Now I’m gonna have to get on the internet and order me some Junior’s Cheesecake and Fox’s U-Bet Chocolate Syrup (for Egg Creams).

Maybe some knish too.

And Canoli, and, and, and…

; )

With the curve of the Earth, I’m not certain South America IS further.

Especially since Barbados sits in the Atlantic off of Venezuela.

But, hey – Six of One, Half Dozen of The Other.

What’s that? HP laying off more people? Micron telling tall tales? Rampant sprawl and rising crime?

If you listen closely, you can hear the sucking sound…

As I said, I don’t know the details of this project, but will certainly find out more. And for Paul, I think he’s done quite a bit in two short years, especially with the Open Space Task Force and working towards improved detox and mental health services in the county. I may not agree with all of his votes, but I know from working with him that Paul is the kind of person I want looking out for me on the County Commission, and he certainly needs no hand holding,(except maybe from his wife and kids). Now, I’d take Sharon over Tillman, but not Paul.

Indeed, conditional use exceptions to comp plans are a joke, with little or no follow up enforcement. And, unfortunately, that seems to be a major part of approvals from both the County and the City.

Boise Picayune, I don’t think everyone is apathetic, but rather just overwhelmed. Civic life has taken a back seat to so many other pursuits, many of us are simply out of practice. It’s hard to keep all the fires on the radar at times, and easy to become discouraged and despondent. Lots of folks are active and engaged though, check out one of these county campaigns and you’ll meet some active, positive citizens.

Clancy, you make some good points. I guess the drawback is that working for “compromises and concessions” can be viewed as weakness in leadership, as it’s usually not dramatic or sexy.

Thank you all for your civil and interesting comments. Cheers!

Rather than compromise, I’d just be happy if the developers met the conditions of Ordinance 621 and the Commissioners upheld the law. Is that so much to ask? Apparently so, and that’s why the current Commissioners need to go.

And I agree with Dog — it ain’t a free market economy here in the reddest of red states when the government (and the taxpayers) bail out business. Frankly, I think this is the tip of the iceberg and things are going to get much worse. Bailouts won’t stave off a damn thing, and by entitling developments that don’t stand a chance at self-sufficiency, regardless of these ridiculous, poorly enforced ‘Conditions of Approval,’ the Commissioners are only making a bad problem worse.

Just follow the law — that’s all I ask… no need to concede anything. In fact, amaze me, Commissioners, and show some stones and real leadership. I’m beginning to realize that with her keen understanding of County finance, Sharon will probably be the best man for the job. Define irony.

Comments, Sharon?

Why not come up with some solutions to live with those givens. Creating antagonistic situations never helps your cause. Instead of always saying “No more”, work for compromises and concessions.

I disagree in your assessment of Sharon Ullman. Fiscal responsibility has everything to do with controlling growth as the chief criticism of these planned communities is their failure to pay for themselves and the subsequent burden they will place on the taxpaying public — this is the whole notion behind adequate public facilities and, ironically, Ordinance 621 which requires planned communities to pay for themselves. Despite this ordinance, the economic shortfalls in these PC applications are glossed over by the sitting AC Commissioners, including Paul Woods. The glossing over is done by encumbering a developer’s new entitlement with ‘Conditions of Approval.’ These ‘Conditions’ then beg the issue of enforcement, which is often woefully lacking due to time and effort. Don’t you think it makes far better sense to have a clean application in the first place?! If only the Commissioners would make this the standard, there’s no doubt in my mind that we would see worthy applications, a compliant development community and an unburdened taxpaying community.

I’m sorry, but despite the talk, Paul Woods has fallen short. How has he distinguished himself in the past 2 years? He’s voted right along with Fred and Rick… I realize that it takes a majority on the Commission to affect change, but he doesn’t need another Commissioner holding has hand to do the right thing. I’m not so sure that the voting public should reward that lack of leadership and courage.