I serve to ensure that Meridian remains a safe community built around families.
Robert Simison
Mayor Robert Simison
Born and raised in Pocatello, Idaho, Mayor Robert Simison graduated from Whitman College with a degree in history and has spent his life focused on advancing policy priorities at the local and national level. Mayor Simison’s service to Meridian began in 2007 after he worked at the Nation’s Capital, and he has been a champion for common sense policy solutions to address community challenges.
Elected Mayor of Meridian in 2019, Mayor Simison focuses on meeting the needs of residents by delivering premier services to the public and improving the transportation network, while ensuring that Meridian remains a safe community built around families.
Under the leadership of Mayor Simson, road projects such as the Linder Road overpass have been advanced, as well as the building of two new fire stations and a police precinct set to open in 2023. Additionally, the Meridian Police Department has implemented a Crisis Intervention Team, added School Resource Officers dedicated to elementary schools, and expanded its focus on drug prevention efforts. Mayor Simison is also focused on enhancing services for families to live, work and play. This includes the expansion of Discovery Park, and investments at the Lakeview Golf Club and the Meridian Pool.
Mayor Simison is a lifelong Republican and active professionally in Meridian, Idaho and nationally. Along with several board roles as Mayor locally, Mayor Simison served on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation from 2020-2023 under Presidential appointment in 2020. He has been actively engaged with the Meridian Chamber of Commerce for over 15 years and is a board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Idaho.
Mayor Simison and his wife Jenny, along with their three children, Ethan, Natalie, and Ryan, live in south Meridian and enjoy skiing together throughout Idaho each winter.
Meridian is all about family. We pride ourselves on being the premier community to raise our families, which is reflected in our investment in our city parks and emphasis on public safety. Our focus is on meeting the needs of families, which means having job opportunities so people can work and live here. Meridian is a safe community where grandparents want to move to be closer to their family. It’s where the family unit and family values are strong that makes the community as a whole strong. I serve to ensure that Meridian remains a safe community built around families.
Growth is here. And growth is good and healthy for the economy and region when done correctly. But it must be responsible. As we have grown for the last couple of decades some infrastructure gaps in our community have been created that we need to address so we can remain connected and thriving.
We need to grow responsibly together as a community. Our vision is to be a premier, while maintaining our small-town feel that is so important to those who call Meridian home. Many have worked hard to maintain this balance, which is why listening to our residents and following the Comprehensive Plan updated in 2019 is so important.
At the same time, we need to address traffic and our roads to make it safer and easier for the more than 125,000 people who live in Meridian today to get from point A to point B. This will require improved roads, connected sidewalks, expanded pathways, accessible libraries, and schools that are not overcrowded.
I believe leadership is action, and I’m an achiever. As your Mayor I take on the responsibility for all aspects of Meridian in order to meet the expectations of the community related to roads, schools and more. Together we can take action to address the challenges we face and give residents a greater voice in our City.
I am grateful for the opportunity to serve you in this role. Together we will keep our family values strong and make sure we grow responsibly as a community.