35 Facts About Lauren McLean

Lauren Stein McLean was born on October 20,1974 and is an American politician and entrepreneur currently serving as the mayor of Boise, Idaho.

Lauren McLean lived in Houston, Texas and Cazenovia, New York, before moving to Boise, Idaho in 1998.

Lauren McLean married her high school sweetheart, Scott, and they have two children.

Mayor Lauren McLean graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame in 1997.

Lauren McLean led the successful Boise Foothills Open Space Levy campaign in 2001 as well.

Lauren McLean then served on the Boise City Council from 2011 to 2019, and served as the Council President from 2017 to 2019.

In 2019, Lauren McLean was elected as the 56th mayor of Boise, becoming the first woman to hold this position.

Lauren McLean serves on the board of governors of the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University.

Lauren McLean is a member of the Boise City Planning and Zoning Association and Boise Parks Commission.

Lauren McLean is working alongside Andrew Lofton, who is the Housing and Urban Development Northwest Regional Administrator to create plans on how to combat the increase of population.

In 2021, citizens protested when Lauren McLean supported the sale of the Murgoitio park to use for the creation for more housing units.

Lauren McLean announced the formation of a Climate Action Division, which intends to ensure Boise is climate proficient and that the state can mitigate climate-related economic issues.

Lauren McLean learned of problems officers had with Lee through officers sending reviews to HR.

Lauren McLean discussed how having a clear place for officers to bring their complaints is necessary.

Lauren McLean stated that she knew of these issues and had a third party to come and review the complaints.

Lauren McLean received the information from the third party and found that no laws were broken; however, systematic issues needed to be addressed.

The third-party requested Lauren McLean put Lee on paid leave, which Lauren McLean did not do.

Lauren McLean explained that since it was an investigation and not a charge, she chose not to place him on leave.

Lauren McLean stated that her decision was based on Dennison's understanding of trust between police and the community it serves.

In July 2022, Lauren McLean proposed a resolution to the Boise City Council to limit public safety resources going into investigating doctors who perform abortions and individuals who receive that healthcare, unless the pregnancy was caused in response to force implicated on the impregnated individual.

Since neither Bieter nor Lauren McLean had surpassed the 50 percent vote threshold required to claim victory, the two competed in a runoff election held on December 3,2019.

Lauren McLean won with 65.5 percent of the vote to Bieter's 34.5 percent.

Lauren 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.

Lauren McLean ran for reelection in 2023, for which she was the incumbent candidate for mayor.

Lauren McLean ran against former Boise police chief for ten years Mike Masterson.

Lauren McLean had very powerful donors raising over $388,000 for her campaign.

Lauren McLean had about 55,000 donors with the majority of them being a slate of developers, labor unions and other prominent Democrats.

Lauren McLean had received more votes for herself in 2023 than she did in 2019, by over 10,000 and 3,000 more than in the runoff election in 2019.

On July 1,2020, Lauren 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.

Lauren 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, Lauren McLean issued a mask mandate and closed public facilities.

Lauren McLean announced Idaho's votes in the roll call at the 2020 Democratic National Convention where she promoted the city's efforts to combat global warming.

Lauren McLean appointed Christopher Dennison as the new Chief of Police, and he was officially sworn in on August 27,2024.

Lauren McLean's appointment followed Mayor McLean asking the former chief, Ryan Lee, to step down in 2022 following numerous complaints made against him.

Lauren McLean appointed Nicki Hellenkamp as director of homelessness and housing policy.