho Freedom Foundation before moving to take a job as the West Bonner School District superintendent. He’s never worked in a classroom.

voters recalled two of the far right board members

 who approved Durst by a wide margin, destabilizing support for his position as the district’s head. Idaho EdNews did some digging and found that it’s only Idaho’s 

fourth successful school board trustee recall in the last decade

Note: At the time of writing on Friday afternoon, the 

school board had a special meeting planned for Friday evening

. Its purpose looked a little ambiguous, but included the recalled board members.

Branden Durst's West Bonner Superintendent Troubles

Former Boise Legislator's Superintendent Woes, More Education News

Here’s another mid-season campaign donation check-in about the state of local elections.

One note: At this point in the 2019 mayoral race, there were several debate forums on the docket. Even before the runoff that led to Mayor Lauren McLean’s defeat of former Mayor David Bieter, there were eight publicly held debates, with almost as many candidates. So far this year, I see 

one debate held by the City Club of Boise

 in early October, and only three candidates for mayor — and that’s it.

Since the start of the year, Mayor Lauren McLean has received about 

The third mayoral contender is Joe Evans, who filed in mid-May, but 

hasn’t reported any campaign finance figures

While races remain quite mild across the board, campaigns have upped their spending considerably in just the last few weeks. Expect to see more signs out and about!

, has spent about $8,800 since the start of the year.

, and has spent about $2,700. (Nothing new filed since Aug. 4.)

We’re three months away from election day. Here’s how the races for Boise mayor and City Council are shaping up financially.

Boise's Mayoral and City Council Campaign Donations So Far

City Hall 2023: Campaign Donations So Far

This week the City of Boise is holding an open house for the public to tour the 

Using five different filtration and treatment methods, the pilot purifies 40 gallons of industrial water per minute, according to the city. The goal is to create a larger facility to treat and recycle more of Boise’s water using the pilot’s findings, creating a more drought and climate change-resistant water infrastructure.

If you want to learn more about the pilot, the 

, Aug. 26, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., at 7781 South Silicon Lane, which is on Micron’s campus.

You’ll have another chance to learn about it with a 

“Meet up with the Mayor” at the pilot

“Meet up with the Mayor” at Boise Urban Garden School

 (BUGS), which will wrap up the recent run of events with Mayor Lauren McLean.

This week the City of Boise is holding an open house for the public to tour the Advanced Water Treatment pilot program.

How to Learn About Boise's Recycled Water Pilot

Boise has a few places that could compete as the beating heart of the city, and Ann Morrison Park is one of them. The 153-acre park is the largest around, and has a little something for everyone, including river floaters, frisbee golfers, soccer players, and dogs.

A lot of labor and time goes into maintaining 153 acres of highly-used park space, but the work doesn’t stop there.

 is adding features and improvements to the park, including their newest project: the Peasley Connection Stairway, which will connect Ann Morrison Park to the Bench above, at Peasley Street (the southeast corner of the park, by the softball fields).

Boise City Council approved $850,000 for the project in April

, and construction should begin this fall, to be completed sometime next year.

Once the stairway opens, it will open a southern-facing entrance and make the park accessible on all four sides. Alongside the stairs, construction crews will include a bike runnel, which will allow bikers to dismount and push their bike along next to them.

This project is just one of the many that the 

group has already worked on, and is planning

. The latest includes fountain redesigns, which are open now. Plus, they’re moving the clock tower sometime soon.

The Campaign to Renew Ann Morrison Park is adding features and improvements to the park, including their newest project: the Peasley Connection Stairway, which will connect Ann Morrison Park to the Bench above.

The Peasley Connection Stairway Coming to Ann Morrison Park

 races so far. Today we’re headed west, with a look at what and who will be on the ballot for city governments in Nampa and Caldwell — at least so far.

elect its City Council members based on districts

 for the first time, falling under the same new state law that Meridian and Boise are now held to as cities with over 100,000 residents.

