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City Government

MAYOR HOTLINE October 16-20

 October 23, 2006 ⋅  Post a comment

SPEEDERS, GAS, TRASH, TAXIS & DRUNKS

10/13/06
Nameless
Boise, ID 83702
Speeding: I’m calling this evening to register a complaint on behalf of a number of residents who live on Boise Hills Rd above 8th street in the north end of Boise. I’m calling because Boise Hills Rd is actually a downhill descent towards 8th street. On the road itself the speed limit is 20mph. I believe this is considered a residential neighborhood. There is at least one pedestrian crossing or school crossing and frequently people are speeding down the road in excess of 40 sometimes 50 mph. Again, I believe it’s a residential neighborhood and the speed limit is 20mph and it’s only a matter of time before someone, an adult, a child, or wildlife animals, gets hit. These things could be avoided and unfortunately if an adult or kid would get hit, that would be very tragic. People have a general disregard for the speed limit here. There are 2 speed limits but they are at the bottom of Boise Hills Rd near 8th St. and for the most part they are ineffective. I’m calling because I’m hoping the city can really do something about this. Again it’s just a matter of time before someone is hurt. I would really like to call this to your attention and I certainly hope the city acts upon this. You have my information and please feel free to contact me. I appreciate the opportunity to bring this to your attention.
BPD
Action Taken: contacted

10/15/06
Ellen
Bike Path Clean Up: I like to ride my bike on the bikeway alongside Federal Way and I’m wondering who’s responsible from cleaning that bike path up. It’s pretty dirty. There are trees that need to be trimmed and a dead tree that should be pulled out. Anyway, the section from Boise Ave. to Bergeson is the bad area. From Bergeson to Highway 21 is not so bad but I wasn’t sure who to contact. I don’t know if it’s Boise City Parks or ACHD takes care of that area but if they could get out there and clean out the debris and trim the trees, I would really appreciate it.
BPR

10/16/06
Mike Campbell
PO Box 1028
Meridian, ID 83680
Licensing Complaint: I own some local family shops in Boise and I was calling to issue a complaint about the new fees on the eating and drinking licenses. Just a year and a half ago I only paid $11.00 for each one and you’ve increased to $26.25. That’s like a 200 percent increase and I think it’s a bit much of an increase. I understand you need an increase but that much is a little bit overboard, especially because we receive a license from the City of Boise when we first start the business for an occupancy license. We also have to pay for health licenses as well. For this license I was told to verify that we do have a health license and that’s a little bit redundant and could be resolved working with better communication with the Dept. of Health. I really feel that your fee increase and the redundancy of this license doesn’t make a lot of sense and is not really efficient. I wanted to issue that complaint and that opinion. I own four family restaurants in Boise and I just wanted to voice my opinion concerning that. I’m certainly not happy with the Boise City Council or the Mayor at this point. If you have any thoughts or questions you are free to give me a call.
M/CC F&A
Action Taken: contacted

10/14/06
Shawn Jennings
718 N. 8th St. #8
Boise 83702
Strong Odor: There is a strong gas odor when the gas trucks fill up the storage tanks at the Jackson’s filling station on 8th St. I spoke to the manager of Jackson’s to inquire when they fill up and was told it is on Sundays around 4:00am. Not so. I spoke to another manager and she stated they fill up whenever needed. I have had to remove my family to another family members’ house because the odor is so strong.
PW
Action Taken: PW

10/1706
EconoLodge
Pearl Kreps
4060 W. Fairview
Boise 83706
BFI: The bottom of their dumpster is rotted out. They have called three times in the last year to get a replacement but have been unsuccessful. As the weather gets colder the rats by the river will begin to come up and if its not replaced they will begin foraging.
PW
Action Taken: PW

10/17/06
Byron Hepper
Downtown cab issue: I have been an alcohol and drug counselor working primarily with alcoholics going through the legal process for approximately 15 years. I have to say the police department’s idea of keeping the cabs away from the downtown bars is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. One of the few effective ways to keep drunks off the streets is for bartenders and cocktail waitresses to insist they take a cab, call a cab and have him come in and escort the drunk out. This change will stop that from all of those bars on that block. I can assure you if it lasts for any length of time, there will be one of more innocent persons killed by a drunk who should have been in a cab and was not referred to one strictly because the Boise Police Dept. cannot do their job and are admitting that. Please, let the cabs pick up the drunk patrons at the bar. It’s imperative. I will be contacting MADD and making sure they get involved in this issue.
BPD

10/17/06
Vendors, Annexation, 10 Commandments, ACHD: My message or comment on this new proposal about moving vendors who are tax exempt down the block from some of the bars downtown. I don’t frequent that area at all but just listening to the comments and the news and the different things I have heard, it’s just another stupid idea from the mayor’s office, if that’s where it’s coming from. You don’t separate things down farther if you need to have police out there. You don’t split the crowds up in two different areas and move them down. First thing that’s going to happen is someone who has had too much to drink is going to walk across the street and get hit by a car, especially when you’re putting vendors on the opposite side of the street. Then what happens? Who’s going to get sued? The City or the Mayor’s Office since it’s their idea? These vendors down there need to make a living just like you and I do. They have already been attacked and moved and split up and so on. This is another dumb idea. This administration right now, I don’t understand.

