City Government
Possible Boise Cop Shop Near 5 Mile
April 16, 2007 
Four years ago the Boise cops and city attorneys swore in court that a new police station was an emergency need and it had to be at 2800 Fairview to provide central response to emergencies.
They had page after page of reasons why it had to be built in the downtown area where previous councils and mayor had purchased not one, but two parcels of land.
GUARDIAN editor David R. Frazier challenged the city spending scheme and won a decision which said long term debt needs to go to a vote of the people. They STILL haven’t gone to the voters, we are in our third police chief and the need for police facilities is as great as ever.
From reports we have, it looks like they are now considering this building–a nice facility, but it is closer to Meridian City Hall than Boise! It is located off Emerald nearly to Five Mile at a dead-end street (333 Sailfish) in an office park. No doubt there are “experts” who will tell us it needs to be out there–maybe even the same ones who said it had to be on Fairview.
For the past few years the city has been overtaxing residents and creating a slush fund that is “intended” to fund a police station, but there has been no ordinance or resolution mandating it be spent for that purpose and the current elected body cannot indebt or obligate a future elected body–only the taxpayers through a vote can do that.
Yet Team Dave and those in charge don’t get the message. They need to simply ASK THE VOTERS for permission to spend their money instead of sneaking around without the citizen’s input. We don’t even know if they want one facility or a bunch of smaller copshops.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Apr 17, 2007, 8:49 am
As a taxpayer of Boise, I fully support a new cop shop, even if it goes to a vote I will support it.
EDITOR NOTE– Brian, I would probably support it as well, but not on the western city limits hidden away in an office park next to the tracks. The need to be OPEN about it and get public support.
Apr 17, 2007, 9:11 am
Excuse my ignorance… but this Sailfish location appears to be maybe a mile-and-a-half from BPD World Headquarters. Wouldn’t there be better locations, from a strategic standpoint? After all, Emerald Street near the mall doesn’t seem to be part of the Axis of Evil, and any real estate agent will tell you, “Location, location, location!”
Perhaps a friend of Team Dave owns that vacant building.
Apr 17, 2007, 6:04 pm
First of all, this is a prime location. It is near 2 primary staples for law enforcement: Impact Arms indoor shooting range is less than 1/2 mile away. Krispy Kream donuts’ Treasure Valley location is nearby at Eagle and Franklin Roads-about 1 mile off. Boise voters should be aware of and supportive of this reasoning. Therefore, no vote is ‘deemed’ necessary.
Apr 17, 2007, 8:17 pm
I’m all for new facilities for the police but it bothers me that the Mayor and council are not being upfront about it with the people by using a semi-secret slush fund instead of creating a fund devoted to this purpose by mandate.The only other thing I see is the Police shoud be given the opportunity by our politicos to locate in whatever area allows them to serve the public safety best. The Mayor and council need to obey the Id. Supreme court decision and put all major expenses to a vote of the people instead of funding needed services with semi-secret bank accounts.
Apr 17, 2007, 9:34 pm
It appears the police station will happen on a pay as you go basis. Perfectly legal without a public vote. The money is in the budget and not a slush fund. See here: http://www.cityofboise.org/BudgetOffice/FY06FY07/CIP/SixYearSum/CIPSixYearSum.aspx
Guardian use of “slush fund” is at odds with standard definition.
slush fund
n.
1. A fund raised for undesignated purposes, especially:
a. A fund raised by a group for corrupt practices, such as bribery or graft.
b. A fund used by a group, as for entertainment.
2. Money formerly raised by the sale of garbage from a warship to buy small items of luxury for the crew.
If we’re being overtaxed to fund the purchase of an existing building for a new police station on a pay as you go basis I for one think it’s a pretty good deal and it saves on the costs of an election, the bond lawyers and new construction.
As for the location, both the Roundtree parcel and the old K Mart are in the 500 year flood plain. Not a good place to locate a police station when there is a major flooding event. Frankly, I don’t know if location of the station central to the city is that important because the county provides us the jail space and the police on the beat are the first responders. Besides, it’s still closer to downtown than the Twenty Mile Farm.
Apr 17, 2007, 10:39 pm
The cop shop within 1/2 mile of Meridian! You have to be kidding!
There are great locations (like Hillcrest Shopping Center) that are allot more central to Boise. So much for a neighborhood police station.
Then again maybe the City of Merdian can take over the Boise Police Dept and serve both cities from there.
So who owns the building and who gets the money….always follow the money!
EDITOR NOTE–Your distances are off a bit, but it really is “way out west.”
Apr 18, 2007, 11:32 am
YMBK, I support putting the new police station in a more central location Hillcrest (or another struggling shopping center) is a great idea. I hope the city isn’t too fixed on downtown or the outskirts of town to see there is plenty of Central Bench land available.
Osprey, good analysis of the funding of the police station. I think it’s perfectly fine for a local government to accumulate money for capital projects like this, as long as it’s done openly and for a stated need. Heck, the State of Idaho has a building fund expressly for this purpose.
Apr 18, 2007, 5:10 pm
How about the abandoned K-Mart, out off Parkcenter, or out Federal Way someplace? (A location on the other end of town. I believe the Library has “dibs” on Hillcrest Shopping Center… but there may be room for everybody.)
Granted there may be “100 year flood plain” issues to deal with in the lowlands; I didn’t even think about that.
Boise’s growth is somewhat limited by neighbors Meridian and Eagle and Garden City to the west… Mountain Home is a LONG ways off! And there’s plenty of growin’ going on out that way.
Depot Bill – you put a big smile on my face with your Krispy Kreme rationale! Excellent!
Apr 22, 2007, 11:50 am
Meanwhile there is a lot of bare ground not being taxed at 28th and Main/Fairview. Surely some developer must be salivating about the prospect of doing something with that ground. Why is the city of Boise in the land acquistion business?
Apr 22, 2007, 4:57 pm
Somehow, I find it very interesting that the fact that the 27th.-30th. street area of fairview should be excluded from consideration as a new home for the PD, but it is perfectly OK for team Dave to have the CCDC go out there and develop it for economic gain and an additional tax loss for the citizens.
What will we do for all those poor businesses when that 100 year flood happens?