Bisterfeldt won’t say if he is running (Mrs. Commish will make that decision), Ullman won’t talk to the GUARDIAN, and word on the street is former City Councilor, chief, drug czar Jim Tibbs is leaning toward a run at the seat that will be left open due to the boundry changes.

Also, the voting precincts have been streamlined and County Clerk Chris Rich, the chief election officer, says a more balanced set of voter precincts will emerge.

Here is the press release detailing the changes:
The Board of Commissioners approved new voting precinct and
Commissioner district boundaries for Ada County.

The redrawing of voter precincts follows the Commission on Reapportionment’sestablishment of new Congressional and Legislative district boundaries, requiring the County to modify its precinct structure. Rapid growth in Ada County had alsocreated a disparity in the number of voters between precincts.

With the new precinct boundaries in effect, the number of Ada County voting
precincts increases to just 145 from 141. This number is in line with where the Ada
County Clerk’s Office expected it to be when it began this process, given the
practical and financial considerations of increasing the number of precincts. The
primary goal in redrawing the district boundaries was to more evenly distribute
voters per precinct. Prior to redrawing the boundaries, some large Ada County
precincts had upwards of 3000 voters; today the average is around 1,400 voters per
precinct. The new boundaries will also help to eliminate confusion about polling
locations, and unify some communities and neighborhoods that historically may have
been awkwardly divided.

“The new precincts are good for the voters of Ada County. Some of our largest
precincts are now smaller, and some of our smallest are now larger. As a result,
voters should now see shorter lines and have shorter drives to polling locations,”
said Chief Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane.

The Clerk’s Office would like to thank residents for their valuable and influential
input provided at a December public open house. With the precinct boundary
redrawing complete, Ada County Elections will now be focused on getting the voter
database updated in time for the May Primary election.

In addition to the new precinct boundaries, the County Commissioner districts needed
to be redrawn so they would balance out based on district population, and in keeping
with the new Legislative district boundaries. This reorganization better equalizes
the Commissioner districts, resulting in approximately 130,000 people per district
under the new boundaries. However, this redistricting does leave the District #1
County Commissioner seat vacant for the upcoming election.

For more information on the new precinct boundaries, visit the Ada County Clerk’s
website at www.adaweb.net/Clerk.aspx, or click
here
to view a map of the new precinct, Commissioner district and Legislative district
boundaries.

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There was strong written opposition to the plan before the IPUC, including a document filed by attorney Jon Steele. Much of the opposition was based upon the contemplated rate Idaho Power proposed to pay for the electricity generated.

Dynamis has already received $2 million from Ada County, but based on lack of financing and other questions surrounding the deal, it looks like it faces a huge battle before it becomes a reality.

The staff report cites older methodology, higher interest rates, prices higher than needed, and even the NEED for the generating capacity at the current time.

Here is a link to the STAFF REPORT.

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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.

