Change is coming to Garden City. What the outgoing mayor foresees
Update: On Wednesday, May 7, Garden City Council Member Bill Jacobs announced in a news release his intention to run for mayor to succeed Mayor John Evans. Jacobs has served on the City Council since 2021 and is a business executive, according to the news release.
In 2006, when Garden City Mayor John Evans took the city’s helm, he said, it “didn’t take much vision” for the real estate developer to see that the city would soon be “in the spotlight.”
Two decades later, development has exploded along the Boise River, drawing artists, businesses and residents hoping to escape higher costs across the river in Boise. The city, though Ada County’s smallest, has grown by over 25% from 2000 to 2024, according to the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho.
Evans, Garden City’s longest serving mayor, announced that he would not be running in the next mayoral race in November. Now in his fifth term, after being most recently elected in 2021, Evans previously served on the City Council for a decade and before that spent three-years on the Planning and Zoning Commission.
He will be 77 in June.
On Monday, Evans talked to the Idaho Statesman about the changes he’s witnessed in Garden City and the Treasure Valley in his more than three decades of public service — and what challenges and opportunities he foresees. The transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
After 20 years as Mayor of Garden City, you announced Friday that you have opted not to seek re-election for a sixth term. Why?
I’m ready to start a new chapter. The city’s in good shape. I feel good that I’m passing something off that is financially sound, has good operational protocols, and a stable staff. I want to go out while I still feel really good about it and have lots of energy. We’ve got a president that just left office in his 80s, and one in office that will be in his 80s when he’s done. And I thought, ‘Do I still want to be mayor when I’m in my 80s?’ I think it’s just time for me to take those four years, which is likely a significant percentage of the rest of my life, and now do something else.
In your time as mayor, the city has grown and development has flourished, particularly along the riverfront. What strikes as you as some of the biggest changes the city has undergone?
The unique feature Garden City has, in relation to any other city of its size in Idaho, is five miles of riverfront. In 2006, when I decided to run for mayor, with my development background, it didn’t take a lot of vision to know that this was going to be in the spotlight. What kept the city from taking advantage of that was its infrastructure at the time, primarily domestic water supply. By 2012, the city had upgraded its water system on the east end of town, and that’s when you start to see the biggest change: between Veterans Memorial Parkway and the Riverside Hotel.
It’s been fun watching that end of town develop its own character. In the same neighborhoods, you have high-end apartments and workforce housing, a place to get your car repaired, breweries, all in easy walking distance.
Of course, there’s been growth from that development and in the region. The biggest complaint I get on development is traffic. In Ada County, the cities don’t control the roads, so it’s a challenge to try to mitigate within a limited authority.
You mentioned town character. How has that shifted?
The possessiveness of our residents is another thing that has continued to evolve. There’s a lot of volunteerism, a sense of ownership, a lot of pride in being in Garden City. It didn’t used to be that way. Garden City was formed in 1949 because gambling was illegal in Boise, and Boiseans wanted to gamble. You used to hear, ‘Why does Garden City still exist? Why doesn’t it just get absorbed into Boise?’ It used to be called ‘Garbage City.’ Now, I hear it all the time: Residents want to remain autonomous. We’re big fish in this little pond, and we like the local control we have here.
How do those changes fit into broader transformations in the region?
Of course, Garden City is not an island unto itself. Over my years in service, we’ve developed and maintained strong relationships with other mayors and the county commissions in Ada and Canyon counties. We’ve jointly funded a special United States attorney to help work on gun and gang in Ada and Canyon counties, which has made a dramatic impact on reducing gang-related and gun-related violence over the years.
Is there anything you wish you had accomplished as mayor but have not?
Oh, heavens, yes! You know, I realized that there’s no ‘I’ll leave when I’m finished,’ because there is no being finished, not in anything as dynamic as a city is. City codes and regulations, by nature of the process it is to change them, typically lag behind the market. So there’s probably some code changes I’d like to get through before I leave.
What do you anticipate as challenges for the next mayor?
The challenges will largely involve adapting to the growth: mitigating negative impacts to the degree you can, while doing what you can to offset the negatives with the positives. Looking at the east side of town again, the negative is, there’s more traffic, it’s hard to park in some places. That’s offset by, there’s so much to do down there and you can ride your bike now.
We’re also seeing that Garden City is not entirely land-locked, but it’s close. There’s not a lot of land in the city’s impact area. So there’s a push for — and we’re seeing more applications for — multistory buildings. We’ve got projects in the queue that are going to be five or six stories.
The challenges that the legislature has imposed on city revenue will continue to require close monitoring and management. House Bill 389, for example, caps how much you can raise your property tax, irrespective of how fast you grow, making it difficult to ensure that growth pays its own way. Hopefully there will be a continued effort to help correct that over time.
Is there anyone you favor as a successor?
There’s a candidate who is very well-qualified, who I think will be making an announcement in the near future.
What’s next for you?
I think things will come up. I’ve got a lot of experience in a lot of areas, whether it’s volunteering or consulting in some areas where I have some expertise. I’m sure I’ll take some time and do nothing, but that won’t last very long with me. I’ll travel a little more and have a little more freedom with my shooting sports, where I won’t have to work around specific obligations. My wife, Judy, and I are kind of homebodies, so there’s no ‘We’re going to travel the world.’ But there are little things.
This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
