Cliff Hohman

Economy

While the City of Nampa has their own plans for controlling growth in the city, a coordinated effort within the entire region would be helpful to everyone in the community. Working together, we can study and plan how best to let the Treasure Valley grow in a way that’s beneficial without causing headaches. Learn more

Growth isn’t inherently good or bad, but it does mean changes and challenges, whether we like it or not. We will be best served by planning for our growth as best we can. Letting developers and businesses just do whatever they like, without any sort of plan, can lead to all kinds of problems. We need to think about and plan for land use, housing, transportation, even water… we do live on the edge of the desert, after all. Learn more

Education

We need to invest in our future, and that means investing in our children and their education. Our schools need quality facilities, happy staff, and safe learning environments. The Nampa School District, in particular, needs our special attention to get them through this transition. That means more funding, and putting a stop to the politicizing of the folks who are just trying to do one of the most important jobs in our community. Learn more

Despite what some political activists claim, our librarians do not stock “pornography” on their shelves. Certainly not in the children’s section. Age-appropriate sex education or medical references are not pornography. Books that acknowledge that gay or trans people exist are not pornography. Hustler magazine is pornography. I trust that you know the difference, and I know our librarians certainly do. These attacks on librarians are not about protecting children or anyone else. They are about intolerance towards the gay and trans community. These attempts to ban books say more about the book-banners than they do about anyone else. Stop the book bans, let the librarians and teachers do their jobs, and leave the “culture wars” out of our libraries. Learn more

Environment / Energy

We can transition all of our power generation to renewable energy. Luckily, we have a head start on this compared to most other states, due to the large amount of hydroelectric power we have access to. Learn more

Healthcare

We need to encourage and support health providers in rural areas. We need to honor the mandate given by Idahoans to expand access to the Medicaid program. And we need to increase access to quality women’s health care, which includes abortion procedures. Learn more

Housing

The increased cost of living for Nampa residents, and all Idahoans, affects all of us, whether we think of ourselves as being on the left, the right, or neither. The biggest chunk of our personal budgets is usually our rent or mortgage, and the cost of housing has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. The economic forces behind this are complicated, as they often are, but basic supply and demand is a big part of it. So, we need to increase the supply of quality, affordable housing in a way that’s responsible and sustainable. Unfortunately, there’s no quick and easy fix for this. Solutions range from incentives for developers, to changing zoning laws, to public-private partnerships. Learn more

We need to study all the options, and choose the most promising ones, regardless of whether it fits with our political ideology. This isn’t a left vs. Right issue. This is about taking care of each other, and helping folks to have the dignity of being able to take care of themselves. Learn more

We can also make it easier for folks to get new housing or to be able to stay in their existing homes. This might mean housing vouchers and rental assistance, stronger renter’s protections, or other direct aid to renters. Learn more

Infrastructure / Transportation

We can improve and expand our electrical infrastructure. We can encourage rooftop solar and energy-efficient buildings. We can encourage electric vehicles. We can work with agriculture and industry to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. Learn more