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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.
5. They have closed the weigh scale house because it was causing such a traffic jam that it was closing the roadway.
6. Rent in Williston currently is: $ 2000 for a one bedroom to $ 3400 for a three bedroom.
7. They have no more hook ups for campers any where in the area.
8. Williams County allows three campers per farmstead, the farmers almost all have three campers on their property and are charging $ 800 per camper per month for rent.
9. Wal Mart in Williston no longer stocks shelves, they bring out pallets of merchandise at night, and set it in the isles, people then take off the pallets what they want.
10. On 1-1-12, the Williston Wal Mart had 148 campers overnight in their parking lot.
11. Willams County wrecked a pickup and ended up bringing it to Bismarck for repairs because there no available body shops to do the work. Williams County has purchased a trailer and has started to bring vehicles to the Bismarck area for repairs. Willaims County took a pickup in for ball joints and front brakes, the shop charged them $ 2800 for the repairs.
12. Williston and Williams County now produces more taxable sales than any other area in ND.
13. The Williams County jail has increased booking by 150%. With a 100% increase in inmate population. Bonds of $ 5k to $ 10 K are typically paid with cash out of pocket. The Williams County Sheriff stated that a couple of week ago he received a $ 63,000 bond in cash carried into the jail in a plastic Wal Mart bag.
14. Williams County Sheriff’s Department has more than doubled in staff over the last two years, they are now buying trailer houses that come up for sale to rent to newly hired deputies.
15. Williams County new starting salary with the academy is $ 46,000 plus 100% of all benefits paid.
16. They are in a continuous hiring cycle, they have no set budget at this time, the Sheriff has been told to manage his office to the best of his abilities and keep the Commission updated, but do not worry about the budget.
17. The Williston McDonalds just announced that they will pay $ 15 an hour, a $ 500 immediate sign on bonus and a single medical plan paid for.
18. The restaurants are full and with limited staff to work in them they usually just have the drive through open. The restaurants that have inside seating are now an hour wait at all times.
19. Law Enforcement in the Williams County area cannot provide training to staff due to time constraints and no location to hold training.
20. The local Motel 6 in Williston now rents rooms fro $ 129.95 per night.
21. Law Enforcement no longer does any proactive work (school programs, community services, house checks) they do very little traffic related issues as well, they just to from call to call. Bars fights are one of the biggest issues.
22. Other law enforcement issues include the strip clubs. The local clubs have now started what is called “babe buses”. These buses go out to areas and pick up people and bus them back and forth to the strip clubs, the buses have poles on them as well as live entertainment.
23. Drug problems are immense, and they are seeing narcotics that they have never seen in the area before, like black tar heroin.
24. The civil process section of the Sheriff’s Department use to average 1800 paper a year, they are now doing 4500 processes a year.
25. Law Enforcement said that they make as many Driving under the influence arrest at 10 Am as they do at midnight.
26. Illegal aliens have become a huge problem, especially getting the proper authorities do remove them from the Country.
27. The current thought from the oil companies is that the area will continue to grow as it has over the past two years for the next five years and stay for ten years. At the end of the ten years they feel the communities will drop in population somewhat.
28. The current thought is that the oil companies will be drilling wells on every 1280 acres of leased land, this way they have tied up the land and do not have to release the property.
29. The Williston General Motors dealership has now become the number 1 seller of Corvettes in the upper Midwest.
30. The bigger oil companies are doing very well in hiring good people. They run checks and make sure the people they hire are drug free; it is the smaller companies that are having trouble-hiring people that will look the other way on hiring issues.
31. They said they do not know anybody anymore. The Sheriff of Williams County he use to be able to go to Wal Mart and not be walk very far without knowing somebody, now he does not know any of the people in there.
32. Many of the local citizens are taking retirement and moving out of the area.
33. They have an extreme amount of alcohol abuse going on. They have more calls than ever of drunk people trying to get into houses, to find out they are at the wrong place.
34. Minot population has grown by a projected 9000 people since the completion of the census. Minot is expecting to reach a population of 75,000 in the nest five years. Trinity Hospital in Minot has just hired 115 nurses from the Philippines to work at the hospital, as they cannot get enough local nurses to apply.

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On the flip side of the “good cop” high tech copper caper is the case of the “bad cop” FBI agents who violated the constitution by placing a similar device on the car of a suspected drug dealer WITHOUT A WARRANT OR COURT ORDER. They tracked the suspect in the Washington, D.C. area, made an arrest and got a conviction. The dealer was sentenced to life in prison, but the FBI’s illegal conduct prompted the United States Supreme Court to overturn the conviction Monday, according to NEWS REPORTS.

The conclusion is that placing GPS monitors on vehicles without permission is a violation of the Constitution of the United States of America and amounts to a warrantless search. Same device placed in goods prior to theft is good police work.

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Steele, in a press release was critical of the proposed rate schedule between Idaho Power and Dynamis Energy, the outfit that already has $2 million from Ada taxpayers for the project.

PRESS RELEASE
Backdoor Politics: The Ada County Commissioners and Dynamis Energy, LLC

Why would Idaho Power agree to pay Dynamis Energy far more than any other alternative energy provider?

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has been asked to approve a “deal” between Dynamis Energy, LLC and Idaho Power Company that will require Idaho Power to pay Dynamis more than twice the going rate for electricity. The Dynamis electricity is planned to be generated at a proposed trash-to-energy Project located at the Ada County landfill.

