Affordable housing, for many, is the number one topic of discussion in the race for who should be Boise Mayor. For Joseph Evans, candidate for the job, it isn’t a topic. It’s his day-to-day dilemma.
“My current housing situation is … a minivan. You're actually listening to me from campaign headquarters right now, [parked] outside of a laundromat,” said Evans. “I am homeless; I'm working homeless.”
Evans visited with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about his campaign and how he’s certain that there will be a runoff election, including himself and one of the other three candidates.
Boise State Public Radio spoke with all four Boise mayoral candidates. You can find the other interviews here:
- Mike Masterson says change is necessary at the Boise Police Department; but it starts at City Hall
- Here’s Aaron Reis, candidate for Boise mayor. He doesn’t want you to vote for him.
- For Lauren McLean, being Boise mayor is ‘the honor of my life,’ and she’d like four more years
“I do not feel that the runoff will actually be between Mike Masterson and Mayor McLean. I honestly believe the runoff will be between me and one of the others, because I am home grown.”Joe Evans
Read the full transcript below:
GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Good morning. I'm George Prentice. As we approach Election Day, we are spending some time getting to know the candidates in what is undoubtedly the region's most watched contest… the race for who should be the mayor for the city of Boise. Joseph Evans is here. We should know that he is a veteran, having served in the US Army from 1994 through 2013. He secured two degrees from Boise State, a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Business Administration. There's much more to know, but let's say good morning to Joe Evans. Good morning sir.
JOE EVANS: Good morning, George. It's great to be here today. Thank you very much for the opportunity.
PRENTICE: I'd like to start to talk a little bit about your vision for Boise. And when we read your official bio, it reads that you envision Boise “as a city where everyone can feel safe and secure in their rights and freedoms.” Can you speak to what I'm assuming is how you and others may not currently feel safe and secure in rights and freedoms?
EVANS: Absolutely. One of the key things is, over the last four years, we've seen an awful lot of issues related to government overreach. We've seen the state come down hard on women's reproductive rights. We've seen issues develop with regards to our choices in medicine. You know, despite the reduction in violent crime here in the state of Idaho and in particularly inside city limits, we've continued to see an increase in police overreaction to individual encounters that have resulted in fatalities as well as injuries to people. We continue to see issues with the way our government spends our money, and where it's prioritized in order to favor select individuals over the general pool that we originally intended the money to go to. As far as helping the community, lifting us all up instead of select individuals. So, this is one of the things where I want to be able to see Boise create an economy and create a community network that lifts all boats with the rising tide, as opposed to picking and choosing.
PRENTICE: Let's talk about finding and keeping a place to live. I've been reading that you have been a renter. Tell me if it's none of my business, but what is your current housing situation?
EVANS: My current housing situation is a minivan. You're actually listening to me from campaign headquarters right now outside of a laundromat. I am homeless, I'm working homeless. I do have a job I am able to maintain well with regards to a number of issues, so people don't see me as the guy on the street corner when we encounter in day to day interactions. And this comes down to an issue of we simply do not have enough housing in the right range to facilitate. Uh, housing for the people that are working below median wage right now. Median wage consists of about 36, $37,000. Right now, that's the average income for your Clark, your entry level jobs just about anywhere in the Treasure Valley. That's not enough. In order to support. In individual support a family in the current rental market, let alone the housing market with the accelerated prices that we're dealing with right now.
PRENTICE: There are those who point to the marketplace as a solution, but what can the city do?
EVANS: The biggest thing the city can do is get out of the way of what is. Ultimately opportunity. The market does have an awful lot of flexibility as far as what it can and cannot do. As far as answering the question of. A homeownership… a rehoming of individuals who have been displaced. We talk about the fact that we need about 4000 new houses a year, 4000 new homes, residences a year in order to support sustained growth here in the Treasure Valley. Yet we're currently looking at displaced individuals, and we're already seeing a number of families that are moving back in with parents and grandparents in order to maintain a standard of living that we've become used to here in the Treasure Valley. The number of individuals right now that are living out of RVs, you know, that were lent to them by parents, by grandparents, in order to give them something that at least resembles housing, you know, during this time of crisis.
PRENTICE: Mr. Evans, are you saying that the city should get out of the way of the free market?
