City Government
Tibbs Shoots Self In Foot AGAIN
September 26, 2007 
Some say Jim Tibbs shot himself in the foot over allegations of ethics violations by the mayor and his fellow councilors. The ethics committee dropped the charges within minutes of reviewing them.
Wednesday the Tibbs campaign fired a round into his other foot when he “challenged” Bieter in a press release that began, “Today Jim Tibbs challenged Mayor Dave Bieter to open up the State of the City address to all of the public and address key issues. As it stands the event is only open to paying ticket holders.”
The allegation is simply untrue. The GUARDIAN has made it clear for years–so clear in fact–that Bieter got around our complaint by demanding FREE SEATS in the back of the room for those who wish to attend, but not eat! Team Jim blew it on this one.
The GUARDIAN thinks it is improper for a public official to raise money for a commercial special interest lobbying group (Chamber of Commerce) to the tune of $30,000 ($30 a plate for an audience of 1,000).
Had Tibbs and his crew asked for the proceeds to go toward homeless shelters, hungry people, or even neighborhood associations, he would have made a sound argument.
The entire idea of the mayor cozying up to business and its lobbying is tawdry in the opinion of the GUARDIAN. The “state of the city” speech is nothing more than a Chamber fund raiser. If the speech is important, it should be delivered at an evening council meeting.
Unfortunately for Tibbs, candidates are judged by the quality of staff–since some of them would ostensibly end up as city staff if the candidate got elected. Campaign actions tend to preview what we will get from an elected official.
The release also claimed Team Dave has brought us only a single new patrol police officer since 2006. We recall a major increase in patrol force through re-assignments and expect to hear a rebuttal from Team Dave on that issue as well.
If the Tibbs campaign was limping along before, it will soon be crawling. You can only shoot yourself in the foot so many times.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Sep 26, 2007, 11:12 pm
Another ham-handed Tibbs effort to bash the competition rather than offer up solid ideas and policy alternatives.
Sep 26, 2007, 11:31 pm
I know Jim Tibbs isn’t an old hand at campaigning yet, but I would have thought that his manager Matt Ellsworth had been in enough campaign battles to make sure that his candidate is properly locked and loaded for combat. Maybe if the campaign has some spare cash, Team Jim could invest in a few boxes of blanks, so the next time they misfire, fewer team members will be lost to “friendly” fire. Otherwise, beware of the loose cannon!
Sep 27, 2007, 12:40 pm
Ouch.
I guess the fact checker position never got filled at the Tibbs campaign. This is yet another freshman mistake in the Tibbs camp.
I agree with Zonker – is there nothing Tibbs can offer up in the way of some great policy shift that will improve processes at the City? Hmmmm? What’s that??? Nothing to say from the Tibbs compound? I thought so.
This is a big election and Tibbs is still hoping to get people riled up over issues no one cares about any more.
Sep 27, 2007, 1:51 pm
G-Man,
I had you picked for a Tibbs supporter, since you have avoided some of the stories the Daily Paper has ripped him on.
Another source tells me he sent a release about fireworks vs a parade for the Army boys?? She also said Tibbs has hung dirty air, murder, and a decline in the housing market on Bieter as well following the fundraiser speech the GUARDIAN boycotted.
Looks like four more years of the smartest councilors (and mayor) we have ever seen!
EDITOR NOTE–
We try to be an equal opportunity offender and treat all politicos the same!
Sep 27, 2007, 5:43 pm
Guardian, you know well that the purpose of the press release was to, in effect, agree with you that the state of the city address should not be a chamber fundraiser and should be given in the city council chambers and televised.
Now Ferris, let’s just touch for a minute on transportation. Bieter’s only, and I mean only, solution is a rail system. That s a OK idea for 10-15 years from today. But what does he offer TODAY to alleveiate the traffic problems? ZIP!
NADA! NOTHING! The bus system is so broke over the last 4 years that it will be a monumental task to revive it. But it is the most logical short term solution to a problem that Dave Bieter has hung on this city. The city’s inability to meet air standards falls directly at his feet because he has done nothing!
Now, what about “murder”? There have been 9 homicides this year so far. The next round of statistics will show an increase in crime in Boise. Is that Dave Bieter’s fault? You Bet!! There has been 1, that’s right 1, patrol position added to Boise police since 2005.(G-man, this is where you pipe in and say “that’s correct” because I know you have been given the budgetary back up information on this)
Do you realize that Dave Bieter met with the police union leadership ONCE in 15 months? Boy, there’s a mayor to be proud of!
