Lawmakers want Idaho’s larger cities to elect city council members based on where they live

State lawmakers continue to advance a bill that would fundamentally change how Boise, Meridian and Nampa elect their city councils.

House Bill 413 requires any Idaho city with more than 100,000 residents to elect members of its city council to represent districts where the members live, not at large. The mayor still would be at large and elected via citywide vote.

Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, who is carrying the bill in the Senate, told the Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday the legislation aims to bring more geographic diversity on the councils of Idaho’s major cities.

“It is time for all residents of Idaho’s major cities to be able to elect a city council member that represents them and their part of the community,” Winder said. The legislation “ensures everyone in Idaho’s major cities are constitutionally represented. Everyone deserves the right to have their vote matter,” he said.

Under Idaho code, city council members can reside anywhere within city limits and are elected via citywide vote, which means it is possible for an entire city council to live in the same neighborhood. All elected city offices are nonpartisan.

Idaho code does give cities the option to structure city council membership and election by geographic district. So far, none have done so. House Bill 413 would make this mandatory for all cities with a population of 100,000 or more under the current decennial census.

Based on the 2010 census, Boise is the only one of Idaho’s 200 incorporated cities with a population greater than 100,000, but recent annual censuses put Meridian and Nampa just above that mark. The 2020 census is under way.

In Boise, five of the council’s six members live north of the Boise River — Patrick Bageant, Lisa Sánchez and Elaine Clegg live in the North End. Holli Woodings lives in the East End, and Jimmy Hallyburton lives in the Highlands neighborhood.

Only one member, T.J. Thomson, lives south of the Boise River or west of downtown.

Winder told the committee Boise’s City Council is an example of why the legislation is needed. Boise’s city limits abut Meridian to the west and Kuna to the south, comprising much more land area than Boise’s downtown, north and east ends, yet that area is where all but one council member resides.

The Senate State Affairs Committee’s two Democratic members Sens. Michelle Stennett, Ketchum, and Cherie Buckner-Webb, Boise, voted against the bill saying it should be up to cities to decide city council and city election structure and the bill may be unconstitutional because it specifically targets Boise, which under the 2010 census, is the only city affected by the bill.

Under the constitution, legislation cannot specifically target one governmental entity.

Winder said cities receive their power from the Legislature and as Idaho grows, so will its cities.

“We know there will be at least three cities after this census that will be over 100,000, so I think we avoid the constitutional restriction of identifying one local government and trying to force them into doing something that maybe they do not have to do,” Winder said.

The committee advanced the bill on a party-line vote. The bill, which passed the House on a party-line 53-16 vote, now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

State legislature, counties already do this

Under Idaho law, the Legislature and county commissions must be structured under a geographic representation system. All elected state and county offices are partisan.

The 105-member state Legislature is elected from 35 legislative districts of equal population. Residents within each district elect their own senator and two representatives.

Each of Idaho’s 44 counties is divided into three equally populated districts and has a board of commissioners comprising one member from each district. Commissioners are elected by countywide vote.

The Ada County Highway District Commission also is set up under geographic representation. Each of the nonpartisan five commissioners represent a different area of the county and are elected by voters within their respective area.

This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 12:42 PM.