While the public spotlight is now focused upon Idaho Power and the Idaho Public Utilities Commissioners, this boondoggle originated with the Ada County Commissioners.

Although Idaho Power has made the application to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for approval of the Dynamis “deal,” a close reading of the Idaho Power papers discloses a less than enthusiastic endorsement. The garbage to energy concept sounds green and clean and may even be technically feasible, but it will be expensive for Idahoans, who have enjoyed the cheapest electric rates in the United States.

In June of 2010 the Ada County Commissioners agreed to pay Dynamis almost 2 million dollars for the design of a trash-to-energy Project to be built at the Ada County landfill. The primary benefit to Ada County is the possibility of extending the useful life of the landfill because the Project will incinerate garbage rather than bury it.

However, unlike many communities, Ada County has a landfill that will provide solid waste disposal for roughly 70 to 100 years – the Hidden Hollow Landfill off of Hill Road. In 2007 Ada County opened a new landfill section, the North Ravine Cell, located on 2700 acres of County-owned property. The North Ravine Cell is the replacement landfill for the nearly full Hidden Hollow Landfill.

In 2005, Ada County contracted with Fortistar Energy to burn the natural byproduct at the Hidden Hollow Landfill – gas – which is used as fuel to generate electricity. Fortistar can generate roughly 3.2 mega-watts of electricity – enough to power about 2,400 homes. In 2010 Fortistar paid Ada County $260,786 for gas produced by rotting garbage which was converted to electricity and sold to Idaho Power. Yet, the rate paid to Fortistar by Idaho Power is substantially lower than the rate to be paid Dynamis.

Dynamis, according to its website, is composed of “…a group of highly committed professionals that are dedicated to clean renewable energy through waste recovery systems.” If their website is to be believed, Dynamis is “…your best source for value-driven, environmentally sound, global turnkey waste to energy services.” Dynamis owns “…state-of-the-art proprietary waste-to-energy technology.” Their “…patented process reduces reliance on fossil fuels, decreases harmful emissions and provides numerous immeasurable long-term benefits, clearing a new path toward a sustainable and cleaner world.” Who can argue with that?

In June of 2010 Ada County Commissioners Fred Tillman, Sharon M. Ullman, and Rick Yzaguirre took it upon themselves to sign a contract with Dynamis which says that Dynamis will design “… a 250 ton per day waste to energy facility…” referred to as the Project. The Dynamis website states that … “[o]ne of our 250 ton per day plants produces on average 15 megawatts, which means in theory we can provide power for 14,000 homes.”

Between July 15 and December 17, 2011, Ada County paid Dynamis almost 2 million dollars. These payments were for the design of the Project. None of these payments purchased any material or labor or permits that will be required to build the Project.

The Dynamis contract does not guarantee that the waste to energy Project will work or even that the waste to energy Project will probably work. Rather, the contract states that the almost 2 million dollar Project design is based upon “experimental technologies” and that after review of the Project design Ada County “…may not want to proceed.”

On November 1, 2011 the Ada County Commissioners entered into a second agreement with Dynamis. This time, however, Commissioner Vern Bisterfeldt refused to go along, but majority ruled. This agreement allows Dynamis to finance the Project, build it, own it, and operate a 54,400 square foot plant costing $60,000,000 on County land for $1 a year. The County will deliver 408 tons of waste daily to Dynamis at no charge. Dynamis will convert the trash to electricity which it plans to sell to Idaho Power, which brings us back to the Idaho Power application before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission.

Energy law requires Idaho Power to contract with Dynamis, but not at an inflated price which will ultimately be paid by Idaho Power customers. This “deal” favors Dynamis over Idaho Power customers. While science and technology make the Dynamis project possible, science and technology have not made the Dynamis project economically feasible.

The Ada County Commissioners’ rush to contract with Dynamis left little time for any analysis. The driving forces behind the rush to contract were government payments, tax incentives about to expire, and cash.

Approval of this “deal” will open the flood gates. The Dynamis “deal” is based upon a franchise business model designed to be repeated over and over again with local governments who are lured into approval by the “clean and green” mantra and the possibility of economic growth.

