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Former Boise City Employee To Run For ACHD
June 18, 2014 
As predicted in a June 5 GUARDIAN POST Team Dave has found a candidate for the Ada County Highway District commission.
Long time city middle management employee and former Ada County Commish Paul Woods has announced he will run for the north Ada County District 3 seat held by John Franden, who is retiring. We know him to be a dedicated and competent person as well as a genuine “nice guy.” He is also a Northender sympathetic to Mayor Dave Bieter’s politics.
His chances of election are pretty good because he only has to be the top vote getter among a mere 20% of county voters. The GUARDIAN long opposed the fact 80% of citizens cannot vote for the commissioners who vote on 100% of the budget and policies of ACHD. Only those who live within the various districts can vote for a single commissioner.
“The citizens of north Ada County from Boise to Star have diverse transportation needs,” Woods said in a press release. “My candidacy is to be a commissioner who can work collaboratively to address the critical issues facing our roadways,” says Woods.
He is a registered professional engineer and holds a master’s degree in public administration from Boise State University.
He worked as the city’s Foothills open space manager from 2002 to 2006 and its public works environmental division manager from 2009 to 2013. After he lost his bid for re-election to the Ada County Commission, he had a job waiting in the Bieter Administration at the city. He currently works in private practice as a consultant.
The ACHD Commission has five members who serve four-year terms. Commission seats are nonpartisan and do not appear on the primary ballot in May.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Jun 19, 2014, 3:34 am
As you say, dividing the County into districts is a mixed blessing and reduces the number of votes necessary in each race in an already notoriously low turn-out election, which is unfortunate in the extreme. That said, at least his candidacy is that of a reasonable person and one of good qualifications. Would that all offices at all races would draw such candidates.
Jun 19, 2014, 6:39 am
Uh, Frandon voted in favor of the downtown bike lane demo project and voted in favor of extending the project. How could Woods be any more in the Bieter Camp?
Jun 19, 2014, 9:01 am
“He had a job waiting for him in the Bieter Administration” AND he accepted it.
I think says enough about him.
Jun 19, 2014, 1:40 pm
Paul is a superior candidate for ACHD…independent thinker (likely generally philosophically compatible w/ Bieter but certainly no one’s puppet), exceptionally bright, unfailingly honest with facts and his opinions, as well as accessible and a good listener.
This is good news!
And, while I didn’t always agree w/ John Franden’s votes, he’s a truly fine person and was an excellent commissioner, who likewise listened, considered all angles, was accessible and, given additional information, was known to change his mind on some issues. ACHD will miss him.
Jun 19, 2014, 1:42 pm
I know this is a part-time job, but it looks like Mr Woods has many part-time jobs of the government type.
District Manager of Ada Soil & Water Conservation District
http://adaswcd.org/about-ada-swcd/staff
Executive Director of Boise River Flood Control District #10
http://www.boiseriver.org/paul-woods-executive-director.html
His qualifications and experience should be great for this elected position, hopefully he has the time.
Jun 19, 2014, 2:10 pm
He need to recuse himself from any decisions related to the city of Boise… or any of his other responsibilities.
Jun 19, 2014, 9:49 pm
Zippo take the tin foil off your head.
Jun 20, 2014, 9:47 pm
This guy sounds rock solid and I hope he wins.
Jun 21, 2014, 2:42 pm
For all you you drinking the Bieter kool aid it’s time to sit back and look at the facts. Bieter has openly said he wants to stack the deck at ACHD to get his way. He has long tried to disband ACHD to no avail so now he is out to change it from within. Paul is as big a puppet as they come. He was a puppet at the county commission level and had a nice cushy job waiting for him when he lost his re election campaign. If you want Boise calling the shots with your county money then by all means vote for him. I am amazed at how many of you have the blinders on with regards to Woods. He is the last person I would vote for!!!!
Jun 24, 2014, 1:07 pm
to Snoop: Paul Woods was no puppet as an Ada County Commissioner, and I challenge you to show facts supporting your position. He always voted his conscience, although he also tried to make sure everyone operated cooperatively, even when there were disagreements. I think he will make a great ACHD Commissioner.
Jun 26, 2014, 9:56 am
I know nothing about this guy except he seems to be a life long politician. If that is true he is beholdin to a number of people and will most likely be swayed by them. Not a slam on him…a slam on public officials in general.