BSU student, Army veteran enters Boise City Council race

Adriel Martinez, who'll turn 25 this month, said he's running for a seat on the City Council this year largely because the city doesn't do a good job representing all of its people.

Friday afternoon, he repeated a widely held — though difficult to substantiate — belief that Boise’s government is most responsive to well-moneyed neighborhoods like the North End, East End and Foothills, but generally disregards the Bench and the city's outlying areas.

Martinez said he grew up in the Treasure Valley and spent much of his youth in foster homes. He graduated from Nampa High School in 2009.

He got a taste of politics in 2008, when he worked on Democrat Walt Minnick's successful congressional campaign.

Between 2009 and 2013, Martinez said, he served as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army.

He said a class he took recently at Boise State University inspired him to get involved in local government.

If he's elected, he said he'll push for district-based City Council elections to counteract the imbalance he sees in Boise. He said Boise also needs to do more to address homelessness and should throw its support behind foster families in an effort to reduce the rate at which foster children end up in jail or prison.

He's running against Scot Ludwig, who Mayor David Bieter appointed to the City Council early this year.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 2:40 PM with the headline "BSU student, Army veteran enters Boise City Council race."