David H. Bieter

David Harold Bieter (born November 1, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as mayor of Boise from 2004 to 2020. He is the longest-serving mayor in the city's history. According to The New York Times, he was the only Basque-speaking mayor in the United States as of 2012. His father, Pat Bieter, was also a local politician who served in the Idaho House of Representatives. Early life and education Born in Boise, Bieter graduated from Bishop Kelly High School in 1978. He was third of five children born to Pat Bieter (born 1930) and Eloise Garmendia Bieter (born 1925). Pat was a Midwesterner of German descent; Eloise was the daughter of immigrants from the Basque region of Spain. A teacher and college professor, Pat became active in Boise's Basque community and started the Basque studies program at Boise State University, taking 75 students, seven faculty, and his wife and five children to live in the Franco-era Basque Country for the 1974–75 academic year, when David was a freshman in high school. Pat and Eloise Bieter died in an automobile accident in 1999. Bieter earned a bachelor's degree in international studies from University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and a Juris Doctor from the University of Idaho College of Law in Moscow.