What did residents want to ask Treasure Valley mayors about growth? Read their questions.

The Idaho Statesman and Boise State Public Radio held a forum with five Treasure Valley mayors to talk about growth and their vision for the future.

The audience of about 150 provided dozens of questions, but the moderators were not able to share all of them. We’ve included submitted questions here:

• What are you doing to mitigate climate change?
  
  
• What cities outside our state do you see that have successfully managed their transportation needs and what have they done well?
  
  
• Blueprint for good growth was an attempt to create a regional growth plan, but it died. Is there a political will to undertake a renewed effort?
  
  
• Is the goal for local and state government to encourage unlimited growth, or will disincentives be considered? My concerns: air quality, housing prices for veterans and elders on fixed incomes.
  
  
• Having moved back to Boise from Salt Lake City, I’m concerned how Treasure Valley will maintain good air quality given all the growth. Even with rail and light rail, SLC suffers from terrible air quality problems, mostly tied to tailpipes. How are you mayors working together to ensure good air quality?
  
  
• What are the plans to increase bike lanes all over Ada County (Bench, not just downtown.) What can residents do to support this?
  
  
• How do you plan to keep senior citizens in their homes? Rising home costs and property taxes will force those on fixed incomes out of their homes.
  
  
• What do you need from your county partners to better plan for and address growth?
  
  
• What can we do to change Idaho law and be able to have Boise/Ada County raise local option taxes to fund public transportation?
  
  
• How will we secure enough water for hundreds of thousands more residents across multiple cities and counties?
  
  
• Farmland preservation is called out as a priority by Ada County and by Boise City. How committed are you as mayor to supporting legislation to preserve farmland? There are many benefits to locally-grown food.
  
  
• To achieve economies of scale and other benefits, should Boise and Garden City consolidate?
  
  
• What tools (laws) would you like the legislature to provide to help cities better manage growth?
  
  
• The state of Idaho provides no funding for affordable housing unlike neighboring state.. Do you believe the state should provide this funding and how much additional funding would you need to make a dent in the affordable housing needs?
  
  
• With a high percentage of bridges in Idaho beyond their life designs and in need of repairs - where will the money come from to pay for maintenance and growth? What comes first - safety or growth?
  
  
• To what extent are the mayors coordinating efforts to improve much-needed public transportation?
  
  
• Is a beltway or light rail being planned?
  
  
• 
  
  
• This year, BSU Treasure Valley Growth Survey had a question about placing a moratorium on growth. Would you follow a moratorium if it was voted in by the people?
  
  
• Have there been conversations about setting city minimum wages, like other growing cities have, to help decrease the gap between current-level wages? What would really be a living wage?
  
  
• What is the plan for homeless housing in Boise?
  
  
• What is your attitude toward allowing light manufacturing in your cities? What steps are you taking to encourage these businesses to locate in your cities?
  
  
• How will you address livability for elder citizens who may live on fixed incomes and have transportation needs, so they can continue to be engaged with their community?
  
  
• One thing that makes Boise and Idaho great is our access to open spaces. What are the plans to protect open spaces and expand both Ridges to Rivers and the Greenbelt?
  
  
• I appreciate preserving the Greenbelt and Foothills. I am a Boise native and see that as dense housing is added, the parking along the streets to use the Foothills and Greenbelt is prohibited - what it the solution?
  
  
• When is the Treasure Valley going to coalesce around a viable public transportation plan?
  
  
• Does the city actually have any control of what type of housing is built (ex. high/low density)? Doesn’t all power lie with private developers?
  
  
• How can you encourage existing Boise companies to increase wages rather than just relying on bringing in new higher-paying jobs?
  
  
• Do you support density vs. sprawl?
  
  
• Vape and electronic cigarettes have been called a youth epidemic by the FDA. What are city leaders doing to combat this dangerous issue?
  
  
• How are the cities working together to: reduce sprawl collectively and partner on public transit?
  
  
• What is the actual population of Boise today and how are you and the other mayors coordinating efforts to assimilate the increasing demands of the rapid growth?
  
  
• How can compliance with traffic law be improved?
  
  
• What’s being done outside this forum to collaborate between all elected and appointed officials (ACHD, ITD, Canyon and Ada Counties, COMPASS) to come up with a cohesive plan to address growth?
  
  
• With growth so rampant, why offer any “incentives”?
  
  
• Will you each commit to supporting a local option tax so we can come up with a valley-wide transportation solution other than more roads, wider roads and cars?
  
  
• How will you engage low-income, persons of color and immigrants/refugees in this discussion?
  
  
• As a retired Boise resident, I am concerned about my ever-increasing property taxes and the fact that only about 50% of property owners are paying property taxes. What is the plan for future financing of Boise’s growth? (Comment: At the current rate of property tax increases, I amy be forced out of my home even though my mortgage is paid.)
  
  
• Will large projects like the proposed library be on the ballot?
  
  
• Does it make sense for state law to allow frequent updates to comprehensive plans rather than letting the plans take time to mature and assess the results and impacts of the policies?
  
  
• What plans/actions do you as mayors have to address growth pressures as a region? Will Blueprint for Good Growth get some teeth?
  
  
• What adjustments would be pursued if there were a sharp downturn in growth?
  
  
• Is there any hope for light rail?
  
  
• What are your plans for democratizing density? Infill practices ,plus the use of variances, have overpopulated areas vis-a-vis other areas of the city of Boise.
  
  
• We could have a significant increase in valley air contamination if we continue our pattern of automobile use for transportation. What plans do you have for the development of comprehensive public transportation for the valley?
  
  
• How can the cities do a better job messaging about growth?
  
  
• How are we going to be able to breathe during inversions with all the added traffic?
  
  
• How can we get the citizens of our valley to see density, and a mix of uses and housing types, as critical to our quality of life in a tremendous time of growth?
  
  
• Whatever happened to the light rail proposal from the “Brent Coles” era - connecting Caldwell, Nampa, Meridian and Boise on the existing rail corridor?
  
  
• For Eagle mayor: Why all the high-density apartment buildings that impact traditional neighborhoods when there is land in other areas. What can be said to current homeowners (who are resentful of high-density housing) to understand growth? High-density buildings create pockets of overcrowding and dense traffic on inadequate roads.
  
  
• What is the position for carpool lanes for the current section of the interstate and the interstate expansion?
  
  
• There are cities in this region that provide a disproportionate amount of affordable housing, while other cities that depend on those lower-wage earners for services have little or no affordable housing. This means long commutes for those who can least afford it. Do the mayors see think there is anything inequitable about this situation? How can we have a public policy discussion that directs an improved future?
  
  
• How are you going to make Idaho a better place?
  
  

The Statesman has a team covering growth issues in the valley. If you have questions or story suggestions, reach out to Editor Dave Staats, dstaats@idahostatesman.com. Rhonda Prast is the Statesman’s Executive Editor.

This story was originally published October 3, 2018 at 10:20 PM.