This is like the 10 Commandments move. How much did this cost the city to move, and now when this proposition goes on the ballot, it’s going to be asked to move back. So how much more money will it cost the city after everything it’s already done? The problem right now is the mayor and the city councilman need to look and think on what they are doing and stop acting on what they want to do and start doing what they have been voted to do. As far as what the people of the City of Boise want. It seems like they are doing what they want to do and not what the people want. Just like the annexation, they are annexing the areas because they want to, not what the people in those areas want or the people in Boise want to do. They are doing it to increase taxes, etc. That’s why so many people move out of Boise to Meridian because taxes are starting to kill people. I’m a business owner and taxes on small businesses are just hitting us hard. Just like insurance, we don’t have insurance. We have to pay for our own, unlike the Mayor and City Councilman that have all of these things and we don’t. So we are trying to make a living just like everyone else is, just like these food vendors are. I just think someone down there is not using good intelligence and you’re looking at elections coming up. Are you going to get elected back in the mayor’s office when so many people in Boise are not happy with what’s going on? You are not doing what the citizens want you to do. You’re doing what you want to do. So just like Ada County, I think we’re the only place in Idaho that has an Ada County Highway District. In fact, I think we’re the only place in the U.S. that has an Ada County Highway District. Now we have a big lawsuit against widening the road. I do agree with the City and as far as fighting against this on Ustick, I think it’s a smart thing the mayor and city council have agreed on. They’ve done a lot of stupid things but this I have to give you credit that you have done something right. But this Ada County Highway District, maybe we should eliminate this. How much money will this save us? Something has got to be done. Again, the main reason I called is this moving of vendors and it’s going to cause a problem. Someone’s going to get hurt doing this and it’s better to have law enforcement watching this for fights and out there. I understand there’s a lot of garbage out there. You have to put more garbage containers up and down the streets at night. From what I gather there is not much of anything down there. But I agree you need to do something. This is not the way to do it. I think you’re making another big mistake. I’m not leaving my name because every time I have in the past, all I get is a pre-printed card with no response to anything I’ve asked for. It’s like going to the City Council meetings. It’s already decided ahead of time. You don’t really care about what the citizens of Boise want. We elected you and it doesn’t seem like you people are doing what you were elected for. When there’s so many people disheartened with things you’re doing, you really think you’re going to get re-elected? No!
M/CC

10/19/06
Steve Hulme
4623 Camas Street
Boise, ID 83705
Bicycle Laws: I’m calling with regards to the 12 year old boy who was hit by the motorist on his bicycle on his way to South Jr. High school this morning. I heard about it on the web media today and just watched the news reports on TV about it. Likely the police were saying this would be a good wake up call for motorists to watch out for kids and kids and other bicyclists to make sure they are in compliance with the law in riding in a safe manner. I think that’s wonderful. I would like to further encourage the police dept with the encouragement of the mayor and city council to look at this as a wake up call for the police dept. as well to more strictly enforce bicycling laws.

As a bike rider in Boise, pretty much exclusively for about 22 years, I frequently see people breaking the law on their bikes particularly riding against traffic and to a lesser degree riding at night without lights and so on. I’ve frequently contacted the BPD as well as the mayor and council through phone calls and emails over the years and the constant response I’ve gotten is that bike laws are not a priority violation and they have more important things to do. I would say if the police would more stringently enforce bike laws, it’s highly likely we wouldn’t have bicycle accidents to the degree we do and I’m confident that people would be more likely to obey bike laws if they knew of them and they knew they were being enforced. If the police don’t do it, I don’t know who will. So, we can let it ride as it has over the years of the police can step it up a little bit.

I thought one of the reasons that ACHD bike advisory committee of which I used to be a member got a street smart bicycling book so police could hand them out to bicyclists who they see violating the law. I continue to see all the time people breaking laws on their bikes and I think it’s the police who should be doing something about it. I know you can probably guess the response I get from other bicyclists when I suggest they are in violation of the law. It is not very complimentary and not suitable for leaving on the mayor’s hotline or public record. Thank you very much and I hope something can be done.
BPD

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