EVANS: The market's going to take the path of least resistance. Now, what that means for Boise is going to be variable. Now, one of the things that Mike Masterson is looking at is expansion by taking over what he considers low quality agricultural ground out south of the freeway in order for expansion. This is something that he needs to do before the builders start building out there, so they can take advantage of the upzone that's was recently passed. Whereas for most individuals that have been working inside Boise, what we're looking at is more of an up rather than out. Now, if we're going to incentivize an up rather than out, part of it is, is looking at what the red tape and requirements are in order to create opportunity in the building of condominiums. Addressing issues of using the multiplexes that have been allowed, such as duplex and triplex, even the quadplexes that have been allowed in the neighborhoods under the new up zone. We need to make sure that the cost associated with that construction is reduced enough from the city side of things in order to interest the market in creating those opportunities for housing.
PRENTICE: So, are you talking then, about reductions of fees at the city level?
EVANS: Yes, absolutely.
PRENTICE: The highway district has considerable fees. How about the highway district as well?
EVANS: Uh, I would love to see the reduction of the fees associated with building inside Boise city limits, because as we continue to build, one of the things that we don't look at from a green perspective here in Boise, too much is the idea of neighborhood electric vehicles. Well, street legal neighborhood vehicles in general. We have an opportunity for low profile, low consumption small vehicles that can move around town at 35 miles an hour, which is the speed limit for the vast majority. Of the streets inside Boise city limits. That would create opportunities. This would reduce a lot of the need for. Road maintenance because we'd be using lighter vehicles. It would reduce the need for certain other amenities such as parking spaces, because these vehicles are significantly smaller than the ones that we currently spend a lot of time driving. And these vehicles are also significantly less expensive than the ones we generally have to buy in order to get around town, get around our communities.
PRENTICE: Are you talking about then incentivizing the public to have these vehicles? Or are you talking about shifting our public fleets to these more compact EVs?
EVANS: One, we absolutely should be shifting our public fleets to these more compact EVs. We've seen models that are lightweight able to accomplish the jobs that we handle for most of the things, and we don't really need to incentivize the public to actually go with these. They're already cheaper. They're already more affordable. They already consume less gas and less electric in order to get around town mean overall reducing the size of the vehicles that we use inside Boise city limits is advantageous for a number of reasons, not just for the people who use them, but for the city as a whole in trying to maintain infrastructure in order to support these smaller vehicles. We don't need to incentivize. Just need to make sure that people are aware the option does exist. It's an education issue.
PRENTICE: Let's talk about public safety. I think it's fair to say that that is a centerpiece of much of what this race is being defined by. What is your experience with the Boise Police Department?
EVANS: Boise Police Department in general is one of the best police departments I've had the opportunity to encounter. You know, in my travels around the United States, the vast majority of the police officers, you know, law enforcement officers that work within BPD grew up here. They understand the community. They work well with the community in general. None of them are at risk as part of doing their job. Now what that represents with the way our current hiring methodology works or our recruitment methodology for the BPD, we've been stepping away from maintaining a homegrown peace officer corps. We've been recruiting from out of state. We've been bringing people in who don't necessarily understand the community. And in the time that it takes them to adjust and adapt. We've run into issues. So I think this is an issue where we need police officers with better training, we need more homegrown officers, and we need to approach the issue in that more police does not necessarily mean better policing.
PRENTICE: Can you appreciate the reluctance of some young men and women from choosing that as a profession, given the environment of conflict between law enforcement and the public, and it's probably keeping a fair amount of good people away from this profession.
EVANS: As a national issue. Yes, it's very concerning, especially when you're looking at inner city issues across the United States. You're looking at Flint, Michigan, Detroit, you're looking at Oakland, California, San Francisco, Los Angeles, even Pacific Northwest. You're looking at issues in Portland and Seattle. Now, when it comes to Boise, we are still well ahead of that issue where police officers are actually an endangered or a dangerous career. You know, our incidence rates for deaths on the police force are generally represented more by traffic accidents than actual violence. So when it comes to the way. Boise Police Department handles its recruiting, even Ada County law enforcement. The reasons that most young Americans. Choose not to participate in the police academy or consider a career in law enforcement are not necessarily drawbacks when it comes to becoming a law enforcement or peace officer in Boise or Ada County.
PRENTICE: But is it your sense that a law enforcement force that reflecst its population, at least demographically, is a better force?
