It was a full house at the AFL-CIO Labor Temple on Wednesday night as around 40 people attended the Candidates Forum sponsored by the Nez Perce County Democrats to listen to and ask questions of the candidates for Mayor and City Council ahead of next Tuesday’s election.
Pete Gertonson, Chairman of the Nez Perce County Democrats, welcomed the audience, the candidates, and acted as moderator for the forum.
The Forum was livestreamed on Zoom and several people joined. A recording of the Zoom session was made and posted to the YouTube channel of the North Idaho Democratic Coalition. You can see the video at https://youtu.be/PMlG_sUCWmo. The notes below include timing marks in that video.
Discussion of the Infrastructure Bond
(Begins at 00:02:00)
After the assembly recited the Pledge of Allegiance, the 90 minute session began with a presentation by Shannon Grow, Lewiston Community Development Director and Dustin Johnson, Lewiston Public Works Director, about the infrastructure bond issue on the ballot.
The proposed $22,545,000 bond is proposed to fund upgrades to water and sewer pipes in downtown Lewiston. They stressed that repayment of the bond will be done with annual budget appropriations from the city’s general fund and existing annual utility and tax revenues, as well as from grant funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. No property tax or utility increases are anticipated.
Questions from the audience concerned possible cost increases and how these would be addressed. Dustin stressed that the scope of the project could be adjusted (“dialed back”) if estimated costs increase. Should a tax increase become necessary in future years, the estimated cost to taxpayers would be $30.47 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value in the first year. This amount would be reduced over the course of the 30 year bond’s life.
According to Dustin Johnson, this represents a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to fix a number of issues that have accumulated over the years.
Q&A with the Mayoral Candidates
(Begins at 00:20:30)
Next up were Mayor Dan Johnson and Darlene Lambert, the two candidates running for Lewiston mayor. Both briefly introduced themselves and then took questions from the audience.
Mayor Johnson noted in his introduction that he was pleased to see a diverse audience, with both Democrats and Republicans in attendance.
Audience questions covered a range of topics including:
- Support for the infrastructure bond. Both candidates support the project, but Lambert does not agree with the bond. When asked, she could not elaborate on alternative methods of funding the project.
- Whether a city administrator should be hired. Johnson was in favor, saying that an administrator could free the mayor from doing time-consuming activities like HR and administrative tasks. Lambert opposed the position.
- What is the city’s role in helping the homeless population? Lambert suggested that effort should be delegated to “other groups”, but did not specify which ones. Johnson pointed to actions already taken like making changes to city codes to allow warming shelters and transitional housing for young adults, increasing incentives within the community development department, and direct involvement by law enforcement.
- What can be done to address the shortage of affordable housing? Johnson noted that this is a tough problem at the state and national level He emphasized actions that create a more business-friendly environment so developers and landlords will invest. Lambert suggested incentivizing landlords and property owners to encourage rentals.
Q&A with the City Council Candidates
(Begins at 00:51:15)
Six of the seven candidates for City Council attended the meeting: Bob Blakey, Kassee Forsman, Linda Glines, Brennan Leafy, Bryan Moree, and Matthew Wright. Andrea Ackerland did not attend.
After each candidate introduced themself, the audience asked questions. Each candidate had the opportunity to respond to each question. The questions included:
- How will you help the community know what’s happening at city meetings?
- How should the city support entities helping the homeless population?
- How would you work to resolve issues and tensions with the county commission?
Rather than summarize all the responses, we suggest you watch the video.
A Guest Speaker
(Begins at 01:26:00)
In the last five minutes of the scheduled time, Pete invited Representative Lori McCann, the Republican representative for Idaho district 6, to speak to the group.
Rep. McCann said she represented a portion of Lewiston and Nez Perce County, but often heard from people in the area. She welcomed and encouraged people to call her with concerns and talked about how she worked across the aisle to find solutions.. She congratulated the candidates and wished them well in the election.
Wrap Up
Pete thanked Rep. McCann, the candidates, and the audience for attending. He closed the meeting at 8:30:06 – six seconds past the scheduled closing time. Informal conversations between audience members and the candidates continued until around 9:00pm.
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More information about the candidates and the bond issue
- “Lewiston council candidates outline views: A look at Ackerland, Blakey, Forsmann and Glines in Lewiston City Council election”, Lewiston Tribune, October 23, 2025
- “Candidates outline plans for Lewiston council: A look at Leafty, Moree and Wright in Lewiston City Council election”, Lewiston Tribune, October 24, 2025
- “Two candidates for mayor, two differing perspectives”, Lewiston Tribune, October 26, 2025
- “Voters will have their say on Lewiston bond”, Lewiston Tribune, October 31, 2025
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