Serving as a State Legislator from the Central Bench of Boise is an honor. I appreciate the continued support of the people of District 17 which for many years has been between Vista Avenue and Cole Road. In 2022 District 17 added the area between Cole Road on the East, Cloverdale on the West, Victory Road on the South and the I-84 Freeway. It also added an area between Vista and Federal Way. Welcome!
Background: I am a longtime year resident of the Boise Bench area where I raised my kids, coached Little League 6 seasons, helped our PTA, and served as a neighborhood leader. I was unhappy with paying for water we couldn’t get, got elected to the New York Irrigation District Board in 1989, and 400 homes with no hope of water access, or use were released from the tax and district. I have served in the legislature since 2013 including the finance, employee compensation, state affairs, transportation, judiciary, business and ethics committees. I have been involved in fighting laws that restrict voting, and I have supported education funding, access to medical care, property tax fairness, and repeal of the grocery tax to slow inflation.
In the 2026 session a Republican Senator and I fought the rat infestation with our S 1445 that passed the Senate 31-3. When it stalled I didn’t quit. We wrote letters to local officials, I started a yard sign campaign, and I passed out 1000 flyers to get action going, which has happened. I was bipartisan at all times. Why? Thats the way you get something done.
I co-sponsored bills to make data centers pay property and sales taxes and fought electric rate increases at the Utilities Commission. I fought for employee and Persi retiree pay as stingy budgets denied cost of living increases. I voted for a grocery tax credit increase and a property tax credit program, but opposed the big tax cuts that cut services and road money. I co-sponsored a law to make it easier to defeat frivolous “Slapp” lawsuits.
In the recent sessions I supported the Idaho Launch Scholarships, benefitting more than 100 District 17 students annually. I opposed legislation, sometimes successfully, that restricts the right to competent medical care, and I fought against legislation that involved the state in local library decisions. As a member of the committee that recommends state employee pay rates, I have worked for fairness, which means state pay should keep up with inflation.
I worked and help write several specific bills. AI can now create exact replicas of people. I helped write and was floor co-sponsor of HB 575 that prohibits perpetrators from recreating identifiable people in fake sexual positions. It became law and includes a criminal penalty.
In 2022, I developed a bill with a Republican leader to allow cities to rebate property taxes. It passed and Boise now rebates 1.2 million to help low income homeowners stay in their homes:
I also wrote two bills in 2022 that passed that restrict State investments in Russian bonds and currencies, got a Republican co-sponsor, and they became law:
I have been a co-sponsor of bills that raised Juror pay and in 2023 a successful bill that forced a major corporation to pay property tax to the base which gives Ada County taxpayers a little tax relief fairness.
I am a part time attorney now and during my 40 years I have represented thousands of people and small businesses. I also have occasionally taken Idaho Legal Aid clients and worked to resolve their civil matters. As an attorney I participated in Supreme Court/Court of Appeals decisions, 25 or more jury trials and counseled many people and small business in civil matters. I graduated from UC Davis, UC Hastings College of Law and the USAR JAG School. Most of my military service was standby reserve.
These are some areas I have worked on:
Education: The Micron announcement of thousands of jobs for our area means our kids need to be prepared for these jobs or others will move here to take them. There is no choice. To attract the best teachers we have to pay them better because the cost of living is increaseing significantly in our area. Yes, personnel costs are around 85% of the K-12 expense, but to attract and retain the best, they must be paid.
My kids attended Monroe, South Junior High, Borah High School and Idaho universities. I became familiar with the challenges and opportunities in our schools. I led a group “Neighborhood Schools Work” that successfully kept Monroe School open when the district tried to demolish it in 2005. Neighborhood schools help parental participation, attract parents with children to a neighborhood, facilitate walking to school, and give kids more of an identity. It is good when the principal and teachers have a smaller school where they know most of the students names. I worked for new schools at Whitney and Grace Jordan and fought against the policy that demolished historic Franklin School. Sadly in 2024, Owyhee Elementary was repurposed which hurts that neighborhood.
In 2018 I co-sponsored HB 665 which allows law enforcement to investigate and prosecute those who threaten violence against our children and schools. I spoke at the Governor’s Signing Ceremony saying Idaho is part of the 21st Century, like it or not and we have to deal with these threats before then can be carried out by perpetrators.
Bench Brown Water: The Brown Water forum at Whitney Elementary School in February, 2019, helped bring the problems Bench residents have with drinking water to public attention:
Residents living between Vista and Roosevelt have had significant difficulties with brown water. I had several meetings with Suez (now Veola) and three forums. In late 2020 I and three other Bench residents intervened when Veola wanted a 20% rate increase. We said no more money until Suez (now Veola) fixed our problems
The Public Utilities Commission responded with a settlement that monitors Suez. In September, 2021 Suez began spending 1.5 million to install a filtering system at the Taggert Street wells (near Vista & Nez Perce). This was completed in April 2022 and has helped. Old rusting iron pipes need to be replaced too and since 2020 there have been ten projects including Cherry Lane and Cassia Street.
Please always call Veola(formerly Suez) when you have brown water: 208-362-7304, and then call the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at:
Note: If you have a brown water issue, be sure that it occurs in your cold water too. Have your hot water heater checked if the brown water is only in the hot water.
Affordable Housing and Bench Quality of Life: The Boise Bench is entitled to a quality of life just like the rest of our community, and when the Airport Noise Study said hundreds of affordable homes would be unsuitable for residential use if a squadron of fighter jets arrive, I sought a plan and solution despite strong opposition It is unfair to devalue homes without a plan or compensation:
https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article178519351.htm
I helped the 500 Blue Valley residents preserve their affordable manufactured homes in 2019 and 2020, and when it became clear that the legislature would not address those who take unfair advantage of tenant application fees, I helped Lisa Sanchez get an ordinance passed:
https://www.kivitv.com/news/boise-leaders-seek-regulation-on-rental-application-fees
High truck speeds of 80 miles an hour impact our quality of life, and I helped to defeat a bill to generally allow those speeds. Later a more limited 80mph law passed.
https://www.kivitv.com/news/proposal-would-allow-trucks-go-80-mph-on-parts-of-i-84
Compensation and Inflation: I have worked for employee and Persi compensation that keeps up with inflation. Inflation in housing, groceries, utility costs and everyday expenses hurts state employees and retirees too.