EVANS: This goes back to my point of a homegrown police force as opposed to recruiting from outside the Treasure Valley. You know, we understand the community here religiously. We are very diverse. You know, we're looking at we're looking at Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, Jehovah Witness, Nazarene Mennonites, West German Baptists. You know, we have a very diverse religious background here that an awful lot of people who come from outside of Boise, that come from outside of the Treasure Valley, really don't grasp what that means. And in that sense, a lot of us grow up with a sense of values that have been lost in larger metro areas. And I think that's something that's extremely important to maintain moving forward. And that means bringing in people to be peace officers who understand the cultural diversity that exists here and want to see it maintained.
PRENTICE: Securing more than half of the votes cast in an election is a significant task. So, I have to ask, what is your expectation of the results of this election?
EVANS: My expectation of the results of this election on November 7th is it will be forced into a runoff. I do not believe any of the four candidates are going to be able to secure 50% of the ballot initially, which is why the two-person runoff is going to end up happening. And when it comes down to that, I'm not necessarily worried about the November 7th election because I understand the people of the Treasure Valley are diverse. There is no single one of us that should feel that we walk away from that election with a mandate from the people to be of a particular kind of steward for the people of the Treasure Valley and for the people of Boise, Idaho.
PRENTICE: And put a finer point on that. Am I hearing you say that your intention is to force a runoff?
EVANS: Absolutely.
PRENTICE: And is your intention to force a runoff between the incumbent and Mike Masterson?
EVANS: Absolutely not. The reason why is because I do not consider myself an outsider. I grew up here in Boise, grew up here in the Treasure Valley. I grew up with an understanding of the diversity that created a lot of the situation that exists right now, including the immigrations from California, Oregon, Washington and around the nation. Let's be honest, from around the world, our refugee population here represents, you know, countries from around the world. We speak over 90 different languages inside this city. I do not feel that the runoff will actually be between Mike Masterson and Mayor McLean. I honestly believe the runoff will be between me and one of the others, because I am home grown. I did grow up here in Idaho. Neither one of them grew up here. Neither one of them received their education here. I don't feel that I am actually an outsider in this situation, as much as I'm the one person who is an insider and understands what Boise is, who Boise is. And what that represents to the people of the Treasure Valley and Boise itself.
PRENTICE: For the record, you do know that the mayor did get a degree from Boise State.
EVANS: She did get her master's degree here, and I do accept that. Her bachelor's degree, however, was from out of state. She came here to complete her master's.
PRENTICE: Let's talk about getting your messaging out. Mounting a campaign in 2023 is a formidable challenge financially. How are you doing that? With what I have to assume are limited funds.
EVANS: You know, they are absolutely limited funds. A lot of it happens to be taking advantage of the open forums that have been created for the mayoral candidates, city club of Boise, the opportunity they created Jesse Tree as well, uh, working with my own following on social media in order to make sure that the message is reproduced to the greatest of my ability. But yeah, a campaign on what is less than a shoestring budget. While you have two major candidates, both of which brought in nearly a quarter million apiece, represents a significant issue.
PRENTICE: Well, talk about pushing back against that. What is working… or what will work for you to push back against a lot of advertising?
EVANS: Most of it is, is making sure that people understand that there is another choice. Working on making sure the message to get out and vote is key. Making sure that those people who are dissatisfied with the progress represented under the last four years with regards to the Supreme Court of the United States decision in Dobbs, how that's affected laws, legislation and health care here in the state of Idaho. What it represents to individual autonomy and personal rights, especially with regards to the Covid lockdowns. The idea that we actually are more interested in expanding the jail during a time of one of the lowest violent crime incident rates in Boise's history. I think we definitely need to make sure that it is time for the people to actually stand up and recognize that right now, the defenders of liberty exist. With our libraries, with our school boards, and with our city councils. As far as individual autonomy rights. In making sure that those people who are in charge. The people we assign to be stewards of our resources, take the job seriously, and respect our rights as individuals.
PRENTICE: He is Joe Evans, and his climb is to be the next mayor for the city of Boise. Mr. Evans, best of luck to you and thanks for giving us some time this morning.
EVANS: Thank you, George. It's been a great opportunity. Thank you.
Find reporter George Prentice on X @georgepren
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