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Ada Redistricting Could Spawn Commish Rivalry

The potential for some Ada County political fireworks and intrigue were opened up with the latest state redistricting plans.

Ada was cleanly divided into nine legislative districts based on population and will likely remain unchanged. That makes a perfect fit for the Ada Commishes to each take three legislative districts to form the three county districts.

Now, here comes the intrigue and potential fireworks. The Commishes could decide to put Sharon Ullman and Vern Bisterfeldt in the SAME district since they are both up for re election. Vern has the historic edge with over 50 years of public service as a Boise copper and city councilor as well as former Ada Commish.

Ullman has a solid working knowledge of the commission and has worked hard on several projects including preventative health care services. It is no secret the two tolerate each other, but don’t play nice together. She favors the proposed Dynamis trash to energy project, he is opposed and wants the $2 million the county paid to Dynamis returned.

The next question is, “do they both run for Vern’s four-year seat or Sharon’s two-year seat?” The terms of office are staggered to prevent a total turnover at any given election. If Ullman and Bisterfeldt are put into a grudge match ultimate fighter cage, that means there will be an empty seat.

Former copper, chief, drug czar and city councilor Jim Tibbs isn’t currently in public office and his name has surfaced in GUARDIAN circles.

Supremes Refuse Republican Speaker Case

In a terse four sentence decision, the Idaho Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed a law suit filed by Idaho House Speaker Lawrence Denney and Republican party chair Norm Semanko over their attempt to fire members of the redistricting commission.

Chief Justice Roger Burdick signed the order which said, in a nutshell, the parties seeking relief failed to show a right to that relief.

We really like to see “instant justice” dispensed in a timely and logical manner like that.

Idaho Speaker’s Actions Open Him To Humiliation

The following is a lay opinion from the GUARDIAN.

Idaho House Speaker Lawrence Denney’s decision to file legal action in the Idaho Supreme Court against Secretary of State Ben Ysursa will probably lead to political and personal humiliation.

The speaker has overstepped his bounds in an effort to rid the redistricting commission of a member he deemed not loyal enough to Republican interests.

Denney and his lawyer, Christ T. Troupis have made a fundamental legal blunder–failure to consider the SEPARATION OF POWERS doctrine. Our system of government has LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE, and JUDICIAL branches to create a “balance of power.”

Denney thinks he has appointed Dolores Crow to the reapportionment commission. He has not. He “nominated or designated” her, but the authority to convene the commission clearly lies with the Secretary of State. Same holds true for Republican party boss Norm Semanko. He suggested Randy Hansen be a member of the panel, but Semanko is without authority to appoint anyone.

The law requires the commission to file its report with the Secretary, not the legislature. In short it is his duty, not that of the legislative branch or a political party hack who has no official capacity in ANY government branch.

Since Denney and crew wrongly claim the authority to “appoint,” they certainly would have no authority to “dismiss” any members.

The law also prohibits any member from running for office for 5 years after serving. Lobbyists, and former legislators within two years of holding office are also banned from serving.

It would be counter intuitive to give a sitting politician the authority APPOINT or DISMISS any member to a redistricting panel. They can “suggest” but the authority to actually appoint members lies with the Secretary of State. Based on the opinion of the Attorney General, no one can fire or dismiss members–there is no provision in the law to do so.

Idaho Legislative Control May Be Worse Than Most Realize

Our sister blog, the CALDWELL GUARDIAN, has posted an interesting initiative from the neighboring state of Montana.

Folks there are tired of the behavior of their legislators and seek to change the constitution to prevent legislators from changing or repealing laws passed by voters.

We Idahoans have passed both term limits and a 1% property tax limit that have been ignored and repealed by the legislature. Voters have a short memory however because there was no major backlash at the arrogant move following an Idaho Supreme Court decision that declared “laws passed by the citizens are no different than those passed by the legislature–the legislature has authority to repeal either.”

To make it even worse, unlike Montana, citizen voters in Idaho cannot even petition to amend the constitution. Only the legislature has that right. They can pass an amendment with a two-thirds approval of both houses and a simple majority of voters. Voters have no similar right to force a vote on any constitutional issue.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Article III, section 4, of The Constitution of the State of Montana is amended to read:
“Section 4. Initiative. (1) The people may enact laws by initiative on all matters except appropriations of money and local or special laws. Continue reading here…

Williston, N. Dakota — Growthophobe Heaven

The following list has been circulating on the internet with several copies being directed to the GUARDIAN since it is prime fodder for our GROWTHOPHOBE philosophy and followers.

We talked to a Williams County, ND Deputy who not only confirmed the accuracy of the data, but told us, “We have a fair number of people from your area working here as well.”

Politicos take note: Your wishes may come true…be careful about what you wish for!
A meeting was held of the ND Sheriff’s & Deputies Association in Bismarck, as part of this meeting we had an opportunity to sit down with Law Enforcement from western ND to discuss what they are going through with oil impact. Here is a summary of 34 points made:
1. Currently there are a total of 84 companies involved in the oil industry in western ND.
2. It takes between 2000 and 2200 semi loads of water per well. Currently there are 258 wells in progress with so many scheduled it is hard to determine the exact amount.
3. Traffic accidents, especially fatal traffic accidents are of very high concern. At one location on Highway 85 south of Williston, a traffic count was conducted in October of 2011. In one 24 hour period of time there where 29,000 vehicle through the intersection looked at with 60% of the traffic being semi’s.
4. Traffic is typically backed up for ½ to ¾ of a mile. One of the guys stated that one day last week he sat at an intersection on Highway 85 for about 30 minutes to get a big enough opening to cross over. Continue reading here…