Joyce Bingham will receive the award and accompanying $1,000 prize at
an awards luncheon scheduled for Saturday in Boise.

The Max Dalton Open Government Award has been given each year since
1999 to a citizen or group judged to be an outspoken advocate of
openness in either public records or public meetings on the state or
local level.

In 2012, Bingham, a substitute teacher, made a request under the
Idaho Public Records Law to the Blackfoot School District after
hearing rumors that former superintendent Scott Crane had received a
large payout in exchange for his resignation.

Her request was denied by the school district, so Bingham decided to
take the matter to court. She was later joined in her lawsuit by The
Post-Register in Idaho Falls.

In December, a judge ruled in favor of Bingham, and the documents
subsequently released showed the school district paid $210,000 to buy
out Crane’s contract and then took steps to keep the payments secret.

“Joyce certainly had nothing to gain by taking on the Blackfoot
school district and risking possible retaliation on herself,” INF
Executive Director Tom Grote of McCall said.

“She was willing to devote her energies, and her money, merely
because she thought it was the right thing to do,” Grote said. “That
is the spirit of the Max Dalton award – ordinary citizens who
understand laws exist that give them power to open closed
meeting-room doors and locked file cabinets.”

Other nominees for the 2013 award were:

* Hubert Osborne of Nampa, David Frazier of the public advocacy
website Boise Guardian, and Idaho Citizens for a Safe Environment and
a Transparent Government each were nominated for their pursuit of
information about the Dynamis waste-to-energy project proposed by Ada
County.

* Idaho State Controller Brandon Woolf was nominated for his
launching of the statewide public records website Transparent Idaho.

For details of the award and past recipients, go to IDAHO NEWSPAPER FOUNDATION.

These step children of traditional school districts are PUBLIC SCHOOLS and so referenced throughout the Idaho Code. They are created by “Authorizing Agencies”–usually existing school districts which lose the per capita student funding which goes to the charter once it is “authorized.”

The charters are allowed to borrow money, but pay exorbitant rates. Traditional school bonds go for under 5%, but the North Star District pays 9.4%–nearly twice the going interest rate.

Here are some excerpts from Idaho’s Constitution and laws which cause us to ponder the legal financial status of these districts.

I.C. 33-5204
“….(2)  A public charter school may sue or be sued, purchase, receive, hold and convey real and personal property for school purposes, and borrow money for such purposes, to the same extent and on the same conditions as a traditional public school district.”

From our view it would seem they have to follow the same conditions as a public district. They need a vote of 2/3 of qualified electors to borrow money according to Article VIII, sec.3 of the constitution…but they don’t have any voters.

While the law also says they are “PUBLIC Charter Schools,” they operate as “non-profit corporations.”

Article VIII, sec. 4 of the constitution says public money cannot go to private outfits.
“No county, city, town, township, board of education, or school district, or other subdivision, shall lend, or pledge the credit or faith thereof directly or indirectly, in any manner, to, or in aid of any individual, association or corporation, for any amount or for any purpose whatever, or become responsible for any debt, contract or liability of any individual, association or corporation in or out of this state.”

To further cloud matters, the authorizing agency (Meridian Schools) has authority to revoke the charter, but apparently no authority over the charter’s financing.

It appears the charter school law makes a bungling attempt to get around the constitution. We would all be better off if the spirit and letter of the constitution were followed. Here is an UPDATE from Twin Falls on legislation passed during the recent session.

Unprecedented cold weather combined with wet snow has created a virtual obstacle course for Boise pedestrians and when the spokesman for Team Dave was featured on the TV news advising folks it’s the law to keep sidewalks adjacent to their property cleared of snow he got an icy response from GUARDIAN readers.

We received numerous complaints about sidewalks adjacent to city parks not being cleared of snow. Americana Blvd. next to Ann Morrison was cited by one reader, the green belt between Capitol and Broadway was apparently never cleared of snow either.

Areas around the schools were another hot topic among readers who contacted us, citing rough going near Timberline High and Horizon Elementary among others.

