Boise’s two newest City Council members sworn in as longtime member Elaine Clegg resigns

Two new Boise City Council members took their seats on Thursday and will serve out terms for the remainder of the year.

Latonia Haney Keith was confirmed to the District 3 seat, which covers the North End and Northwest Boise, and Colin Nash was confirmed to an at-large seat.

After taking her oath of office, Haney Keith said she was “honored” by the appointment and would “faithfully serve” her district.

Colin Nash, a Democrat who serves in the Idaho House, was also sworn in on Thursday to fill an at-large seat that longtime Council Member Elaine Clegg resigned from earlier in the meeting. Clegg left her seat to become CEO of Valley Regional Transit, the Treasure Valley’s public transit agency.

Haney Keith, who is the board chair of Boise’s urban renewal agency and an attorney, told the Statesman in an interview that she hopes to focus on housing and the upcoming zoning code rewrite.

“Given my legal expertise, and in particular my focus on housing affordability, I think that’s a critical issue that I’m hoping to provide some additional expertise in,” she said.

According to the city, Haney Keith is the first Black woman to serve on the council. She said she was “honored” to be the first Black woman on the council, while at the same time feeling like it should have happened sooner.

“Looking back on Boise’s history, we’ve had a wealth of diversity from a variety of different cultures and backgrounds,” she said. “And so I wish in many respects that I wasn’t the first in the moment of 2023, quite frankly, but the fact that I am is also very inspiring.”

After this story was originally published, former Council Member Lisa Sánchez told the Statesman that she was the first Black woman to serve on the council. Sánchez said her mom was a Black and Mexican-American woman. Sánchez was first elected to the council in 2017.

The District 3 seat became open after Sánchez accidentally left her district in January when she moved to a new apartment. She has since returned to District 3 and was one of many who applied to be appointed to the council. Since Mayor Lauren McLean appointed Haney Keith on Wednesday, Sánchez has announced she plans to file legal action against the city.

Haney Keith said she was aware of the controversy surrounding the District 3 seat and hopes to serve the neighborhoods she will represent.

“I do know that the appointments today were done with great deliberation, care and thought, and so I take that appointment very seriously,” she said.

Haney Keith said she does not plan to run for a council seat in November, when city elections will take place.

Nash, who rents a home in West Boise’s Winstead Park, said he wants to focus on housing affordability issues. He plans to run in November, and to leave the Legislature.

“Even since 2016, people have seen rents double,” he said, noting that the Legislature has previously funded federal rental assistance programs. He said he wants to be an “interagency bridge” between Boise and agencies like the Ada County Highway District.

Nash said he wants to “help give representation to renters, who are struggling with housing affordability right now, and there’s a lot of exciting opportunities available at the city to deal with those problems.”

Nash was delayed in coming to the council meeting because he served as a deciding vote at the Statehouse resisting Republican-led efforts to overturn Gov. Brad Little’s veto of a bill that would have allowed parents to claim financial damages if their children obtained “harmful” materials from a library. Little vetoed the bill on Wednesday, and Nash said the House failed to overturn Little’s veto by one vote.

This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 3:18 PM.

Ian Max Stevenson

Idaho Statesman

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Ian Max Stevenson covers state politics and climate change at the Idaho Statesman. If you like seeing stories like this, please consider supporting his work with a digital subscription. Support my work with a digital subscription