Now, let’s visit for a moment about Dave Bieter’s precious foothills.Take a look at the BoiseBuilding Department on line and you will notice that since August 1st. of 2003 there have been over 800 new building permits issued for the River North section of the city. When Brent Coles and the sitting city council got the 10 million to buy sections of the foothills, long before Dave Bieter showed up, they secured over10,000 acres of land and still have 4.6 million left for additional acquisitions. The “ridge to rivers” program is maintaining 134 miles of trails and lanes as of today.And what can you give Dave Bieter credit for? Why, he was sitting behind the desk while it happened!
But that’s pretty much normal for Bieter the great communicator. Why, he even “allows” the common man to come down to his office once a month for a 10 minute “audience” with “his emminence” How arrogant! A decent hard-working mayor would get off his duff and go TO the Citizens at every opportunity.
Between now and election day, Jim Tibbs will give the citizens his vision for this city. And he will also point out the promises broken and the many failures to perform by the current mayor. It
will become very evident that this great city is no longer “the most liveable city in America” but it can be once again, if we get rid of Dave Bieter!
Sep 28, 2007, 1:00 am
Cyclops,
It is indeed refreshing to see someone post in support of Mr. Tibbs. You seem well versed in the finer qualities of the candidate you support.
The bottom line is still the bottom line. Jim Tibbs lacks the wisdom and experience to be a mayor. Years on the police force and being a so called, “Drug Czar” for the state hardly equal the qualifications necessary for the job of mayor.
Having said that, I would be just as happy to see Team Dave rolled out of town on a rail come election day. That just isn’t a reality at this time.
Jim Tibbs needs to work hard over the next four years and really put some hard work into passing some landmark initiatives as a council member before he will be ready for the position of Mayor.
Until then, he needs to prepare himself for a loss in November and begin his work for next time.
Sep 28, 2007, 7:56 am
Cyclops, you slay me.
You’re right, Bieter ain’t that good. But having said that, Tibbs tisn’t better.
First of all, I’ve seen that Tibb’s raison d’etre for running for Mayor is that people have encouraged him to run. All well and good in gauging one’s support however, Tibbs needed a “fire in his belly” which sadly seems not to be there. Heck, we all know his reason for running for Council was to get back at Bieter for not appointing him Chief even though when he was just a lieutenant he was elevated to acting chief with the promise and understanding that he would not seek the position of chief.
Yes, yes we all know “people encouraged him to run for chief” but he still made a promise. Maybe it was one of those “intentions” a la Larry Craig. But I digress.
Tibbs cannot garner the necessary votes by simply being not Bieter. He must articulate what he would DO. His perfect opportunities have been missed. During the City’s budget hearings he could have raised whatever issues he wanted to raise (so far ethics that went nowhere, why can’t we get along with ACHD – and not vice versa, and the State of the City) in contrast to what Bieter proposed. He didn’t do that. I think I read somewhere where he voted for the budget. If he had that great of difficulty with it, he should have voted his conscience.
The greatest contrast would have been taxes. However, in voting for the budget which I don’t think cut property taxes, he kind of takes that issue away from himself. So I haven’t a clue as to what’s left. Relations with ACHD? Oh that’s right, he wants to get along with them at the cost of Boise’s neighborhoods.
Tibbs had some great opportunities to compare and contrast himself. Maybe he can do that in the next six weeks or so. But to do that successfully, HE’S GOT TO GET STARTED!!!!
Sep 28, 2007, 11:08 am
I ran for Boise City Council against Alan Shealy 4 years ago, with the support of the Idaho Green Party.
I went to all the debates and watched Dave Bieter at the first mayoral debate. He sweated perfusely, couldn’t put together a coherent sentence and didn’t know anything about city issues. If video of that first debate were made public, he would have never won the mayoral race.
Today, he talks about his personal virtue of riding a bike to work but does nothing environmentally positive. He talks up E85 city cars, which are an eco-farce. He talks up a couple of LEED buildings. He wants to appear grean, but is turning Boise into a mini-NY City / Los Angeles. All he cares about are cars and more houses.
Ride the Green Belt and you will be assaulted by a profusion of gas powered ATV’s, leaf blowers and weed eaters, not to mention broken up pavement that pound your bicycle. Why not put all those workers on bikes and give them hand tools? He could employ more people and spend much less on equipment and maintenance.
