Comments on: Cops Nab Bieter Staffer For DUI

By: steve

steve — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 12:33:07 +0000

President G.W.Bush, “One “DUI”.
Vice-President Chaney, “Two DUI,s”.
Idaho Governor Butch Otter, One DUI”.
Is the primary perquisite for an elected official the number of “DUI” or lack of “Military Service”?

By: Mitch

Mitch — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:14:01 +0000

Sorry Oops! But Elisa Massoth was hardly working as a prosecutor. Her then-job as an Assistant City Attorney was in advising city agencies – not in prosecuting DUI’s. The city also doesn’t prosecute anything but misdemeanors – otherwise its up to the real prosecutors: the Ada Co. Prosecuting Attorney.

By the way, David Frazier is now a “public figure” with his holier-than-thou blog – soooo who’s doing an under the microscope look at Frazier and his family?

By: Ferris B.

Ferris B. — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:13:34 +0000

Give it a break…

I am NOT a fan of Jade’s.

But what he did does not rise to the same level as a prosecutor.

He keeps his job and the detractors need to shut up.

By: Ryan R

Ryan R — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:22:44 +0000

We seem so quick to throw stones in the case of Mr. Riley. Many public servants have been arrested for this same offense, specifically, our own elected Gov. Otter! We elected him into the highest position of Idaho’s public office months after his DUI.

While driving under the influence is grossly wrong, it does not impair a persons ability to serve in public office.

If we search hard enough we can always find fault in a party we do not agree with.
I would hope Mr. Riley uses this experience to serve the public in a better capacity.
We all have made mistakes, the question is do we learn from them to become a better person.
I have full trust in Mr. Riley’s ability to be a public servant and to learn from this experience. It’s good to know that we are all not perfect and do, at times, make personal mistakes.

EDITOR NOTE–For the record, Otter’s DUI was 10 or 15 years ago, NOT months.

By: joe Moran

joe Moran — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 23:08:33 +0000

What we have here is a classic case of a guys behavior ( yes, he made a very dumb mistake) being used to question his job abilities. Then again, drinking and driving is a recipe for disaster and the BPD has publicized their ” drive” to nail DUI’s, so we also have a case of this guy showing a total lack of COMMON SENSE.

One wonders.. he’s in a position of great responsibility, well paid, and supervising Team Daves programs, which often show a total lack of concern for the citizens of Boise. Does a lack of common sense make for better or worse handling of civic responsibilities? We all make mistakes ( I’m probably one of the best at that pasttime) but we acknowledge and learn from those mistakes. I’d like to challenge Mr.Riley by suggesting to him that Boise does not want him sternly punished but when he gets back to the job why not show an increased drive for a de-tox center for all of those not as gifted as him with a plush job paying primo money who just want city halls cooperation in the basics. A de-tox center, a better bus system and laws that stop developers from turning Boise into a concrete jungle. Show us all how much you’ve learned Mr. Riley; why it would be like the platinum lining in the rain cloud!

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 16:12:09 +0000

I am not sure I understand why he was suspended without pay prior to the resolution of his case. An arrest is an accusation, not a conviction. Further, he is not elected, but rather just employed. And, even if convicted, should it be his employer’s concern?

Anne makes some interesting points with regard to the “presumptive” impairment at 0.08. Zero tolerance is merely a handy way of not having to make judgements.

By: Ray Mitchell

Ray Mitchell — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:26:40 +0000

What was I thinking oops, “0 tolerence” only means 0 tolerance for some City employees. Not the guy who runs your Office.

By: oops

oops — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 13:00:44 +0000

Massoth was a city attorney who prosecuted DUI cases. Surely Ray Mitchell can see the difference here.

By: Oops

Oops — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 12:35:40 +0000

I tend to agree with Gordon on this one: The DUI and his job have little to do with each other, so it is not major news. The Statesman seems to have played it right with a short brief, however, both they and the Guardian leave out the key BAC information so we don’t really know how drunk he was, as Anne pointed out. (She’s also right that the .08 standard is so low that some who are not too drunk to drive would still fail the test.)
The most important question here is whether Riley tried to use his position in the mayor’s office to get special treatment from the cop that pulled him over. My guess is he is too smart for that, but the Guardian and the Statesman should be filing their public information requests for the officer’s belt tapes first thing this morning.
And to David Zarkin: Not only is Riley’s boss a Dem, Jade’s last job was director of the Idaho Democratic Party, and he used to work for the Clinton White House, so he is no Republican. But keep trying to be clever with your Mark Foley references if you must. Plenty of D’s and R’s with drinking problems to choose from.

By: Sara

Sara — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 11:49:19 +0000

Anne, I don’t think we know what the blood alchohol level was in this case.

EDITOR NOTE–Our sources on the street say it was .1 which is just above the .08 presumptive level.