City Government
Council Refuses To Hear Public
December 20, 2006 
When Team Dave wanted to generate some buzz over a proposed gold mine 100 miles away in Atlanta, they held a public meeting in the evening and drew a huge crowd.
But when it came to spending nearly $10 million in Boise citizen’s money the city council meeting was held at 10 a.m. –when most citizens are at work. The council voted to fund about 15 projects with end of year “windfall profits.” The proposals all came from Mayor Dave Bieter and his Team Dave.
Councilor Jim Tibbs was figuratively told to “sit down and shut up” when he suggested a similar town meeting for ideas on how to spend the $10 million surplus. He is the only councilor to vote against the Bieter spending spree.
The council should be ashamed of the way they disposed of the public’s money. Some of the projects make sense, but several are the result of what can only be termed as mismanagement and bungling. Before spending more funds, they should fix their flawed system.
For instance:
–$350,000 for software licensing to ORACLE because someone signed an agreement indebting Boise citizens to pay additional fees based on the size of the city budget. Any way you look at it, Oracle software gets a percentage of our tax dollars based on growth. The software company gives us nothing in return for the third of a million cash.
–The council earlier approved construction of a new fire station without having a written agreement for $372,000 of funding needed to complete the construction. The fire chief told them the deal was in place to include Ada EMS as a paying partner. The council believed him. They never saw any documents and the legal department apparently was either out of the loop or asleep at the wheel. EMS pulled out and it was finally disclosed no deal was ever concluded. The council based their approval on “facts” that were simply untrue and now Boise and Whitney Fire District taxpayers are on the hook for $372,000.
–They want to spend $15,000 to pay for more legal fees to clean up previous legal errors that cost us $60,000 in property taxes on a couple of LEASED fire stations. This should go to the voters for approval because it constitutes a purchase.
–$535,000 for “strategic planning projects.” Need we say more in questioning this expense?
–There is $7 million item for detox, libraries, cop shop, and parks. While it sounds good, there is no way these projects can all be funded. We fear they will end up just like the fire station–started and in need of more funds next year.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Dec 20, 2006, 3:46 pm
Wow so a great big windfall of revenue($900,300,00 ) just fell out of the sky! Where did it come from? I don’t think Santa put it in Dave Beiter’s stocking. Could it be that the city of Boise is over-taxing its citizens? Wouldn’t it be proper to refund the overage to the taxpayers?
Any spending of this money should be voted on by it’s citizens, who pay the excessive taxes that created the “windfall”. Some of the items on the mayor’s wish-list have already been turned down by voters. Dave Bieter has a track-record of circumventing the voters of this city, but they have a right to vote on any major expenditures he wants to do, as they will be paying the operation and upkeep of these. The liberal mayor and most of the council is wrong to take for granted that we want to support some of these items on his wishlist without any public imput.
The only person on the council to see it properly is Jim Tibbs! The taxpayers should have their say in this. Maybe the voters and taxpayers will remember this come election time.
Dec 20, 2006, 4:39 pm
Holding a council meeting at a time when the average Citizen is unable to attend is just part of the bag of tricks that politicians use to spend taxpayers money on pork barrel projects.
Team dave is really showing their true colors by spending the greater part of 10 million on local pork- however 1/2 a million for strategic planning projects takes the cake, Dave!! I’ll do it for $ 10/hr if you’ll spend the rest on a better bus system, a de-tox center NOW, not ” in a few years”, and better homeless facilities.
Thanks to Jim Tibbs from the Community for challenging The Major and council on their wasteful spending. We need more local politicians like Mr. Tibbs to spend tax money on Positive , helpful issues not underwriting local fat-cats!
Dec 21, 2006, 1:42 am
Jim Tibbs for mayor (and perhaps later, governor).
Put the rest of them on a one-way bus to Tierra del Fuego.
EDITOR NOTE–What have you got against Argentina? Those people are into democracy now.
Dec 21, 2006, 8:19 am
With not even a word about “The Great Christmas Giveaway” in the morning rag, this thing is starting to take on the aroma of yet another example of Team Dave’s “the public doesn’t matter”.
First, does anyone really believe that these monies just”showed up” in the last week or two? The way I see it, either we have been lied to for months by the Mayor, or the worst financial managers on this planet live at City Hall!
