ADA COUNTY, Idaho — Whether you drive, bike or walk around Ada County, ACHD commissioners make decisions about the roads residents use. This year, the rules about who voters get to vote for have changed.
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Two ACHD commission seats are up for election, and this year's ballot will look a little different.
In the past, voters chose the commissioner running in their own subdistrict. Candidates still represent their individual subdistricts, but now voters across Ada County can weigh in on all Ada County commissioner races.
Julian Brown, a campus captain at Riverstone International School, attended a candidate forum in Boise to learn more about ACHD and become more informed before the election.
“I live right on the Greenbelt, so I bike a lot, and I also commute into Boise for school, so I use the roads as well,” Brown said.
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Brown said events like the candidate forum give voters an opportunity to learn directly from the people seeking office.
“I definitely think it's good to meet candidates and meet the people who are actually in government and not just hear about them from your phone or hear about them from a newspaper,” Brown said.
This is the first time voting will work this way, according to forum moderator Graybeal.
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Brown said he has concerns about people outside of a subdistrict helping choose its commissioner.
“My intuition was, to me, that it’s a bad idea because the traffic that I deal with, I only want people who live in the same district as me and face the same traffic that I do to be dealing with that traffic,” Brown said.
Graybeal also pointed to differences between communities across Ada County.
“I'm interested in seeing how that will work,” Graybeal said. “My personal perspective is that what is impacting Boise and surrounding cities like Meridian and Star may not be what is impacting smaller communities.”
Another change is coming in 2028, when the commissioner position will become partisan.
Luna Olivia with BABE VOTE said she is disappointed by that change.
“The fact that in the future these positions will be partisan, I think is really disappointing because this office has nothing to do with partisanship, and it really should be about people who care about the roads and safe pathways,” Olivia said.
You can learn more about each candidate by checking out the links below:
ACHD Commissioner District 3 Candidates:
ACHD Commissioner District 4 Candidates:
See all candidates' Declaration of Candidacy
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
