CCDC

CANDIDATE FORUM: Rachel Misnick On Issues

I’d like to give a thank you to the Boise Guardian for giving me the opportunity to address issues that are important in our community. I just recently discovered your news site and have been reading through the articles and comments, which are echoing my concern of City Council under-representation of the areas outside of downtown Boise. This very reason is a large part of why I decided to enter this race. I’m running for Seat #2 and am the only candidate that doesn’t live just North of downtown, so am trying my best to make sure the outer areas of our city have representation.

My thoughts on the questions posed to me are below, but if anyone wants more information on my thoughts, opinions, or ideas, I welcome and encourage you to contact me either via email at [email protected] or by phone at 208-695-1009.

– Should Boise officials be spending public money and resources on the campaign to attract the F-35?

My short answer to this question is to say no, Boise officials should not be expending resources for the sole purpose of campaigning to attract an F-35 squadron. This type of focus belittles the concerns of residents who would be most affected by the additional noise. The city does, however, have the responsibility to encourage public input and address residents’ concerns. In order to be able to properly assess the impact a squadron would have and to explore ways to mitigate the additional noise that the F-35 creates over the A-10, council members do need to spend time meeting with officials from Gowen Field, the Air Force, the Boise Airport, and concerned residents. Additionally, they need to spend time researching the potential impact on the community and the quality of life in areas surrounding Gowen and the airport. In these ways, yes, Boise officials do need to expend resources.

Ultimately, it is the U.S. Air Force which will decide where the aircraft are placed; it is squarely on the shoulders of our elected city officials, however, to plan ahead and create ways to mitigate negative impacts as much as possible, and to utilize the positive impacts to best benefit the city.

Gowen Field uses the Boise Airport’s runways, and the airport currently is creating plans to expand. On October 24th, the airport is holding an open house where staff and consultants will be to available to address concerns and answer questions. The airport is well aware of the controversy and will be key in managing noise levels in cooperation with Gowen Field if the squadron arrives here. More information on the open house is available at https://www.iflyboise.com/about-boi/masterplan/. I encourage all who are concerned about the F-35 to take advantage of this opportunity.

– Should citizens have the right to vote to approve public debt of more than one year, especially for big projects like a stadium? – Should CCDC continue to expand and divert tax dollars away from schools, ACHD, the city, and county?

It is absolutely fantastic to see the level of public involvement regarding the stadium. Over the last few years, there has been a growing feeling of discontent among the residents living outside of the downtown area, myself included. This is due to the tunnel vision our city plans have, which are clearly focused on the downtown area. The downtown area is thriving, but those of us who live a few miles away are having to deal with ever-increasing traffic rates, wider roads, traffic noise, difficult commutes, and the feeling that we are just a blip on our city government’s radar. The stadium project has pushed many people to move from frustration to activism; even though it is much more difficult to be politically active for residents who don’t live in the downtown area, it’s apparent that we have to be.

While CCDC has played an integral part in creating a vibrant downtown, the ethics of skirting voting requirements is sketchy. I do believe that citizens should be able to vote in order for large projects like this to be approved. I also believe that the CCDC should start weighing the interests of the entire city instead of limiting the focus, as is the current situation. Just off the top of my head, there are sections of Orchard, Fairview, and Overland that could benefit from some assistance, just to name a few. Expanding the focus would benefit many more people.

–Should citizens, both inside and outside the city, have the right to vote approval or denial of annexation of additional areas and people into the city?

Currently, per Idaho’s Statute # 50-222, areas to be annexed already must meet standards of consent by a majority of the affected property owners, effectively giving them a vote in the matter.

Idaho law also currently grants to its cities the authority to annex without a vote of its current residents. Typically, annexation benefits the city residents next to the land in question, since it gives the city control over zoning and development and can help prevent the land being developed in such a way that would negatively affect nearby city residents. Even though it would require some additional work on the Council’s end to present their case, I see no reason why a vote shouldn’t be granted to a city’s residents. Granting city residents a vote on annexation, however, would have to be addressed at the state level through legislating a change in Idaho’s Statutes.

Comments & Discussion

Comments are closed for this post.

  1. Chuck Thomas
    Oct 18, 2017, 8:21 pm

    Ms. Misnick,
    Idaho’s local & city governments are infected with the same conflict of interest issues most of america is suffering under & is the reason we elected a non-politician to help us purge the gators from both political swamps.

    I’ve spent close to 25 years in politics & many of those within the legislator trying to restore citizen’s voting & property rights that are confiscated via Idaho’s Forced Annexation law.
    Forced Annexation a close cousin to eminent domain takings, it allows the development industry to evade proper impact fees & force taxpayers to become unwilling partners in their private business ventures.
    The same Lobbyist Cartel & their political puppets have has been spending taxpayer dollars to bring the F-35s to Boise & yes they have played a major instrumental role in trying bring these aircraft our community without any regard to the damages they will cause.
    If they are successful in trashing our community each of these lobbyists & politicians will be named as individuals in a class action lawsuit to recover our communities’ property damages & health care issues..

    I noticed that you neglected to mention two important background issues, your employment background & party affiliation.
    Thank you,
    Chuck Thomas

  2. Rachel Misnick
    Oct 19, 2017, 9:22 pm

    Thanks for your insight, Mr. Thomas. I have not directly dealt with annexation issues, so greatly appreciate that you’re giving voice to your experiences and knowledge. I completely understand the need to seek out and be receptive to hearing knowledge from people such as yourself, because without having first hand knowledge – and now I’m going steal a phrase I’ve heard – I don’t know what I don’t know until I don’t know it.