Second, it looks like the majority of the council is in on this little shenanigan from City Hall. Gee, when Tibbs said during the campaign that he was going into the trenches to “represent all the citizens of this city”, it looks like he was serious!
Now, let me see Mr. Mayor, what is it I hate worse than a lier…. Oh! I remember… NOTHING. I will admit that “Running Bieter Out of Town on a Rail” isn’t viable, but making D— sure he doesn’t get re-elected is Mandatory!
Dec 21, 2006, 9:49 am
All that money and no public input. The one way of getting major local press of the mayors problem with hiding $$$ is someone should start a recall drive. I have contact with hundreds of people every day and I now tell them to vote for anyone but Bieter, and vote out the other council folks as well. Except Tibbs, I will vote him in for mayor.
Dec 21, 2006, 10:27 am
The “creation” of savings and “process” of deciding what to spend it on has gone on for years. Positions left unfilled, equipment under bid, projects pared back, etc. leave officials salivating and dancing in giddy excitement at how to expend the monies unfettered by any public process. Afterall, they did have to listen the pesky taxpayers when the money was originally put in the budget.
As for Tibbs, I guess I’m just really jaded this way, but: Either the projects the mayor proposed were not the projects he would have chosen, or he figured the thing would pass without his vote and you don’t get elected to Mayor by appearing camoflauged against the status quo. He is a product of that system and I find it incredible that he has been reborn in such a short period of time.
Dec 21, 2006, 12:03 pm
Everyone should have seen this coming, Dave’s an attorney, Tibbs is a blue colar lawman, they’re from complete different stock.
Dec 21, 2006, 1:14 pm
The City Council and the Mayor sipmply did not want to hear what anyone else thinks. Period.
Why should they change the mode of operation now? No one has the ability to cause them any damage for their actions so why change?
Dec 21, 2006, 8:27 pm
I will be glad when election time comes around so
we can get rid of these people! I am fed up to here
with these people. A troop of girl scouts can do a far better job than these people could even think about doing!
Dec 21, 2006, 9:56 pm
Oddly enough it has happened again. “One time” unallocated funds- thing is that it happens every year. It is truly the council’s play money. They know it’s coming. They cut every agency to the bone with mandatory holdbacks and other tricks.
They are truly an arrogant bunch and they need to go. Now is the year where we can dump a couple of these duds, particularly the mayor and his staff. I will choke if I have to hear about another library being built that will only serve as a homeless shelter. I would not let my kid hang out at the downtown library for fear that he would be attacked by some drunk homeless guy.
Dec 22, 2006, 11:33 am
Sadly enough is that Bieter and crew think that the only public input required for any decision is at election time. I think it is time that we all let them know how we really feel when the next election takes place. The attorney’s who mostly run the process including the mayors office feel that procedurally anything can be done even if is bad business or against the will of the voters
Dec 23, 2006, 4:06 pm
Every comment above should make the Mayor and council regret their “tricks to exclude citizens” from government!
A major problem that ties in with the above is that we have no de-tox center unlike the majority of American cities esp. with the drug epidemics our commuities deal with.
Our two major hospitals will tell you ” we don’t have de-tox facilities” -unlike most of America’s hospitals.
Intermountain Hospital charges a $1000 a day just for room and board. They are currently being investigated for abusive treatment of adolescent patients… a story on it was in a recent Statesman.
Many facilities in this area are as bad or worse than the above and certainly as expensive. Why? Money and greed come to mind along with a lack of basic compassion for a human life by too many of our medical professionals in this area.
Combine that with a state medical and dental board that cater to the above irresponsibility and we are left with some real problems. City, County and State government will drag their feet in providing a solution to the above even with their windfalls of tax-payer monies. I’d like every voter out there to ask themselves why!
Dec 23, 2006, 5:30 pm
If you think Jim Tibbs is going to save the day as mayor or, God forbid, governor, you are a quart low.
Dec 26, 2006, 8:55 pm
I heard Jim Tibbs on KIDO, He said he felt it was necasary for the people of Boise to be heard. He said while he felt “most” of the projects were worthwhile, to him it was “wrong” for the city to commit the money without even hearing from the people. So where does Dave Beiter get off telling the one councilman who was willing to break ranks and stand up for the people of this city to sit down and shut up? Why is this web site and KIDO the only place I have heard about this. Where is the Statesman..Idaho’s “News” leader channel 7…6 on “My” side, or KBOI?