McLean picks successor to Boise City Council member who resigned

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean has chosen a member of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission to replace former City Council member Holli Woodings, who resigned.

McLean on Thursday named Meredith Stead to fill the rest of Woodings’ term representing District 5, which covers the East End, parts of the North End, neighborhoods around Boise State University and Barber Valley.

Stead, 41, is already running in the November election. Woodings told the Idaho Statesman in July that she endorses Stead.

Woodings, elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021 to a two-year term, resigned in July to relocate to Washington, D.C. where she bought a home with her husband, Ryan Woodings, the Statesman previously reported. A Democrat, Woodings was the council’s latest president when she stepped down.

Stead will be sworn in before the next City Council meeting on Tuesday, McLean said in a news release. Her term will end Jan. 9.

“Meredith’s deep commitment to volunteer service, community partnerships and experience with land use issues and economic development makes her my choice for the seat,” McLean said. “Meredith comes to council with a solid understanding of the issues we’re facing as a city, especially as we navigate the future design of our city.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Stead also will be appointed to the board of the Harris Ranch Community Improvement District, which is comprised of City Council members.

Stead has been on the Planning and Zoning Commission since 2018 and was its chair for two years. She works in marketing in the corporate office of Albertsons Cos. in Boise.

“Meredith and her husband, Tommy, are travel enthusiasts who love coming home to Boise to play in the Foothills with their dog, Lulu,” the release said.

Six Boiseans applied to fill the vacancy, the mayor’s office disclosed Aug. 2: Crispin Gravatt, Jeremy Gugino, George Haaland, Julia Robinson, Gordon Rounson and Stead. McLean then interviewed three finalists: Stead, Gravatt and Gugino.

Gravatt ran unsuccessfully for the District 5 seat in the 2021 election. Gugino, former communications director for Reclaim Idaho, is running for the District 5 seat. Reclaim Idaho is the organization that spearheaded expanding Medicaid in the state.

The membership of the City Council has been in flux in recent months. Former member Lisa Sánchez lost her seat in January, and long-time Council President Elaine Clegg resigned in March to lead the local public transit agency.

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