BOISE, Idaho — Jessee Tree and LEAP Housing partnered to host Thursday's second Boise mayoral forum. The discussion for the evening was homelessness prevention and housing affordability.
Krista Paulsen, from the School of Public Service at Boise State University, was the moderator for the discussion. She asked the following prompted question: Now that the federal emergency rental assistance program has ended in Ada County, how will your administration address rising rents and eviction rates?
Mike Masterson, former Boise Police Department Chief of Police, answers first. He says in part, “We need to do more with making sure that we have housing available at all affordable levels in the city. That includes keeping people from homes with emergency stipends, this means creating emergency shelters, creating housing opportunities for those that are emerging from homelessness.”
Incumbent Mayor Lauren McLean shortly followed, “We will continue to invest where we must in short-term solutions to protect folks who are currently housed while working on long-term solutions. Both market-based partnership housing and the permanent support of housing. Which is homes for folks exiting homelessness with the services they need to stay successfully housed."
Data engineer and former military intelligence analyst, Joe Evans, answers, he says, “We need to create options and partnership of the tech, the business, the organizations, especially the nonprofits that have helped during COVID, prior to COVID, and in the near future are going to be extremely important.”
The 2023 Boise mayoral election will be held on November 7th, 2023.
