City Government

Mayor Hotline Sept 18-22

LAWLESS IN HYPE PARK, SKEETER BREEDING, PARKING TICKET TRAP
9/17/06
Diane Sower
2115 Heights Dr.
Misc: I’m calling because this Hyde Park festival has absolutely ruined the quality of life both for the people here and in the outlying areas and I am just appalled that the law cannot be enforced and that people can park anywhere they want. They can block driveways, they can block stop signs, and the noise level is so loud that we can’t even get away from it even with our windows shut. I am just absolutely appalled that Boise has become a city without laws and there are too many people being affected and we will be starting petitions. I would appreciate some feedback on what we can do about this to get it the hell out of our neighborhoods. I think the police department has just about had it with the hundreds of phone calls they have received as well. Thank you.
M/CC BPD
Action Taken: contacted

9/17/06
John McCutheon
Ada County: I’m calling about a possible problem with West Nile Virus and Mosquito Breeding. My neighbor 3407 Hawthorne Dr. has an irrigation ditch that has not been maintained and the back half of their property, approximately an eighth of an acre or so has been flooded for many, many days. Its stagnant water about six inches deep and I think it’s very unhealthy and nobody has done anything about it all summer long. This is an irrigation ditch that needs to be maintained or fixed. This is my mom’s property, her name is Virginia McCutchin at 3415 Hawthorne Dr. and her phone number is 342-8283. Thank you.
M/CC
Action Taken: contacted w/ Ada county info

9/18/06
Charles Cary
ACHD:The corner of 5-mile and Overland. When the light turns red many cars have figured out that they can cut through Sutherland at racing speed to make it through the light. Need speed bumps or stop signs to protect the children and families in the neighborhood.
M/CC
Action Taken: left msj

9/18/06
Kitty Fleischman
Idaho Magazine
ACHD/Ada County: Puddle on the corner of DeMyer and Cloverdale has been there for some time and is stagnant. Doesn’t make sense to spray for mosquitoes then leave large puddles of water after road construction.
Action Taken: bad #

9/19/06
Hey Mayor Dave
Misc: This is Chris form Portland Oregon we’re just visiting your nice city of Boise Idaho and we were thinking that there was not really enough during the week. We were hoping maybe you could set up some cool stuff for us to do the next time we come to visit. If you could make that happen that would be great. Thanks Mayor Dave

Delbert Coon
1911 Spalding St.
Misc: Called up to say thanks I appreciate your stand on the use of bio-diesel and ethanol fuels. Leading by example yesterday down there at the service station I saw it on channel seven. Thank you for taking that initiative and being on the cutting edge of this. This is what I call responsible leadership on the part of a public official. I wish the Federal Govt. or the state would be as equally proactive in this issue. But air quality is an issue that we are all going to have to face and deal with in this valley. Thank again have a great day.
M/CC PW
Action Taken: contacted

9/20/06
Jeff Welker
F&A: I was at the court house today and received a parking ticket for parking within thirty feet of a stop sign. I was not blocking an entrance, I was not blocking a sidewalk, and I have pictures to show how I was parked. The area was not marked with red or yellow. Nor was there any other sign that could have told me not to park there. My parking was not hazardous and did not cause any sight obstruction. Several other people in the area indicated that they have received tickets all of a sudden also. I understand that Boise just started ticketing for this at the same time that they stopped marking the curbs. I think this is very unfair and I would like to speak to Mayor Bieter about it. Also, when I contacted the ticketing office, they indicated that they have been flooded with complaints and tickets regarding this issue. I strongly feel that it is very unfair to ticket for parking when there is no marking or other information to indicate a violation of law. I know Mayor Bieter is an attorney and I will respectfully look forward to him hearing these issues. Thank you very much.
M/CC F&A
Action Taken: contacted & F&A.


