Lauren Stein McLean (born October 20, 1974) is an American politician and entrepreneur serving as the mayor of

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

. McLean served as a member of the Boise City Council from 2011 to 2019, and as council president from 2017 to 2019, before defeating Mayor Dave Bieter in the 2019 mayoral election.

Early life and education

McLean was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, and raised in Houston, Texas, and Cazenovia, New York. McLean received her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

in 1997 and a Master of Public Administration in environmental policy from

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...

in 2001.

Career

McLean serves on the board of governors of the Andrus Center for Public Policy at

. She is also a member of the Boise City Planning and Zoning Association and Boise Parks Commission.

Mayor

2019 election

McLean was a candidate in the 2019 Boise mayoral election, running against incumbent Dave Bieter, former mayor H. Brent Coles, and others. Since neither Bieter nor McLean had surpassed the 50 percent vote threshold required to claim victory, the two competed in a runoff election held on December 3, 2019. McLean won with 65.5 percent of the vote to Bieter's 34.5 percent. The mayor's office is a nonpartisan position, though McLean is a registered

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. McLean is the first woman elected to the office, and the second to serve as Boise mayor after Carolyn Terteling-Payne, who served briefly on an interim basis from 2003 to 2004. McLean was inaugurated on January 7, 2020. Boise Mayor Lauren McLean

Tenure

On July 1, 2020, McLean presided over the swearing-in of Boise's new police chief, Ryan Lee, who had been confirmed to the position by the Boise City Council. The ceremony took place the day following a Boise

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

rally. McLean does not support defunding the police to divert funds to social services. In response to a question about her position, she stated that "We have to have a safe city if we’re going to have a city where everyone can thrive. I’m in full support of our police department." McLean has stated that she supports increasing funding for social services while maintaining funding for the police department. McLean announced in March 2020 that April rents in city-owned public housing would be forgiven, and that during the same period the city would place a moratorium on evictions from public rental housing. In November 2020, in response to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases and occupied hospital beds, McLean issued a mask mandate and closed public facilities. In response to the mask mandate, there were protests outside McLean's residence, in addition to a mask-burning ceremony. The city of Boise announced in January 2021 that public facilities would expand services beginning on February 1, 2021. McLean noted that "We have seen a steady hold in cases the last couple weeks and our city is here to serve the public." McLean announced Idaho's votes in the roll call at the

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...

where she also promoted the city's efforts to combat global warming.

Personal life

McLean and her husband Scott have two children.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLean, Lauren Living people 1974 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Boise State University alumni Idaho Democrats Mayors of Boise, Idaho Politicians from Boston Women mayors of places in Idaho University of Notre Dame alumni People from Houston People from Cazenovia, New York