So the GUARDIAN sprang into action!! We talked to the top dogs at Boise Parks. They said crews are already scheduled to get started on today’s storm at 4 a.m. Turns out Boise State has the duty to clear the green belt through the campus and the Parks boss promised to remind the university of its duty. Director Doug Holloway said, “We pay people to clear the sidewalks–that’s our job. If there is a spot we miss that needs attention, give us a call (384-4240)”.

At Boise School District we talked to top administrators who were not quite as eager to commit to clearing the sidewalks, but said they do the best the can with the resources available, etc. The administrator advised folks to contact their local principal if they see trouble spots that need snow removal. From another source we heard of at least one elementary school principal who should be up for promotion.

His solution? SNOW SHOVELS. What a novel idea! Use some petty cash for snow shovels and ask for volunteers among the 6th grade boys who are eager to get outside and do something. If kids can clean what us old timers called “chalkboards,” they can’t go wrong making the school grounds and adjacent sidewalks safer for the rest of the students, teachers, and parents.

No doubt about it. The weather has been a bummer, but innovations such as having strong boys pushing a shovel for fun or extra credit is a great idea. Also, making those phone calls to the right people put them on notice of dangerous areas–call in the name of safety rather than just a bitch and you will hopefully get a favorable response.

Politicians are particularly sensitive to things like snow and potholes when it comes to constituents. Meanwhile, remember to wear your snow boots and be careful.

The one thing that comes into sharp perspective immediately is the insignificance of most things in our lives when confronted with the knowledge that at least 28 sets of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and friends will have a huge void in their hearts. For some of them the nonsense of the Mayan calendar myth and the end of the world will seem factual. Obamacare, legislative committee assignments, and city council resolutions are of no consequence.

Already GOOGLE MAPS has a debate raging over gun control. Crazy, angry youth brought up on violent video games bring untold sadness to a nation. The GUARDIAN thinks the on-line and computer “shooting games”
like CALL OF DUTY can be a contributing factor for certain behavior.
Pyscho docs on the cable networks are jabbering about “tipping the scale and triggers,” causing the deadly behavior.

A TV news talking N.Y. copper opined that a good security staff at the school could have, “sent the shooter to meet his maker and the kids to milk and cookies.”

There will no doubt be rounds of “evaluating security procedures” in schools and counseling sessions for those afraid to attend classes. The far right will advocate guns for teachers and principals. The far left will seek to ban firearms. There is no answer.

Until we can understand why people dressed in black open fire at Columbine, Virginia Tech, the Aurora movie theater, the Portland mall, or Sandy Hook school the innocents will continue to die. If only we could program these troubled souls to shoot themselves first…

The following e-mail was sent to the GUARDIAN and we have confirmed it is indeed real and private sector citizens are not allowed to compete for what amounts to a $61,000 housing subsidy. Ironically the U.S. Housing agency claims “EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HOUSING” in the same flyer.

U.S. Department of HUD
GoodNeighborNextDoor
Half price homes for Teachers Firefighters, Law Enforcement & EMTs

8415 W Dulcimer Street, Boise, ID 83709
3 Bedrooms / 2.5 Baths / 2 Car Garage / SQFT. 1,448 / Year Built 2002
Certified currently appraised value is $122,000
YOUR HALF PRICE IS $61,000
All regional Law Enforcement Officers, Ada County area Firefighters/EMTs and full time PreK-12 Public School Teachers employed by the school district servicing the area or Private School Teachers whose employer serves students who live in the area ARE eligible.

If you or your spouse currently owns a home, have owned a home within the last year, or you are a University/College employee you ARE NOT eligible.
Lottery winner must live in home as sole residence for a minimum of three years.

Call Ward Pyles at 208-863-6886 with Nampa Realty for more information, to view home and enter lottery on property.
Lottery drawing entry deadline 11:59PM December 17, 2012
To sign up for email notifications, view pictures and FAQs go to:
www.GoodNeighborNextDoor.com

THREE OF THE “OUT OF ORDER” BSU EMERGENCY PHONES

PERSPECTIVE! We need to get things in Perspective.

