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Idaho Rep. Nash likely to focus on Boise City Council seat if elected in November [1]
['Clark Corbin', 'More From Author', '- April']
Date: 2023-04-12
Rep. Colin Nash, a Democratic legislator who was sworn in to fill a vacancy on the Boise City Council on the final day of the 2023 legislative session, said he will run for his own City Council seat in November and would likely leave the Idaho Legislature if he is successful.
Nash, D-Boise, is serving his second term in the Idaho House of Representatives and was one of 54 people to apply for two vacant Boise City Council seats earlier this year, according to a press release from Boise Mayor Lauren McLean’s office.
On Thursday, Nash was sworn in to an at-large Boise City Council seat formerly held by Elaine Clegg, who left her post in March to focus on her new role as CEO of Valley Regional Transit. Last week, McLean also appointed Latonia Haney Keith to fill the other vacant seat, which was held by former Boise City Council member Lisa Sanchez.
“I selected Latonia Keith and Colin Nash for their deep professional experience with housing policy, their readiness to hit the ground running, and importantly, their ability to secure the support of the City Council,” McLean said in a written statement.
Idaho Legislature changed city council law in 2020
Before the Idaho Legislature changed the law in 2020, Boise City Council elections were held at-large and all city voters were able to vote in all races. During the 2020 session, the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 413, which requires cities with a population of more than 100,000 people to divide into districts that city council members are elected from.
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Nash said he will run for the Boise City Council in District 2 in November. If he is elected, Nash said he will likely leave the Idaho Legislature before the 2024 session begins. Nash, who works as an attorney, was re-elected to the Idaho Legislature in November. His seat in the Idaho Legislature does not expire until after the November 2024 election.
If Nash resigns from the Idaho Legislature before the end of his term, a legislative district committee of Democrats from Nash’s District 16 would submit three nominees to the governor. The governor would then appoint one of the nominees to fill the seat for the remainder of the term.
From now until November, Nash doesn’t anticipate any problems holding both elected positions.
“I got sworn in minutes after I cast the last vote on the last day of the legislative session to uphold the governor’s veto of House Bill 314,” Nash said in a telephone interview. “I don’t anticipate being in session again until January, and there is not a lot of overlap with my legislative duties.”
There is no rule or law against serving on a city council, school board or county commission and serving in the Idaho Legislature at the same time. At least a couple of other legislators also serve on their local city councils. Rep. Chris Allgood, R-Caldwell, serves on the Caldwell City Council and Rep. Rick Cheatum, R-Pocatello, serves on the Pocatello City Council.
Rep. Colin Nash’s goals for Boise City Council
In an interview with the Idaho Capital Sun, Nash said he committed to running for the Boise City Council seat in November when he applied to fill the vacancy for Clegg and would like to focus on the Boise City Council position if he is elected. Nash said the Winstead Park neighborhood where he and his wife, Hailey, are renters hasn’t had much representation on the Boise City Council. He also said the more local level of government is the best place to address his top policy priorities, like affordable housing and quality of life issues. Ten years ago while he was an undergraduate college student, Nash worked as a bank teller and bought a house, which he later sold to pay for graduate school.
“Now 10 years later I am an attorney, and it is more difficult for me to afford a house in this housing market as an attorney than when I was a bank teller,” Nash said. “If the current trends keep up, our kids aren’t going to be able to live near their families and people will have to live further and further from their places of employment, and the cost of living will further erode what is otherwise a great quality of life in our city.”
During the 2023 legislative session that wrapped up last week, Nash filled in as the lone Democrat from the Idaho House of Representatives on the powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee after House Speaker Mike Moyle-R-Star, took one of the Democrats’ two JFAC seats away and Rep. Brooke Green, D-Boise, cared for her newborn son.
During a press conference shortly after the session adjourned Thursday, House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, D-Boise, praised Nash for the work he did as the lone Democrat from the Idaho House on JFAC.
“Luckily the House member that we kept on there is, you know, the equivalent of 20 normal people,” Rubel told reporters. “Rep. Nash is absolutely extraordinary. I don’t know how he keeps all the balls in the air. He’s amazing.”
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