What Boise mayoral candidates say on issues in 10 seconds each —until they get cut off
In the latest forum of Boise mayoral candidates, six of the seven people hoping to run the city took the stage at Trailhead to weigh in on everything from taxes to transportation.
The Wednesday night forum, sponsored by Boise Young Professionals and the Idaho Statesman (and moderated by Scott McIntosh, the Statesman’s opinion editor), gave candidates the chance to voice their opinions on whether the city should use public money on a new stadium in downtown Boise, on public housing and even on a new main library.
Candidates maintained their stances established throughout the campaign on taxes, conservation, homelessness and more. They got 60 seconds each to answer those questions.
Voters got unique insight, however, during the forum’s “lightning round.” During that round of questions, McIntosh gave candidates 10 seconds to weigh in on a variety of topics. The time limit was strict — several candidates found themselves cut off. Here’s what they said (with “...” to denote where candidates had to stop speaking):
E-scooters
Ada County Highway District President Rebecca Arnold: “They’re dangerous. Some cities are looking at banning them, like Nashville, Tennessee. I think it was a great idea, but...”
Mayor David Bieter: “E-scooters without too many of them, they work, period. I don’t want to hear about the issue. I want to see it working. Don’t get too many and we’ll be fine. People love them, of all ages...”
Brent Coles: “I just don’t have the balance to ride them, but they look like fun to be on.”
City Council President Lauren McLean: “I love e-scooters in heels, I love e-scooters in tennis shoes, and I really love e-scooter dates with my husband, Scott.”
Cortney Nielsen: “I don’t have an opinion. I think they look fun.”
Wayne Richey: “I drive Lyft, and I take drunk people home Friday and Saturday night. I’ve seen absolutely hammered kids driving diagonally through intersections with three people on them.”
City regulations on short-term rentals (such as Airbnb)
Bieter: “It’s really hard. I think we gotta move real carefully. We want as many affordable units longer term as we can get. Let me have my short termer over my garage.”
Coles: “I use them to vacation, so I think they’re great.”
McLean: “They provide an incredible community experience when you’re vacationing, but we’ve got to make sure we have tenants, not just tourists, in our neighborhoods.”
Nielsen: “It’s a great option for homeowners.”
Richey: “I love tiny houses and Airbnbs, but any new ones, you have to pass all the codes. So important.”
Arnold: “I say no. Private property rights are very important and Airbnb, it’s a private property issue.”
A Boise campus for College of Western Idaho
Coles: “Should be. Should happen. Looking forward to it.”
McLean: “Let’s get it done. It’s a great opportunity for students, and it’s awesome to have students in our city.”
Nielsen: “Absolutely.”
Richey: “Does it get publicly funded?” (McIntosh confirms it does.) “Sure.”
Arnold: “I support a Boise campus, but I’d like to see it in West Boise, where it’s more accessible, and it’s easier to find a place to park.”
Bieter: “I do support it. We’ve been working with CWI to try to find a way forward. And if I’m re-elected, I’m going to make it a high priority.”
F-35s in Boise
McLean: “They’re not right for our city, and the environmental impact statement said we’d lose too many affordable houses, a school would be impacted. We can build our mission at Gowen without bringing planes that impact our housing.”
Nielsen: “Mountain Home is a great location.”
Richey: “I grew up with F-4s in the valley, that big glaring (Richey growls), that’s the sound of freedom.”
Arnold: “I fully support our military and having a mission at Gowen Field, but the F-35 is not it. The environmental impacts displacing people from their homes, the impact on children…”
Bieter: “We need a new mission. At Gowen Field, that’s $160 million of economic activity. I’m not sure what the next aircraft is. If it’s the F-35, we’ll make it work better than the…”
Coles: “Yes, but not carte blanche. We certainly don’t want supersonic flights in and around our city.”
Urban warfare training exercises over Boise
Nielsen: “I’m not familiar with what that is.”
Richey: “That’s scary. It is. I hope we don’t come to that.”
Arnold: “I think with the noise and disruption, it’s really not a good option to have that over the city of Boise.”
Bieter: “Not real excited about it. I wrote a letter, expressing concerns, doesn’t matter what we think about it, but it is so high, it’s not much disruption.”
Coles: “Yeah, no, I think they can go out over the desert somewhere.”
McLean: “Absolutely not.”
Medical marijuana in Boise if state law were changed
Richey: “A doctor should be able to prescribe anything he wants. He’s a doctor. State, city, county, churches, need to stay out of it.”
Arnold: “If it became legal under the state, I think doctors should have the ability to prescribe what their patients need. I do not, however, support anybody being able to go out and get their medical marijuana card like…”
Bieter: “Medical marijuana locally. Under the guidelines of a physician, yes.”
Coles: “Yes.”
McLean: “Yes.”
Nielsen: “I will support whatever the voters want.”
If you were king or queen for a day, what’s one thing you’d do to improve Boise?
Arnold: “Reduce property taxes and make housing more affordable for everyone.”
Bieter: “Get rid of ACHD and get our roads back.”
Coles: “I look forward to a really, really wonderful transportation system. Reduce the congestion on our roads, have a good transit system so I can get on a bus and go wherever I want to go.”
McLean: “A home for everyone who works here to live here.”
Nielsen: “A new filtration system and an automatic feeder for the koi ponds at the train depot, and a beautiful mass transit going through with a Starbucks.”
Richey: “A $26 billion wall.”
You can watch a full stream of the forum that was recorded live on the Statesman’s Facebook page. The election is Nov. 5.
This story was originally published October 23, 2019 at 9:02 PM.
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