When a woman was assaulted near the BSU campus Sunday night, it drew only a couple paragraphs in the DAILY PAPER. There was no outrage among citizens, no call for extra security (while several security phones are out of order covered by plastic), no calls to alert the public and students about the dangerous environment at the University.

But a drunken attack on a MONKEY puts Boise in the national limelight–even international notoriety. We don’t defend the monkey escapade, but it probably would be fair to say more police resources, media attention and public outrage was focused on the monkey business than the alleged sexual assault. Why?

For one thing, we have become accustomed to assaults on women. There is so much risk BSU has placed security phones with flashing blue lights around the campus, but never mind if some of them are “out of order.” Meanwhile Zoo Boise struggles to maintain its national accreditation with security cameras, better locks, and patrols.

Amazing there is no call for similar measures to insure safety of BSU coeds.

“The voters made it clear when they passed the Sunshine initiative, that public disclosure is an essential element of Idaho elections,” Ysursa said. “The citizens want to know where the money comes from and how it’s spent. My job is to enforce that law.”

He has also asked for reports from teacher organizations.

At issue are three propositions strongly opposed by teachers and the education community, but supported Tom Luna, Idaho public school superintendent. Luna’s education changes limit union bargaining power, promote teacher merit pay, and require online classes and student laptop computers.

Read John Miller’s AP STORY.

That’s keeping with a promised salary review when he was hired. He seems to be an OK guy, has a good resume and follows the will of the Board. We have a problem with the board’s decisions on deals Shultz presents.

He keeps two sets of books to disguise the millions of dollars the agency spends for “tenant improvements” on downtown Boise commercial real estate owned by the state. The state spends on the cash accounting method–real time dollars. Shultz and staff spend money for the benefit of private businesses–like a brew pub, but explain if the accrual accounting method is used, they actually would show a profit.

So far they are only spending, but claim that rental income will begin this year. While it was spent in one year, they show on the second set of books it can be spread over many years to look better.

Sorry Tom, can’t have it both ways. Truth is, schools are missing out on benefits. The GUARDIAN maintains the position that government should not be in business normally run by the private sector.

Here is a SPOKESMAN report by Betsy Russell.

We also contacted a guy who left a flyer in the door that was NOT from a politician, so we read it. He wanted to do yard work. We gave him a call and caught him in the middle of a high school shop class where he is a senior about to graduate.

From a business standpoint (return on investment), the highschooler is much more “profitable” than the brilliant baristas. He has low overhead, little investment and can make upwards of $20 an hour.

The college grads have at least 4 years and perhaps $40,000 invested, are probably in debt to the government for student loans and have no job prospects on the horizon. This picture is common in the USA and something’s wrong with it.

This doesn’t mean we should be training landscape laborers, but it certainly offers food for thought regarding the value of a college degree, the “right” course of study, and the state of economics and education in America. Your educated thoughts please.

First it was Team Dave announcing they have abandoned plans for not only a downtown baseball park, but they also promised to not use any public money to further the desire named Streetcar (also known as the Trolley Folly).

Next thing we heard was the legislature realized how much impact they put on cities with the Land Board going into business against those who actually pay taxes. Plans are afoot to discontinue owning tax exempt businesses that would otherwise be private and pay taxes.

The new Urban Renewal director said it was simply wrong on too many fronts to continue to divert tax money to the agency at the expense of schools, cities, counties, and the highway district. He also noted citizens need a voice in long term debt issues.

With the tourist season upon us, we were thrilled to learn the Boise Depot was actually going to be open to visitors on a daily basis with tours to the bell tower to view the city.

Boise officials actually started talking to taxpayers and the media instead of hiding behind costly public records requests and claims of “personnel matter.” The new transparency is expected to cut down on costly records requests and lead to better understanding of all parties.

Then we realized today is APRIL FOOLS day. It doesn’t hurt to be positive, but sometimes it makes you feel like a fool.