Any opposition to the Idaho Power application before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission runs the risk of being labeled as anti-clean, anti-green, and anti-environment. But these are not the issues to be decided. The real issue is whether we saddle the next generation of Idahoans with obligations that are not economically feasible. The simple question is: Why would Idaho Power agree to pay Dynamis far more than any other alternative energy provider?

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission is taking comment on the Dynamis “deal” through February 2, 2012. Comments are accepted via e-mail by accessing the Commission’s homepage at www.puc.idaho.gov and clicking on “Comments & Questions About a Case.” Fill in the case number (IPC-E-11-25) and enter your comments. Comments can also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed to (208) 334-3762. Be sure to join the list of “Interested Parties.”

The public’s only opportunity to express views on the Dynamis “deal” is to submit comments before February 2. As of today, there will be no public hearing for you to attend. Our Public Utility Commissioners will read and respect your comments, but only if you beat the February 2 deadline.

The full text of the Commission’s order in this application, along with other documents related to this case, are available on the Commission’s Web site at www.puc.idaho.gov. Click on “File Room” and then on “Electric Cases” and scroll down to the above case number.

The Ada County Commissioners can be reached at (208) 287-7000.

Jon M. Steele
Runft & Steele Law Offices, PLLC
1020 W. Main St. Ste 400
Boise, Idaho 83702
(208) 333-9495

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This from a probationer:
With everything going on with ACMPS, I just thought your readers would like to know that ACMPS has raised their supervision fees.“Effective Immediately, supervision fees will increase to $75 in accordance with Idaho Codes 20-225 and 31-3201D.” I just got back from visiting my PO and I had only the cash of their current fees of $50 so “luckily” I am able to pay on my next visit.

We haven’t heard any news about how the county plans to deal with what appears to be the unconstitutional agreement to allow a private contractor to run misdemeanor probation services as a for profit business. Only the Idaho Department of Corrections has the authority to run probation according to the Idaho Constitution.

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These taxing districts are limited in their legal ability to levy taxes and as property values declined, they have almost uniformly “gone to the max.” City and county governments can raise budgets up to 3% and levy accordingly to pay for their decisions. The following have set limits.

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The problem lies with the Idaho law which requires candidates to file for office by February 27 for the MAy 15 primary election. If the lines are not carved in stone by that date, there is no way all candidates will know what district they may reside within and ballots cannot be printed.

The entire press release follows below.

Ada County Clerk Chris Rich and Canyon County Clerk Chris Yamamoto have filed an application to appear as amicus curiae in the challenge to the Legislative Redistricting Plan that is before the Idaho Supreme Court.

The Clerks have taken this unusual step because delays in the redistricting process may prevent Ada and Canyon County’s Elections Departments from being ready for the May 15, 2012 Primary Election. Combined, the two counties account for more than 37% of Idaho’s population.
Legislative and congressional boundaries must be finalized before the Clerks can begin their work. That work requires first mapping out new precinct boundaries, then entering all changes into the Idaho State Voter Registration System (ISVRS). ISVRS is the tool used to identify the districts and precinct in which all Idaho voters and candidates reside.

To quote from the amicus application, “All federal, state, county and precinct candidates must file for candidacy on or before February 27, 2012. I.C. § 34‑704.” For a person to file in the correct district or precinct, those boundaries must first be defined and then entered into the Idaho State Voter Registration System. The clerks must have sufficient time to enter and proof the data that defines those districts and precincts.

Should the application to appear as amicus curiae be granted, the clerks will detail how the delay could jeopardize the upcoming election.

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A preliminary hearing is set for December 22.

In the poorly worded complaint, Plew is charged with taking cash in the amount of “more than $1,000″ over a period ranging “on or between” November 1, 2010 through November 10, 2011.

Based on the ambiguous wording of the complaint it is impossible to determine when the alleged crime was committed. The GUARDIAN is particularly interested to know “who knew what and when did they know it?”

Ada County Commishes recently renewed a contract with the private for-profit Ada County Misdemeanor Probation Services company. If ANYONE knew or suspected Plew of criminal activity during the past year and allowed him to continue to supervise misdemeanor offenders, a slew of legal actions could ensue.

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