This group asked Boise to halt evictions during crisis. Here’s what city leaders did
A community group best known for proposing the two ballot measures that Boise voters approved last fall has asked the city to temporarily ban evictions as the coronavirus pandemic leads to layoffs and job losses.
Boise Working Together sent a letter to Mayor Lauren McLean asking her to follow the lead of “cities and states across the nation” by imposing a moratorium on evictions. Such a move would “protect the public health, safety, and welfare by reducing the number of individuals and families entering into homelessness during this epidemic,” the letter says.
It was signed by the members of Boise Working Together as well as the presidents of several neighborhood associations. The group also posted it to Facebook, where it gathered more than 230 signatures in 18 hours, spokesman David Klinger told the Statesman in a phone interview.
“Boiseans are worrying about their health and their jobs,” Klinger said Tuesday. “They don’t need the added burden of having to worry about their homes.”
A large number of people have been laid off as businesses have closed or cut hours in response to the coronavirus spread. In Boise, restaurants have been restricted to take-out, drive-thru or delivery services after McLean ordered them to end their dine-in options. Gyms and fitness centers are closed as well under a social distancing order McLean issued Monday and modified Tuesday.
The city has declared some businesses “essential,” exempting them from social distancing rules. They includes grocery stores, medical facilities, banks, hardware stores, gas stations and others.
At a Boise City Council meeting Tuesday night, the mayor said she received the letter and her office had been talking to the governor’s office about the need to pause evictions.
She said she didn’t think it was appropriate to “invoke police powers” at this point, but she and the council sent a letter to Gov. Brad Little asking him to recognize “the impact of eviction in the long run with the virus as it continues to spread.”
“We asked the governor to take action when he’s looking at an economic package or economic steps that includes addressing evictions,” McLean said.
Several members of the council voiced their support.
“I do think that anything that we can do to be supportive of that order and that letter, we should be pursuing,” Councilman Jimmy Hallyburton said.
Boise last week forgave rent due in April in all city-owned rental properties and placed a moratorium on evictions from city-owned properties through April. In a tweet, McLean posted that the city is “encouraging private property managers to do the same.”
In a news release sent Tuesday, the Idaho Apartment Association, a trade association representing the multifamily housing industry, encouraged landlords to offer “rent deferment plans” for the month of April to avoid evictions.
“We recognize property managers may choose to implement rent deferral programs differently, but encourage them to focus on finding a win/win and enabling tenants who agree to a payment plan to stay,” said Paul Smith, the executive director of the association, in the release. “We also ask property owners to avoid filing evictions for nonpayment due to qualifying reasons in April when renters communicate and sign rent deferral agreements.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 8:10 PM.
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