9/19/06
ACHD:Good Morning, I had called last week to tell you that the traffic light on Broadway were out of sync and that traffic wasn’t flowing correctly, and am pleased to say that they were fixed right away. Thank you I appreciate that. They are much better and everybody is getting to work on time. Thank you again.
M/CC

9/19/06
Hans Reimers
1140 S. Colorado Ln. #209
83705
State Issue: I’m just calling with a comment; you know I’m just trying to participate for democracy and what not. But I think it’s actually a little ridiculous that we still make $5.15 for minimum wage with all the real estate properties going up, all the rental properties going up it’s actually not even feasible to live, you know to support yourself here in Boise which is supposed to be cheap to live in on minimum wage anymore. It’s a little upsetting, I knew that there was some sort of bill that didn’t get passed recently, and I think that’s upsetting as well. So if you could do something about it or call me and tell me why the price of everything is going up and yet nobody is getting paid any more I’d really appreciate it actually. Or if you could just raise the minimum wage to an appropriate amount, and acceptable amount, a livable amount I would actually really, really appreciate that as well. I’d even go as far as sending you a fruit basket if you did that if you know what I mean, a whole fruit basket. Alright I think I’ve taken up enough of your time and thank you.
M/CC
Action Taken: msj

9/20/06
LaVina Wyman
5317 Wylie Ln.
83703
PDS: I have called before because an investor has bought a place at the end of our street. On James and Wylie Lane and he is trying to move the person down this direction, Bratton, then Bratton would have to move over on Gordon Greenest property and they would have to move over on Rick and Bernard property and then they would have to move twelve foot over on me which would take my driveway, then I would have to move twelve foot over onto Straggle and he would have to move his giant shop so that I would have a driveway to get to the back of my place. Then he would have to move over on Elmer Night property and the last piece of property is a city lot that has a bike path to the river. We are trying to get this stopped because there will be buildings, and garages, and long wooden fences and long chain link fences would all have to be moved twelve foot on these 8 properties. We need some help somehow, I’ve been here 42 years and I’m 80 years old, and I have no help, I live here alone. We need some help somehow to get this stopped because none of us can afford this to have our property tore to pieces because of the one investor up at the end. I don’t know how come he ended up short 12 ft. Why when they put in James St. they had to take part of the peoples property when they put that road in or what. I don’t know what’s behind this but we surely need some help. Thank you.
M/CC PDS
Action Taken: PDS

9/20/06
J.B. Alexander
861-1123
PDS: I believe I’m calling in reference to Jim Tibbs. A friend of mine called and said that downtown can have sandwich signs out in front of their business’. I also own my own business K-9 wash and go on Overland and I know that you guys retracted the right for us to use that. If you could please give me a call and let me know if it is legal or illegal to put a sign out in front of my shop. My address is 6401 Robinson Dr. Boise Idaho 83709. I would like to put that sign back up in front of my K-9 wash and go because it does help my business. Thank you very much.
M/CC PDS

535 N. Morningstar Way
Misc:There was a sick squirrel and the gentleman could not reach anyone at Animals in Distress. The Idaho Humane Society told him that this was not their problem. There should be a more direct line for people who suspect West Nile virus in animals.
M/CC

9/20/06
Maryanne Anthony
3008 Lindsay 05
331-4155
C 407 2871
PW: She came in quite upset. She has been on disability since 7/00 and has a hard time paying her sewer/trash bill. Last night 9/19/06, at 7:00P.M. she found a flyer on her back door, not her front door stating that her sewer was going to be capped today, 9/20 between 9am and 11am unless she paid the balance in full. She brought in $240 this morning and was asked if she was going to the bank for the balance of $29.80. She was upset that the flyer was left a day prior to cutoff. By then city hall was closed. She had asked for a meeting with the director of Utility Billing. This meeting was conducted in the foyer. First she spoke with two of the utility billing consultants then the conversation continued in the foyer with the director in front of anyone who happened by and was very unprofessional. One of the consultants told her if she couldn’t pay the bill that her husband either needed to get a job or she should divorce him. She felt this too was quite unprofessional.
M/CC PW

9/20/06
Pam Walton
5135 Camas Lane
Boise 05
713-1590
BPR: She is very worried about trees that need to be pruned. She stated they are on city property. There is also one on the property of Chaparral Apartments that she thinks is hazardous. She would like someone to talk to the apartment manager Marci McFall, and explain the safety issues with the branches. Ms. McFall has said she would prune this tree but hasn’t done so.
M/CC BPR
Action Taken: BPR