    To address your questions, I am currently an excise tax auditor for the State of Washington. I mainly work from home, but travel regularly out of the state to other cities. Prior to that, I worked as a sales tax auditor for Idaho. While people tend to cringe upon hearing my current line of work, it has given me a very unique range of experiences that come together and make me uniquely qualified to serve on the City Council. I have seen first hand the disconnect between lawmakers and the people. Many of our lawmakers do not seem to understand the affect that poorly written or improperly researched legislation has on Taxpayers. When I come into contact with Taxpayers through my work, I always make it a point to talk with them and hear them out regarding how their businesses are doing, listen to their concerns and complaints about policies, proposed policies, and how their city’s decisions have affected them. I have participated in creating legislative proposals, have seen corruption, and have seen how some law and policy makers do not seem to understand that the money they spend was earned by our residents. Taxpayer money should be spent responsibly and efficiently, and respect needs to be given to the people who turned their hard-earned money over to their government. Since I have lived in and regularly visit large cities across the country, I also have a good deal of observational knowledge about how other cities handle growth, transportation, housing, etc. Additionally, I have intimate knowledge on how businesses are run in many different industries, and how they stay profitable.

    Regarding my party affiliation, while this is a non-partisan election, I realize that this is important to a lot of people. Unfortunately for those who like to put people in boxes, I do not cleanly fall on either side and dislike what our two-party system has become. I believe in reducing the size and reach of the government at all levels while still offering assistance to those who need it, and in providing the tools to those who just need a helping hand in order to become successful, productive members of society. I believe that the State of Idaho should rescind the restriction on letting cities raise their own minimum wage. I believe that Idaho’s Right to Work law should be repealed, but that union activity should be strictly related to negotiations with the employer, and that the expenditure of union dues needs to be reasonably linked to costs associated with performance of those duties (in essence, there should be no excess funds available to be used for political donations or donations to other groups, due to the fact that union members are otherwise being forced to fund candidates or organizations that they may not support). I believe that all levels of government need to implement real fiscal responsibility out of respect for the people they govern; and if one wants fiscal responsibility, an auditor is a good person to keep an eye on finances. Overall, I’d say that I lie right-of-center by today’s definitions.

    All this being said, I am not bought and paid for by anyone. I have seen the way government works, and I want to enact change.

    Thanks again,
    Rachel Misnick

    EDITOR NOTE–Everyone take note. This exchange is way too long. We want to provide a forum space, but please keep it reasonable.

  3. Bieter Begone
    Oct 20, 2017, 7:27 am

    To to make it short, Ms Misnick is a regressive democrat ready to spread even more leftist policies on Boiseans than even Bieter and his minions have done heretofore.

    Great.

    PS. My daughter Lives in the State of Washington and has seen first hand the effects of the mandated minimum wage hikes there. Everything, EVERYTHING has increased in cost. For everybody. And will continue use to do so.

  4. Rachel Misnick
    Oct 20, 2017, 9:19 am

    Hi Bieter Begone,

    I’m well aware of Washington’s problems due to minimum wage hikes, specifically Seattle, and just because I work for the state certainly doesn’t mean that’s how I want Idaho to be. I love how Idaho is a state known for its freedoms – I just want to see power handed back to local governments. Even Governor Otter was conflicted on the minimum wage bill and did not sign it. I see your anger, but you’ve definitely misinterpreted what I wrote. I would love to talk with you about it, but the editor has asked to keep this short. My number is 208-695-1009 if you’re willing to discuss.

  5. Bieter Begone
    Oct 20, 2017, 2:57 pm

    Rachel, I’m not angry, I’m totally dismayed at your original response and then your lame attempt to walk it back.

    If you want to live in a regressive/progressive wonderland, I suggest Portland or Seattle.

  6. Thanks for the details about your understanding of Boise and ideas about where we should go.
    However, while you seem to have an understanding of the overall statutes regarding annexation, the devil that we’ve experienced recently in NW (now )Boise has been in the details. There is no ‘voting’ regarding annexation in the sense that we as individuals got to cast a ballot. Instead, if you moved into a subdivision that was served by (then) United Water, you automatically ‘voted’ for annexation, probably without having any idea that you had done so, and without any ability to change that vote.
    So, developers build subdivisions out in the country, City annexes, promising more control of future, rezones, developers build, build, build and no more country. Hard not to think this wasn’t orchestrated by developers and the City hungry for a larger tax base.
    No one living out here who didn’t cash in wanted it.

  7. Rachel Misnick
    Oct 23, 2017, 7:55 pm

    Ridahoan,

    Thank you for this information. The further I get into this election process and the more people I talk to, the more I realize just how many issues there are with our governing agencies skirting around the written law. What you’re describing definitely sounds like an issue with government over-reach. If I do take office, I will continue to strongly encourage people such as yourself to contact me and discuss these issues so that I can get to work on the heart of the problems; if work-arounds like this are being used, that means there’s a conflict with what the residents actually want, and it is not acceptable behavior from those who are supposed to represent us.

    EDITOR NOTE–Stadium proposal is typical of the “work round.” Bieter does NOT want a simple bond election to let the citizens vote. Same was true of GBAD which spent $750,000 on lawyer fees just to avoid an election on auditorium expansion.

  8. Christian O'Connor
    Nov 1, 2017, 10:52 am

    I’ve read what I could find on the other candidates for Boise City Council Seat 2. Nothing really stands out as, “Yuk, not them!” but your views are most in line with my own. You have my vote. For the haters out there, I don’t know Rachel from Adam.

  9. Rachel Misnick
    Nov 3, 2017, 11:10 pm

    Hello Christian. Thank you so much for getting involved with our city’s future, and thank you for your support. This is a pivotal point in time for Boise and every single vote will matter in this election.

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