Bieter and McLean haven’t really talked in weeks. So how is Boise’s transition going?
Mayor David Bieter and Mayor-elect Lauren McLean work on the same floor at Boise City Hall.
His office occupies one corner of the third floor, while her transition office sits in the opposite corner. Between them are a lobby, a few hallways and the wall that documents the past mayors of Boise.
Despite that, they haven’t spoken to each other since Election Day, with the exception of two City Council meetings. They sit side-by-side at those.
“We’ve made it clear that we’re available and interested and of course willing, and I expect it will happen,” McLean said Monday during a sit-down with media.
The last time the two spoke not at a council meeting, she said, was when he called on election night to congratulate her on her victory. Mike Journee, Bieter’s spokesman, said Wednesday afternoon that they are working on setting up a meeting between the two “right after the first of the year.”
Part of that is because both took some time away from the office immediately after the election, which McLean won with 65.5% of the vote while taking nearly every precinct. McLean flew to Harvard University to participate in its Seminar on Transition for Newly-Elected Mayors, while Bieter took a few days off. Journee said at the time that it is typical for the mayor after an election.
After that, it’s a little less clear why conversations between the two haven’t taken place. McLean and her team say that at this point, they’re waiting to hear back from Bieter, although their respective staffs have been working together in anticipation of her swearing-in on Jan. 7.
“I want to be respectful of Mayor Bieter’s time and space,” McLean said through a spokesperson Tuesday.
Bieter, approached after Tuesday’s City Council meeting, declined to hear questions from a Statesman reporter for this story. He then walked away.
Boise transition plans
The lack of direct communication between the mayor and mayor-elect has not proved to be a problem, officials say. Journee said in a text message Tuesday that the mayor had “given instructions to everyone to give her transition team everything they need to make the shift as smooth as possible.”
That’s been happening, said Melanie Folwell, McLean’s campaign manager-turned-transition team leader. Some of the ease of transition comes from continuity — McLean announced Monday that Jade Riley, the city’s chief operating officer, would continue in his role in the new administration — and some of it comes from city staff members being what Folwell described as “professional and excellent” to work with.
“We’ve been working hard with existing staff members with every department, and it’s been incredibly productive,” Folwell said. McLean said she’s been “very happy” in the meetings she’s had.
She announced Monday the formation of six issue-focused committees, including ones on housing, transportation and equality. The committees are chaired by local people who work in the specific area of interest. Conservation Voters for Idaho executive director Courtney Washburn, for example, is helping to lead the group titled “A Clean City for Everyone.” Washburn is slated to be McLean’s chief of staff.
Committee meetings are already underway. Nearly 75 people “from diverse backgrounds, geographies and identities” are participating, McLean said in an email Monday.
McLean has met with all members of the City Council and Jimmy Hallyburton, one of the two new members who will be inaugurated in January, she said. (The other meeting, between McLean and Council Member-elect Patrick Bageant, is scheduled for just after the new year.) She’s also started meeting with other local leaders.
‘Our first change in 16 years’
TJ Thomson, a member of the council who endorsed Bieter and spoke out against McLean during the election, said in a phone call Wednesday that by the time the two finished their meeting, he walked out excited for what the city could accomplish going forward.
“I told her I want to work closely with her to ensure she has success, because if she’s successful, Boise is successful,” he said.
He called her hires so far “phenomenal.” He commended keeping Riley on board and said he was excited to work with what he said seemed like “a very powerful team.”
“We’re all working on this together,” Thomson said. “It’s our first change in 16 years, and I can speak at least for myself when I say we’re working tightly to make sure this is a successful transition. And I think it’s going to be.”
McLean is still working on other hires for her new administration. Her office will look different than Bieter’s, she said, but she’s still working on specifically how.
Jobs that exist in the mayor’s office right now may not be around come January. That also could lead to some new positions, she said, but details are still being ironed out.
“We’re just in the early days,” she said Monday. “I’d love to have solid answers to a lot more, but I feel really good about the progress we’ve made in such a short amount of time.”
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