9/21/06
Graffiti:I hope that even though I am calling anonymously that this message will be respected and dealt with in the appropriate manner. I fear for my family, my children and I think that it is important that you understand that Cherry Lane west of Vista Ave. has several gang markings and they have been there and re-put and cleaned off, and re-put and cleaned off and put back for several months now. There is a gang problem. And they are marking their territory on Cherry Ln. I wish to conclude in saying thank you and I hope that the mayor and all the city council members get a copy of this so that they can understand that there is a gang problem in Boise, there is evidence of it on Cherry Ln. Please if you have caller ID I request that this call remain anonymous once again for the safety of my family. Thank you.
M/CC BPD

Cathy Brown
1660 Eldorado St
Boise 05
322-8130
PDS: There are two houses that were scheduled to be demolished this summer. They are located at 1619 and 1621 Eldorado St. There have been two fires on the premises. They look junky, there are vagrants hanging around and they have been vandalized. Yesterday they finally boarded up the doors and windows. I am single and concerned about the vagrants but also the fire danger is apparent. I have spoken to code enforcement but they didn’t seem too concerned about it.
Can something be done?
M/CC PDS

9/22/06
Christy Anadama
1605 N. 29th St.
Boise ID 83703
BFI: Her garbage cans are in the alley. Every garbage day the garbage men leave any garbage that may blow out or miss the truck everywhere. They are VERY messy.
M/CC PW

9/22/2006
Steve
338-2563
I need to talk to somebody at the Mayor’s office to settle some issues. My number is 338-2563. Thank you.
Action Taken: msj

9/22/2006
Lyle Andrews
984 E. Holly St.
83712
340-7290
ValleyRide: I’m just commenting about the bus service. You know you should be ashamed of yourself giving these people money. It’s the rudest bus service that I’ve ever come across. I was told today that if I don’t like it I should take a cab, and that’s unacceptable. I’m disabled, I’ve had a stroke. I understand that you can’t tell them how to run their bus service. At the very least that they need to hire people that understand that being nice to people doesn’t cost anything. You know I would like to know when and where you have a meeting that determines whether or not you’re going to give this bus service money. Let’s cut it out its ineffective, it doesn’t’ go anywhere, it stops too early at night, you can’t work any overtime, I mean it’s a joke. Let’s just throw it out, get rid of it. You know especially if you have drivers that just don’t care. They’re rude obnoxious disrespectful and they don’t care. You know we really need to stop giving them money and I’ll do anything I can to stop it.
M/CC ValleyRide
Action Taken: contacted

9/18/2006
Your Honorable Mayor and City Council,
Roylee Ray Snider
3105 Cherry Ln.
Boise 83705 #4
ValleyRide: I am calling and writing to let you know about a concern I have in the downtown Boise area. The main issue or the main area of concern would be from Capital Boulevard to 8th St. on the north side where the busses pull in and passengers are let off. It is becoming a more dangerous location due to the higher ridership of the busses. There are two concerns that I’d like to express to this particular area. The first one, you go to the patio area of these locations and you go to the restaurants and you cannot smoke. Yet as a person passes by or a bus driver stands out there for the fifteen minutes that they have in between each scheduled transfer to the rider I’m trying to indicate that when people are walking by and or waiting for the bus are smoking it invalidates the no smoking in restaurant rules. I know that I went there and once I got there I was breathing a lot of tobacco smell and smoke while I tried to enjoy my dinner. In addition to this problem it is a very crowded location. I’m not saying that those restaurant patios should be smaller or made small. I do believe that perhaps the buses could park maybe a few feet farther away from the curb, maybe curbing extension could be applied there for a foot or two. Another big crucial area or another crucial problem with that area is that you have on a regular basis three to five bicycles locked up to those trees on the same route or they are tied to sign posts and maybe as a ways to ease congestion to begin with might be a no bicycle parking rule along that section. So to recap. The smoking of bus drivers and passengers while people are eating is really kind of ugly. Not a pleasant experience. I’m asking that maybe that issue be discussed about what we can do about the smoke and the outdoor patio issue. In addition to that we need to do something to make that section a little more easily flowed or a better flow with the bicycles and the busses parking so close. So this is what I hope you can spend some time working on when you get a chance. It is , actually I walk out of my way now when I’m walking that way, and sometimes when I’m trying to take the bus it’s so crowded and I’m falling over bicycles. The main reason I’m calling in having this written so that you can read or having informed so that you are informed is I have seen a couple of situation today with wheelchair people who were trapped and that’s not a good feeling I know that. To be in your wheelchair and you can’t get around or maneuver through that section. So I hope that you can address this in an urgent and timely manner, you know, I know it takes some time, but it needs to be taken care of quickly. Another observation that I notice is that the buses when they park there and you look out onto the street side there is that white line that identifies this as the bus zone, now there’s about five feet there and I’m thinking that maybe we can take a couple of those feet and maybe widen the sidewalk right through there and that could solve part of the problem but you guys are going to know the solution. As it is when I saw the handicap people having there problems today and I have seen one particular gentleman who is always having a hard time getting through there. When I saw it today I knew I needed to contact your offices and see what we could do about solving this problem. I wouldn’t want the trees cut down, so don’t misinterpret and cut the trees down, but I do think there is a way that we can with very minimal expense widen that sidewalk by a foot or two leaving the ends of it for drainage for the rain waters. I think that the busses can go out, there is definitely five feet I measured it out myself. I just wanted to let you know how I was feeling about a couple of issues. Have a great day, thank you for all your hard work and dedication, I know that being in these positions puts you in a situations where sometimes its very hard and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate what you do and I wish you all the best of luck. Thank you for your time, sincerely Roy Snider.
M/CC ValleyRide

