It’s official: Sánchez inadvertently loses Boise City Council seat, ‘as much as it hurts’

Council Member Lisa Sánchez has lost her seat on the Boise City Council after moving out of her district.

“As much as it hurts, Lisa is no longer a qualified elector in her district, which means that she has vacated her seat under Idaho state law,” Council President Holli Woodings told the Idaho Statesman on Friday.

Tuesday’s council meeting started 20 minutes late, and then-Council President Elaine Clegg abruptly announced that Sánchez may no longer be a resident of her district, District 3, which covers Northwest Boise and the North End.

In November 2022, Sánchez, who is a renter, told the Statesman that her lease in the North End was not being renewed, and that she would have to move. The new address she moved to is two blocks outside of District 3, Woodings said.

Sánchez did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

”I was shocked to be told shortly before tonight’s council meeting that my residency may be in question,” she tweeted on Tuesday. “I have acted in good faith,” adding that she had consulted with Boise and Ada County Elections staff members about her impending move.

“I hope this situation will be resolved swiftly so that I may continue my work on behalf of the City of Boise,” she wrote.

According to public records obtained by the Statesman, Sánchez wrote to the Ada County Elections office in November, saying she did “not want to risk losing my seat on the Boise City Council due to some sort of technicality.” She added that she might be moving in with a friend.

“I need to know the exact steps that I need to take to maintain good standing as the Boise City Council member who was elected from District 3 in November 2021,” she wrote.

Four days later, she wrote back to an elections official, saying that she had “secured housing for myself within my district.”

According to online voter records, Sánchez has not yet updated her registration with a new address.

For the first time this year, all council members in Boise will be elected by geographic district, per state law. In 2021, three council members, including Sánchez, were elected by district as the city transitioned to the new system. But, though Sánchez was already elected to represent a geographic district, the district boundaries were redrawn this year by a citizens commission, and the lines have changed.

Sánchez’s new address is inside of what will be District 6 come November, Woodings said. District 6 will cover much the same area as District 3 does now, but its borders have extended further south, below State Street.

“The whole thing’s really confusing,” Woodings said, noting that the City Council had consulted with Boise lawyers and the Secretary of State’s Office. “We have old districts, we have new districts.”

Under Idaho law, a vacancy occurs when an incumbent ceases to be a resident of the district in which the “duties of his office are to be exercised.”

What happens next?

Woodings, whom the council on Tuesday elected as its president for 2023, said that it has not yet been determined what the path forward is.

Woodings said it is possible Sánchez could be appointed to fill an upcoming vacancy, if the law allows it.

Council Member Elaine Clegg will likely step down sometime this year, as she will become CEO of Valley Regional Transit in February. Clegg’s seat is still at-large. That might mean that Sanchez could fill it until the term ends at the end of 2023.

To represent a district, a person must have been a resident for a minimum of 30 days, Woodings said.

“I dont think (Sánchez’s move) was intentional at all, and Lisa was a duly elected official by her district, so we’re really trying to figure out a way that the will of the voters in that district can be respected,” Woodings said.

Woodings added that the council plans to operate “within the law,” and will “hopefully have a path forward soon.”

On Friday evening, Sánchez tweeted a photo of herself, writing “Happy Friday the 13th from District 3!”

On a table in the background, a sheet of paper is visible that reads, “Fixed-Term Residential Lease.”

Reporter Alex Brizee contributed.