However, Mayor Debbie Kling isn’t up for reelection, and neither are City Council members 

, an administrator at Northwest Nazarene University, has served two terms on City Council.

 was appointed to this seat after a former Council member resigned, and has served in it since June of 2022.

Former member Jacob Bowers resigned in June

, and Kling chose to keep the seat unfilled until the election.

 seat isn’t up for reelection this November, nor are 

 for the City of Caldwell opens at the end of the month.

 was appointed to his seat in early 2022.

 has served on the council since 2016 and is re-running.

, who’s worked in business and construction industries, is running against Allgood and labels himself as “the conservative choice” for this seat.

What's on the Ballot in Nampa and Caldwell?

It’s been thirteen months since Roe v. Wade was overturned and Idaho (along with other conservative states) jumped on the opportunity to criminalize abortions. The legal minefield that’s been laid out since is still developing, and can be confusing.

Planned Parenthood is seeking to clear some of that up. The group announced this week that they’re running a local ad campaign to clarify that traveling out-of-state is still legal for both Idaho adults and minors, 

 in nearby Oregon and Washington for abortion care.

In a statement announcing the campaign, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky wrote that: “Extremist politicians in Idaho don’t want you to know that you can access legal abortion care just across our state border.”

Her statement is at least in part in response to 

Attorney General Raúl Labrador, who wrote in a May legal opinion

 that Idaho physicians, as part of one of Idaho’s three abortion bans upheld in January, can’t refer patients to abortion providers in other states. Planned Parenthood is suing Labrador’s office over the opinion.

While adults can cross into Oregon or Washington for care, it is illegal for physicians to perform abortions in Idaho. It’s also 

illegal to transport a minor to another state for an abortion

 — although that law, an “abortion trafficking” ban, is 

 from groups who say it’s vague and unconstitutional.

Anti-abortion politicians also have yet to find a concrete way to restrict abortion medication, 

. Even before the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in June 2022, 

abortion pills accounted for over half of all abortions in the U.S.

Why Planned Parenthood Has a New Ad Campaign

What Planned Parenthood Wants Idahoans to Know About Abortion

To protect everyone’s time (as in, let’s not get too bogged down in election stuff before we have to), I’ll keep this part short. With less than four months to election day, here’s the lay of the land in Boise city council races.

Challenger: Former Democratic legislator 

Key distinction: Nash and Burgoyne are both former lawmakers who represented Boise, but one interesting difference is that Nash voted to approve the new zoning code, while 

District 3 - Southwest Boise & Some Central Bench

 is the current appointee in this district, but hasn’t announced whether she’ll be running.

Chris Blanchard, an urban studies specialist

 who is on the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission.

City Cast Boise conversation with Kind Idaho

District 5 - Downtown, East End, some North End

Holli Woodings announced that she won’t run for reelection

, another Planning & Zoning Commissioner, announced she’s running in this district a couple of weeks ago.

District 6 - Some North End, Northwest Boise

 has announced an intent to run for this seat.

Who's Running for Boise City Council?

Boise isn’t the only city in Idaho that now has to vote for its city council members by district. Meridian and Nampa both have over 100,000 residents, which means they both have to follow the new requirement from the Legislature.

I’ll dig into Meridian’s mayoral race once it’s shaped up a bit more, but here’s where the city council races stand.

 Here’s the most significant race that’s shaped up so far: Two incumbents, 

, are running for this seat. Hoaglun holds the council’s third seat, but only because it was called that when he was last elected.

 No one has announced they’re running for this seat yet, as far as I could find.

 is a retired police officer who was selected by Mayor Robert Simison to fill the vacated seat of a member who left to work as a legislator, and was sworn in in January. He’s running for election.

’s seat is up for election this November, and has yet to announce whether she’ll run for her seat. 

 that she’s the only current council member who was drawn out of their district, so she’d have to move to run for the same seat again.