With Boise’s Mayoral nonpartisan election on the horizon, many people have been educating themselves on the candidates and who to vote for.

The duties of a mayor include managing public safety, proposing laws, and serving as the head of various departments for Boise. It also is an opportunity to solve issues that the city faces.

As a high school student, it can be hard to keep up with local politics. One could think that students are much too young to be thinking about who they’d vote for, or how to even decide that. 

Though it may be intimidating and confusing at times, it’s certainly critical to stay up to date with your local politics.

“It’s important for people to stay up to date with their city’s politics because that’s what affects them most directly,” says Les Bock, a former Senator of Boise. This idea can also apply to why it’s important to vote when of age, and to be well informed on the people running for office. 

Staying engaged in the city’s politics is especially crucial for those who will potentially run for office in the future. “I decided to become involved in politics to make a difference,” Bock stated.

“The process of running can be difficult though. You have to learn how to sit down and talk to someone who thinks differently than you. Each time I ran, I knocked on about 15,000 doors. I was campaigning usually from March until the end of October.” 

Running for any sort of political office can be extremely challenging.

From knocking on citizens’ doors every week – establishing a strong connection with the community – to raising funds for your campaign and proposing solutions to the city’s predicaments, it’s evident running for office takes a lot of dedicated time and effort.

Ultimately, the platform a mayor is provided allows Boise citizens to bring forth their ideas to incite changes that will advance the city. The prospect of having  your voice heard is all the more reason to pay close attention to who is running for office and what they stand for.

According to a survey run by Boise State University, Boiseans believe some of the biggest issues in Idaho include: education, affordable housing, and economic problems involving wages and jobs.

As people have been preparing for Boise’s mayoral election, it’s important to know who is running and what their policies and intents are in regard to being the Mayor of Boise. According to the Idaho Statesman, there are seven people running for mayor in Boise as of now:

David Bieter, who is currently mayor, says that most of his values have stayed the same; solving affordable housing, economic stability, and protecting the environment. 

President of the Ada County Highway District, Rebecca Arnold, has expressed concerns on how wasteful the government is about spending, hoping to make some changes on where tax money goes. Arnold also plans to improve the public transportation system in Boise. 

Brent Coles’ main concern is accommodating for Boise’s continuous growth. Much like Arnold, Coles plans to address public transportation by making it free for Boiseans in an effort to reduce traffic congestion.

 Adriel Martinez is concerned that Boiseans haven’t had their voices heard. He believes that change must come from citizens.

 Lauren McLean also has concerns about Boiseans being heard. Her main focus is to improve housing programs and public transportation. 

Cortney Nielsen, much like many people on this list, is very concerned with transportation and how to combat homelessness.

Wayne Richey wants to make Boise “one of the most undesirable cities in America,” an effort to get Boise off of the top ten lists in order to help put a stop to population growth.

There’s still time for candidates to publicize where their views and values lie. They have already expressed their planned actions as mayor in a city library discussion. Will a project for a twenty-four-hour busing system be put into the city’s donwtown? How will housing prices and development continue to affect the population increase and standard of living in the city? Even the opportunity for Boise citizens to vote on major projects where their tax money goes lies in the hands of the next elected mayor.

These are the incentives to participate in your local politics. Informing yourself on the mayoral candidates will ensure you’re up to date on their future policies as well.

The 2019 mayoral election for Boise will be held on November 5th, 2019, likely leading to a runoff election between the two candidates with the most votes. This is assuming none of the seven candidates receive the majority vote in the first poll.

For more information, check out your local news stations as well as the websites and social media of each candidate.