We sit down with Senator Codi Galloway to trace a path from classroom to small business to the Idaho Senate, and we use that lens to tackle three urgent pressures in Boise and beyond: public safety and homelessness, foster care, and the cost and speed of building homes. The through-line is simple and powerful—clear standards, faster processes, and compassion that actually helps.

Codi was born in Panama City, Florida, raised in Ada County, and earned a BA in education from Brigham Young University.  She spent three years teaching in public schools and then founded a talent-development school in Meridian, Idaho.  That background—teaching, entrepreneurship, hands‐on education—shapes how she approaches policy: practical, accountable, grounded in real-world work.

Now serving in the Idaho Senate (after earlier service in the House) for District 15, she brings that teacher-turned-small-business mindset into a part-time legislature that still “moves mountains” of bills each session.  

Here’s how her story connects to three of the major issues facing Boise today:

• Public safety & homelessness.
  • With her classroom and business experience, Codi emphasizes that approaches which protect dignity and foster opportunity win out over purely symbolic action. She talks about small statutory tweaks that save schools money—like permitting minivans instead of expensive buses for smaller student groups—and how that principle scales: allow flexibility, reduce cost, deliver value. Then we turn to encampments: how can Boise keep its parks and river-path systems open and safe while also ensuring the unhoused aren’t left out in the cold? Codi argues for pairing shelter capacity and treatment with consistent enforcement—not to criminalize poverty, but to set a floor of dignity and access the whole community can support.
• Foster care & child‐first reforms.
  • As someone with a strong background in education and youth development, Codi looks at foster care through the lens of stability, relational bonds, and timeliness. We examine reforms to speed permanency—tightening court timelines, better supporting stable caregivers, and honoring the bonds children form when they have consistent adults in their lives.
• Housing affordability & building speed.
  • Here her business mindset comes into play: “time is money” in construction. Permits that take months, inspections that restart the clock—these slow the supply of housing and drive up rents and mortgages. Codi has championed practical fixes like video re-inspections and clearer, faster responses from city departments so builders can add supply without sacrificing safety. The idea: reduce friction in process so homes get built faster and costs don’t spiral for families and workers.

We wrap with a call to expand re-entry opportunities: targeted training, employer partnerships, and a supportive runway that prevents people from slipping back into homelessness or instability.

If you care about safer streets, stronger families, and homes people can afford, this conversation offers grounded answers and proof that small changes add up. Subscribe, share with a friend who cares about Boise’s future, and leave a review with th

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