Patricia Nilsson

Commissioner
District 1

Patricia Nilsson was elected to the ACHD Commission in 2024. Born at Otis AFB in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, moved around the country as a member of a military family. She earned a B.A. in Political Science and a double major in Forestry and Wildlife from Virginia Tech. Patricia began her career in land use planning in Charlottesville, Virginia, and later moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she managed the award-winning comprehensive plan, Landscapes, and the county's open space acquisition grant program. In 1996, she moved to Boise, Idaho, and served as Ada County's long-range planner, where she rewrote the county zoning ordinance and worked at COMPASS as a transportation planner. She later joined Boise City and then finished her career as the Director of Development Services for Canyon County. Patricia is an active member and past president of the Boise Sunrise Rotary Club, volunteers at the United Way of the Treasure Valley, and at a local hospital. She is a past president and recent board member of the APA Idaho chapter.

Alexis Pickering

Commission Vice President
District 2

Alexis Pickering was elected to the ACHD Commission in 2020 and re-elected 2024. Raised in Kooskia, ID, Pickering grew up practicing for track and field along a two-lane, 55 MPH highway that connected her high school to the town core and learned early on the importance of safe routes. She is a graduate of Walla Walla Community College, earning an Associate of Arts in English and Political Science. She moved to Boise to complete her undergraduate degree at Boise State (Go Broncos!), earning her bachelors in English and her masters in Health Policy. Prior to being elected, Pickering served on transportation committees and workgroups, including the COMPASS Active Transportation Workgroup, Rails and Trails Committee, and the ACHD Pedestrian Advisory Group. She currently serves on the Valley Regional Transit Executive Board as Vice-Chair and co-chairs the Traffic Fatality Review Taskforce. She has been recognized as one of the Idaho Business Review's Accomplished Under 40, Women of the Year, and awarded the COMPASS Leadership in Motion Award for an elected official. Pickering is also the Executive Director of Conservation Voters for Idaho, a statewide nonprofit working to protect Idaho's precious water ways, clean air, and public lands. She lives in Boise with her husband and son.

Miranda Gold

Commission President
District 3

Miranda Gold was elected to the ACHD Commission in 2022. She was born and raised in Twin Falls, Idaho. She earned a B.S. in Anthropology from Texas State University before returning to her home state to begin raising a family in Eagle, Idaho. Gold won the election to the Eagle City Council in 2017, where she served as a Councilmember, Council President, and liaison to several boards and commissions. She also served as Treasurer and Commissioner to the Eagle Urban Renewal Agency. During her time as an Eagle City Councilmember, she successfully advocated across agencies for improved bike and pedestrian infrastructure, safe routes to school, multi-modal transportation, and increased public transit access. She continues to advocate for these priorities as Commissioner for District 3. She currently serves on the COMPASS Board, COMPASS Executive Committee, Neighbors United Transportation Committee, Downtown Boise Association, and as President of the Commission. She lives in Boise with her husband and two school-aged sons.

Kent Goldthorpe

Commissioner
District 4

Kent Goldthorpe was elected to the ACHD Commission in November 2014 and re-elected in 2018 and 2022. Goldthorpe has lived in Idaho for 50 years and is an avid outdoorsman. He studied biology and business at the University of Utah. Goldthorpe has also held various capacities within the Republican Party, was a Meridian Parks & Recreation Commissioner, served as a Board Member for Idaho DECA, and was Chairman of the Southwest Idaho Postal Customer Council. He served as Chairman of the ADA County Air Quality Board in 2016 and as Director from 2017-2019. Goldthorpe has also served on the boards of COMPASS and Valley Regional Transit. He has volunteered extensively as a leader in the Boy Scouts of America.  Commissioner Goldthorpe is the only commissioner to have obtained both the "Road Scholar" as well as "Road Master" professional designations. While on the Commission, he has served twice as its President. The Commissioner and his wife, Rina, have seven children and twenty-four grandchildren.

Dave McKinney

Commissioner
District 5

Dave McKinney was elected to the ACHD Commission in 2020 and reelected in 2024. McKinney holds a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in highway and transportation engineering and a law degree. He initially moved to the Treasure Valley in 1991 and began his engineering career designing and building highways, bridges, and other infrastructure projects for ACHD, ITD, and other government and private entities, earning his Professional Engineer’s license in 1995. McKinney left Idaho to attend law school and returned in 2012. Since 1998 he has practiced law as a registered patent attorney in Utah and Idaho and has remained involved in public affairs and transportation matters as a Planning & Zoning Commissioner in Utah, and as a member of the Meridian Transportation Commission prior to joining the ACHD Commission.

Contact the Commission