What — and who — the outgoing mayor wants as fast-growing Nampa faces change
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Nampa Mayor Debbie Kling will not seek re-election after overseeing eight years of growth.
- Kling made strides in infrastructure, zoning reform and public safety during her tenure.
- Funding constraints from state law could remain a core challenge for Nampa's next leader.
The Treasure Valley may have felt a little different when Debbie Kling first took the oath of office to become Nampa’s mayor in January 2018.
Kling, who grew up in Kansas and turns 68 in October, has overseen a period of tremendous growth for the city. Between 2017 and 2025, Canyon County added an average of about 21 new residents per day — with nearly half of those making a beeline for Nampa.
New subdivisions have cropped up across the city. Traffic has shifted. New faces have shown up at City Council meetings on Mondays and the farmer’s market at Lloyd Square Park on Saturdays.
But after eight years in City Hall, Kling has announced that she will not seek a third term. She has a successor in mind whom she hopes voters will pick.
Nampa mayor pushes back against lawmakers
Kling’s time as mayor has been marked by moments of pride, frustration, hope and a willingness to dive into the ink-stained melee of the Capitol just 21 miles away.
Kling grappled with the Legislature for throwing up roadblocks to how cities address growth. She made national news in 2024 for saying she couldn’t legally cancel a Pride event, even though she didn’t agree with it. Some 4,000 people showed up for the event after her comments, according to prior Idaho Statesman reporting.
She oversaw a rework of the city’s zoning code, the creation of an integrated command center for traffic and public safety, and a $200 million sewage treatment project.
Kling attributes part of this progress to her realization that her role is to be a generalist, making sure that experts at City Hall have the support they need to help the community.
“Few can be successful unless a lot of others want them to be,” she said. “I love that I get to be a champion of others and help them succeed in their roles.”
Kling backs development opposed by neighbors
Kling said public service has been a part of her since her time in 4-H with her siblings in Kansas. 4-H is a youth-development and civic engagement organization with agricultural roots.
She worked in the nonprofit sector before becoming the director of the Nampa Chamber of Commerce — a post Kling left when she was elected mayor.
When voters first put Kling in the driver’s seat, she wanted to be what she calls a “people’s mayor.” To Kling, this meant listening to residents and trying to understand how her decisions could affect the community.
Kling said she dislikes politics and political motivations, and that she’d rather make decisions for the community rather than her political longevity. “But it’s difficult as a leader,” she said.
Sometimes her decisions to break a tied City Council vote have clashed with residents.
In early June, Kling narrowly broke a tie vote when the Nampa City Council grappled with approving a nearly 1,500-home development on the northeastern edge of the city. Several nearby neighbors spoke against the 78-acre project, but Kling said the area has long been in the sights for development — especially with a nearby extension Highway 16 and expansion of the Ustick Road corridor.
“When you punch the new road in, growth is going to come,” she said then.
Some of the biggest conflicts, she told the Statesman, can come when residents tend to focus only on what affects them, rather than the future impact on the wider community. This is especially true as the city has continued to tussle with an ever-increasing population.
“When I’m making a decision, I’m trying to look down the road,” she said. “Sometimes people don’t always see the big picture.”
Changing culture, changing city
According to Kling, many of the newer residents who have moved in from out of state don’t want any more growth and have tried to shut the door behind them.
When she was first elected, Kling mentioned to other mayors that dealing with growth was one of the most challenging issues facing the city. They told her to be thankful for the growth, because it was much harder to deal with a dwindling population.
Still, that growth has some downsides. Kling said she’s seen an increase in some negative behaviors, such as people running more red lights, that need to be addressed.
At heart, though, Kling believes that Nampa “is the best of what America was.” To Kling, this means a faithful community that believes in the Constitution and where neighbors help neighbors.
“We still have a community that leans in,” she said. “My job is to be a champion for that.”
Legislature won’t let Nampa growth pay for itself, she says
Another issue she said needs to be addressed is how cities can address growth after the Legislature passed two bills in 2021 that constricted how they could fund themselves.
One of the bills capped how much revenue cities could add to their property tax budgets from new construction and annexation at 90%, which Kling and other mayors across the Treasure Valley say has tied their hands.
“Our citizens have said growth should fund growth, but it doesn’t,” she said. “That is extremely difficult.”
One of the bills vacuums almost $3 million out of the Nampa’s budget every year, Kling said, which has forced the city to pinch pennies. She said it would be helpful if those bills could change.
“I think the greatest challenge is going to be funding,” Kling said. “Our Legislature has been unwilling to move off of that.”
While funding may be an issue for her successor, she also sees hope for her successor to revitalize Nampa’s downtown, which she had made a cornerstone of her campaigns. After 20 years of stagnation, caused in part by private owners who wouldn’t sell properties for reuse or redevelopment, things are just beginning to fall into place, she said.
“We’ve got some great new restaurants downtown, we have some new things coming, which is exciting,” she said. “People love the quaint local places, the opportunity to go and see your neighbors. So hopefully we’ll continue to revitalize our downtown.”
Who should succeed her? Kling says: Rick Hogaboam
Kling has put her support behind Canyon County Clerk Rick Hogaboam to take her place.
Hogaboam, Kling’s former chief of staff and a former Nampa City Council member, is the first political endorsement she has made, she said. Hogaboam announced his candidacy shortly after Kling said she would not run for another term.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to the table, and I think he’ll do a wonderful job,” Kling said.
Kling said she hoped that her successor, whoever it may be, could make more headway in bringing downtown to life.
“There’s always more that could be done,” she said. “We’re never done.”
Looking ahead: ‘I don’t ever want to retire’
After her eight years on the dais, Kling said she chose to step down based more on a feeling that it was a good time to let someone else step forward than a firm idea of what she wants to do next.
“It’s a good time to step back,” Kling said by phone. “I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
Her plans for the future? “I wish I knew,” she said.
But she added: “We all have a responsibility to give back … I don’t ever want to retire. I want to continue to give back.”
This story was originally published June 30, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