9/17/06
Mike Cook
Graffiti: I wanted to report Graffiti near 12th and Front St. It’s really quite visible and it’s getting worse as the months go by, now occupying a billboard so anyway pretty unsightly graffiti for Boise 12th and Front St. My number is 921-0802 and if you need help painting it over, I’d be happy to volunteer. Anyway, thank you very much.
M/CC Graffiti Team

Comments & Discussion

Comments are closed for this post.

  1. junkyard dog
    Sep 25, 2006, 9:48 am

    ooohhh…so much grist for the mill with this week’s Mayor’s Hotline.

    I’m totally in sympathy with Diane in the Hyde Park area since this particular issue pushes a real hot button with me. Most people are very, very tolerant of special events and a certain amount of noise; it’s the price you pay living close to downtown in an urban neighborhood. BUT when you find that your driveway is continually blocked, that you can’t make it down your alley to reach your garage and have to park half a mile away (a real hardship for seniors & disabled), that your yard is being thrashed, trampled and pissed upon by trespassers, and that you can’t get away from the noise even with the windows SHUT, the intrusion is no longer tolerable.

    I speak from experience; I live in the so-called “shadow of the Bronco stadium”.

    The noise from events at the Stadium is not intrusive at all; it creates a certain amount of excitement and vibrancy in the air around the neighborhood. Listening to music wafting on the area from JD park is also energetic and I imagine listening to the festivities at Hyde Park is much the same way. The problem is the behavour of some of the people who attend these events.

    It is illegal to block a driveway or an alley; it’s illegal to park within 30 feet of a stop sign or 20 feet from an intersection because it impedes vision and prevents firetrucks from turning through an intersection (Yeah Jeff, you obviously don’t remember that tidbit of info from Driver’s Ed–do you expect the City to make signs for every possible driving infraction?). It’s illegal to trespass on people’s yards and trample their yards, it’s ilegal to urinate in the street or on someone’s yard, it’s illegal to stagger down the street at 2am and sing at the top of your lungs, and it’s illegal to make so much noise that neighbors can hear it inside their house, no matter what time of day.

    The occasional disturbance of this caliber isn’t going to faze me or my neighbors. But with the amount of people that these events draw in, it’s not just an occasional person breaking the law but hundreds…hundreds of cars blocking intersections can choke traffic through the neighborhood and hundreds of drunks can do a lot of damage and make a helluva lot of noise at 2 or 3AM.
    No matter where a person lives, anarchic behaviour is unacceptable. Unfortunately, the only solution is a strong police presence in the impact areas which needs to be standard procedure for all events of this caliber.

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