Most people don’t consider sitting at Meridian City Hall in a small conference room, on plastic chairs listening to politicians speak as their idea of a rocking Friday night. But democracy is a verb, and it requires action and engagement to maintain.

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Michael Fitzgerald (left) and Rod Beck (Right) in the picture. Fitzgerald is the primary challenger to Beck’s seat as District 2 Ada County Commissioner

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So what do the Ada County Commissioners do?

For starters, they’re not a single individual. The positions are made up of three district seats that govern how taxes are spent in Ada County . They also work with unincorporated areas (i.e., parts of the county that aren’t part of the city limits proper but still have residents who need representation and thoughtful governance outside of City Hall). They also have a say in planning and zoning, as well as appointing board members for various offices – such as Central District Health.

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The job has a fairly broad scope, and in one of the fastest growing counties in the country it becomes a key role in ensuring the growth in Ada County isn’t out-paced by zoning, planning and forward thinking. Which is why it’s so important to elect officials who understand what is going to improve quality of life, and where the sticky, difficult things are happening for residents.

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Rod Beck has served as Ada County Commissioner (District 2 ) since 2021, with re-election in 2022. Whether he has been in touch with what residents need the entire time, or this is a new development, on Friday evening one thing became abundantly clear: he is entirely out of touch with what is really happening around the Treasure Valley.

The League of Women voters invited Beck and challenger, Michael Fitzgerald, to a panel discussion with constituents. Questions were submitted to a moderator who pressed each candidate about various topics from housing to healthcare to public transit. Over the course of the evening a pattern began to emerge; Beck’s primary bragging points were about securing a professional soccer stadium for Garden City, and that he oversaw the 60,000 +/- residents living in unincorporated Ada County.

At one point, when asked about starter home costs in the Treasure Valley (where the median home price is north of $450,000) after his office approved a development that labeled $500,000 homes as “Starter”, Beck simply stated that, “Young people don’t work as hard as we did back in my day.” This was said to justify the expense of homes, as the average age of a first time home buyer is well into their 30s. He felt this was a reflection of a lack of hard work.

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When challenged directly that the actual reason younger generations don’t buy homes young is because they can’t afford it, Beck scoffed at the rebuke.

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Michael Fitzgerald is a married father of young children, and a millennial aged man from a tradesman background. When speaking about the cost of housing, he talked about lowering costs for builders, and using mixed density housing to help keep costs for first-time homebuyers low. Beck touted the need to tap into sewer lines that already exist but are laid in open-use State land areas - that tying into those would disrupt the ecology of the area. Beck talked about the need to use the State land for development, despite the consistently unpopular pushback from Ada County residents that such areas should not be up for development.

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The final question was about what each candidate would bring to voters if elected. Fitzgerald spoke about a need to focus on public transit to help working residents commute without being dependent on an individual car, to help increase where housing becomes practical to help decrease costs. He said he wanted to focus on the overcrowding in the County Jail to reduce taxpayer expenses, as well as to address the injustice that people awaiting trial for non-violent offenses experience. But primarily, these kinds of decisions would help alleviate expenses on taxpayers and bring relief to an overcrowded prison system.

When asked what Beck brought to the table if elected for another term, he cracked a few jokes about being older and wiser and more experienced than his primary opponent. Oh, and he brought a soccer stadium to Garden City.

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The Idaho Vanguard News and Pine Irwin

Apr 27

Watch recording here.

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 On April 23rd, Democratic gubernatorial candidates Maxine Durand and Terri Pickens took deep breaths and sat on a stage at College of Idaho and took questions. The two women, running on the Democrat ticket, were the only two to make the appearance in person. Republican candidate Justin Plante sent a video with some of his policies, as a scheduling conflict prevented him from attending. While Durand and Pickens are not the only two Dem candidates, they are the front runners.

Durand and Pickens are both vying for the Dem nomination for Governor in the Idaho Primaries May 19th.

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The debate, moderated by the College of Idaho, served as a proving ground for the candidates to distinguish themselves.

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Pickens comes from a legal background, and has run for Lt. Governor previously. An experienced candidate with a diverse legal background, she brings a steady blue-coded Idaho roots presence to the stage.

Durand is newer to running for office, a former transportation coordinator from Twin Falls, she is also a member of DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) and has a keen eye on how policy could be more mindful with her experience creatively implementing transportation options to under-served populations in Twin Falls.

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Both candidates hold similar positions on major topics, but what distinguished them was their approach to handle those topics. Both spoke about the desperate need to keep expanded Medicaid access for Idaho communities. And both are concerned about rural schools that are suffering under budget cuts.

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In fact, both candidates hold similar views on the dangers posed to the LGBTQ+ community in Idaho, as well as the lack of respect Idaho legislators have shown for their constituents. What it came down to were differences in how changes should be made, rather than what needed addressing. For example when asked about the minimum wage Pickens said it should be raised to at least $15 per hour, whereas Durand insisted it needed to be around $22 per hour.

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The debate showed that the democratic primary was going to be a tough field, with no clear front runner. We’ll know more after May 19th, when the primaries are scheduled to take place. Is Idaho ready for a more progressive leftist like Durand? Or will the progressive but stalwart, Pickens, pull ahead? The choice will help the Democratic party shape how they support progressive values in Idaho going forward. It will be a nail biter to the end.

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The Idaho Vanguard News and Pine Irwin

Apr 28

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