Boise Mayor Will Have To Answer For Lack Of Leadership This Year
It's too bad recall efforts don't work in Idaho. Remember the actions during Covid to recall Governor Little and Boise Mayor Lauren McLean? Those campaigns needed to attract the required signatures to make a leadership course correction in Boise and the state.
Even Governor Little's sharpest critics will admit that he avoids creating issues that can solve in private rather than taking them public. If only the mayor of Idaho's largest city had half the political skills of Idaho's governor.
However, the Boise mayor is on a crusade to 'clean up' the Boise police department. Her misguided efforts continue to erode her limited credibility among the voting public. The mayor spent over $500,000 to pay an east coast attorney to investigate the police department concerning one retired officer's social media posts.
The mayor could've allowed the police to investigate and asked the Ada County Prosecutor's Office or the Idaho Attorney General to conduct a look at the Boise Police Department. Mayor McLean accused all the police officers of having white supremacist views and urged them to leave the force. We know of no evidence that substantiates her claims.
Boise Mayor's Big Moments Exposed
Mayor McLean had to 'ask' her handpicked choice for the chief to resign after an embarrassing report from Channel 7. She gave him a nice golden parachute of around $150,000 to leave town. No one has disputed the KTVB report, including the mayor. However, she refused to fire Ryan Lee. The Boise mayor had no problem firing Boise's Office of Police Accountability Director, Jesus Jara, this month.
The mayor accused Mr. Jara of violating citizens' privacy rights by watching police body cam footage in real time. However, another report from KTVB shows that Mr. Jara was acting within the instructions given to him by the mayor's chief of staff through an email. It looks like Mr. Jara will be suing the city for wrongful termination.
Is This Any Way To Run A City?
The answer is a resounding NO! Mayor McLean ran on a platform pledging to be a mayor who listens. The mayor has not listened to the voters and certainly has yet to listen to her law enforcement officers. She has yet to answer to the double standard involving Jara's firing and Lee's resignation. Boise deserves a leader who will work with law enforcement and not against it. The voters would do well to find a new one during the next election.