Affordable housing in Idaho Falls: Where do city council candidates stand?

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Idaho Falls voters will be choosing their city council members on November 7th.

Three seats are up for re-election, and two of those are contested. Stephanie Lucas spoke with candidates Seats 3 and 5.

One of the more pressing questions for the candidates is the skyrocketing costs of housing. We asked, should the city get involved, and if so, how?

"I'm not sure the city has much influence on the price of real estate. I don't think we you know, a city council can do much with that. There are some other mechanisms that they can utilize. It's a fine line to walk between intervening in the market. I'm a firm believer in a free market system," said Kirk Larsen, a candidate for Seat 3.

"No, the city should not get involved," said Barbara Miller, also a candidate for Seat 3, "I think the government, in general, has done more than enough to create this problem and to create this city with this situation."

Dawna Howard, candidate for Seat 5, said, "I think the city can get involved in lowering tax bases and they need to slow down on all of the building and all of the high rises in apartments because they're not being filled by us."

Seat 5 incumbent Dave Radford said, "There needs to be a role for the city. And that role is not to get into the marketplace and kind of dictate anything, but what role the city should play is being a coordinator of efforts so that we can bring in the nonprofit sector and the work that they're doing to help people who have needs."

Full interviews with the candidates will be up on our website soon.