I have talked to Dave several times in private and find him to be a vacuous moron who repeats what you say like a parrot.
Tibbs, on the other hand, is highly intelligent, courteous, interesting and would start the job with more sense and brains than Dave could ever muster. I have known Tibbs for 14 years and think he would be better for Boise than ‘careful politician Dave’ any day.
Sep 28, 2007, 12:31 pm
Mr. Monihan, oh, sorry, Cyclops,
How is it that YOU know the true intention behind the Tibbs press release as you goad Guardian with “you know well that the purpose of the press release was to, in effect, agree with you….” while you remind Guardian that, “G-man, this is where you pipe in and say “that’s correct” because I know you have been given the budgetary back up information on this)”? Is it because you helped craft the press release and forwarded the “back up information” to The Guardian?
Speaking of crime, does anyone have a count of the number of police involved shootings there were when Mr. Tibbs was with the police force?
EDITOR NOTE–Guardian go the same press release as others and nothing more. There are about three conclusions regarding addition of more cops…union, management, hiring vs assigning, etc.
Sep 28, 2007, 12:50 pm
I have purposely stayed out of the conversations regarding Tibbs and Bieter since most all of you know that I am the Boise Police Union President and the union has not decided what they are doing (if anything) as a body in this mayoral election.
We are supporting Councilman Eberle, not because he supports us all the time but he is reasonable and listens to our concerns in person and is honest with us about his positions. But there does need to be some truth put on the mayors face saving attempts about public safety. Even on his election website the mayor lists 2 sentences about public safety, although 2 paragraphs about the fire department!
Cyclops is correct, we have gotten 1 new patrol position, 2 motor positions, 1 neighbor officer position and 1 detective in the last 4 years of this administration. We are so far below the national averages no matter how you figure them that at times we must even prioritize fights, domestics,accidents, etc. for resources. No longer are we just holding a 4 day old graffiti call for a clear officer, now in progress calls that are judged of lower priority (alarms, accidents, etc.) are forced to hold due to short staffing. We would need a REAL committment, somewhere between 50-75 officers in the next 2-4 years to be staffed adequately. Yes, there was some reorganization in an attempt to more patrol officers on the streets. For example the Neighborhood Traffic Team which focused its efforts on citizen complaints of speeders, etc. was disbanded and the positions (1 Sgt and 8 officers) sent back to patrol. So even though traffic is always one of the top 2 complaints in citizen surveys, BPD eliminated 1/3 of its traffic unit because we don’t have enough staff to answer 911 when you call.
This isn’t safe for the citizens or the officers. I won’t lay this all on “Team Dave” as the council is responsible for how to allocate funds for the budget as well.
Obviously some folks like Mr. Shealy just think we are overpaid, dope smoking, dog food eating, vile necessities. But the people who sit alongside the road for an hour and a half after their crash waiting for a cop may disagree. Or the mom who has to call 5 different people trying to get an officer, who may or may not have time to show up, out to her neighborhood because the speeding cars on her street force her to keep her kids inside.
I would strongly encourage all of you, no matter which candidates you elect to support, to ask them their position (and where the money would come from) on the police department staffing levels.
Sep 28, 2007, 2:13 pm
Team Tibbs has surrounded himself with YES men. He is supported on a pedestal built by the righteous indignation crowd. Too bad for Tibbs. I sure wouldn’t want my house built by handymen and weekend wood butchers.
Sep 28, 2007, 4:52 pm
I still find it hard to believe that all Boise has to offer is Tibbs and Bieter. Please isn’t there anyone else willing to run for office?
Sep 28, 2007, 10:28 pm
“Ride the Green Belt and you will be assaulted by a profusion of gas powered ATV’s, leaf blowers and weed eaters, not to mention broken up pavement that pound your bicycle.”
I’m a daily bike commuter, and that sentence doesn’t make any freakin’ sense. I have yet to be assaulted on the greenbelt, though I’ve been buzzed by Tonka truck side view mirrors on Broadway.
“I would strongly encourage all of you, no matter which candidates you elect to support, to ask them their position (and where the money would come from) on the police department staffing levels.”
That’s a good question. But an even better question is: Why would a labor union allow itself to be co-opted by republican activists?
We’re living in weird times when the police have labor protection, yet bitch about the lack of anti-union republican leadership.
Sep 29, 2007, 8:06 am
Colleen, please call me Jim. Mr. Monihan was my father. A truly amazing man that sadly has been gone for many years.