City Government

Mayor Hotline October 18 to 24

BAD HOMELESS, GOOD ALBERTSON, BAD BUS, BAD GOLF COURSE, GOOD CHURCH, ROUGH PARK, CALIFORNIA WACKO NOTED AND IGNORED

10/20/08
Michele
Homeless: I don’t really need a call-back or anything; I just wanted to leave a message
for the Mayor and tell him that it’s not fair that he’s giving all this money to the homeless
people. I was disgusted when I heard about it. My brother used to do night cleaning to
help pay for his two kids and help support them. Those people don’t deserve it; they
choose to live that way, the majority of them. The ones who really need help aren’t the
ones that you see out and about that ask for it. They’re the ones who are living in their
cars and don’t come get it. These people that come and get all this money and free food
and free places to stay, when I should be able to just drive around downtown where I’ve
lived my whole life and I have my newborn son with me, and it’s scary to stop anywhere
downtown now because some bum is going accost you for money. I go to Albertsons
and they’re at all the entrances and exits; you go down to the skate park to pick up some
of the kids that are down there skating or riding their bikes and they’re there hanging out
there. They pee in the bushes at Albertsons; my brother used to clean over there at
night and one of those jerks, they’re just gross, kicked this bottle at my brother when he
was out there cleaning the parking lot and yelled at him, “Pick it up.” My brother told
him, “No, you throw it away, the trash can is right there.” He left it there because it was
a bottle of this bum’s urine. I mean they’re disgusting; you guys should escort them to
the edge of the state and say, “Get out and don’t come back.” You’re telling them it’s
okay to be bums. I mean like I should just go ahead and just quit my job and my
husband should quit his and we could live off of Medicaid and we could get free housing
and free food and probably even free schooling. It’s not right; it’s the wrong message to
send and I just hope you reconsider. Thank.
10/20/08
Terry Lostrom
1100 Saratoga Dr.
Boise, ID 83706
345-7931
VRT: I’m leaving this message because I frequently, daily ride Valley Transit, and almost
daily since early September they have one bus route which would be ideal for me to get
to work (the Hill Road route), and it has not run on time at all. There are students from
Capitol High School, Riverglen Jr. High and adults trying to get to and from work and
school on time. It has been late to its starting route at 6:45 in the morning for
approximately four weeks, discounting a few days last week. I’ve called the bus
company and complained; I do have another route that I can take to get to work, but it’s
not as convenient, yet it’s more convenient if they’re not going to run on time. I want to
know why it’s always late. If route time is going to change, please give us the correct
time so we can plan our schedules. I have called almost weekly. That’s my complaint.
Thank you. The last two times I’ve called I have not received calls back as promised.
VRT
HOTLINE
October 18-24, 2008
Page 2
Action Taken: contacted
10/21/08
Lucas Hanson
252 E. Front St. Apt. 509
Boise, ID
VRT: I was just calling to give my opinion on the bus system in relation to the extended
routes and extended hours. This should definitely be done and that’s my opinion. You
guys need to improve.
VRT

10/18/08
Jim Lodge
1301 N. Alturas
Orchid Award: I think the Albertson family should get an Orchid Award for the
landscaping they’re doing on Joe Albertson’s original store. It looks really nice and I
think it’s in keeping with the North End. That’s all.
PDS
10/22/08
Justin Jordan
Real Life Ministries
Boise, ID
(208) 631-4275
Church Request: Uh, we’re a brand new church that meets at Edwards Theatre on
Overland and Cole. We’re just here to serve the community and wanted to figure out
what the major needs of Boise were and how we can help the Mayor and City Council
and being a part of this great city and seeing how we can help and make a difference in
the community. If you know any of the top needs in the city, we sure would like to hear
from you and see what we can do about making a difference in people’s lives down
here. We’re located on 600 N. Curtis Rd., Suite 145, Boise, ID 83706. Hope to hear
from you soon.
CATCH
10/23/08
Arthur Galus
7910 Wesley Dr.
Boise, ID 83704
377-8768
BPR: I’m visually impaired and often use the Fairmont Park which is just adjacent and
behind my house, to get to the Catholic Church and also to Fairmont Junior High where
my grandson is involved in sports. Recently the School District built Morley Nelson
Elementary School and the area around the school grounds is still rough, no grass, and
very hard for a blind person to walk on. What I am complaining about, or asking your
help with, is to please complete that work. A sidewalk was installed, and that sidewalk is
nice, but it doesn’t cover all of that area that needs to be taken care of. Using my cane, I
get in there and have come close to falling down. So could the grounds between the
park, which I understand is city property, and the school be finished because a crew and
a couple of men could fix it, filling in the pot holes, smoothing it out; they don’t need to
plant the grass, but it would be nice if there weren’t holes for me to fall in. Thank you so
much.
Action Taken: contacted
BPR
HOTLINE
October 18-24, 2008
Page 3
10/24/08
Deborah Olson
2300 Zeen Way
Boise, ID 83712
W – 426-4610 H – 345-4251
Watering the Golf Course: The reason why I am calling is – I am frustrated because I
am a bike commuter; I commute year around and I have for 15+ years in the Boise
Valley. Every fall I deal with the Warm Springs Golf Course not turning off the sprinklers
and they sprinkle the bike path. The last two mornings it has been close to freezing
there and the bike paths are wet, the puddles have a skim of ice on them, and it’s
dangerous. Every year I have to go in there and ask them to turn off their sprinklers and
they tell me they will get around to doing it but they still need to water. Well, I went in
there this morning and told them to please turn it off, but you just never know when
they’re ever going to do it; it’s a fight to get them to do it every fall. I’m just kind of
frustrated; this is a city golf course and the city is trying to stress bike commuting or
alternate ways to commute besides driving, and this is not being supported by the city if
they are watering the Greenbelt on mornings where it’s getting down to freezing. It’s
October 24th and it’s cold in the morning, especially down by that golf course, it’s a cold
sink and you see frost on the grass and it’s just dangerous. So, if you have any kind of
impact, I sure would appreciate it. Thank you.
BPR
10/24/08
Ray Eagle
MotivePower
407-0266 or 407-0366
MotivePower: I’m very concerned about my job and I hope it doesn’t go overseas. I
hope somebody in the upper office can help in our district. Thank you.
Action Taken: contacted
Lady from Sacramento called on – 10/20/08, 10/22/08, 10/24/08

Comments & Discussion

Comments are closed for this post.

  1. So Dave, did you shorthand the lady from Sacramento called 3x or did that actually come from the Mayor’s Office that way? Because if it was the latter, they must have finally decided to transcribe her calls was a waste of time. If it was the former, then ….sigh.

    EDITOR NOTE–Team Dave wisely noted “The lady from Sacramento called” and listed three dates.

  2. Icy greenbelt, is that like a sticky wicket? What does Terry do when it snows, call God’s hotline? Bikeboy, what’s your opinion on this?

    It’s been very warm and dry, I’m running a couple of my sprinkler zones as I write.

    Notice at the bottom, they don’t bother transcribing Sacramento screwball sally anymore.

  3. The Pica Boiseyune
    Oct 30, 2008, 1:33 pm

    A Modest Proposal…

    Homeless = BioFuel?

  4. First… I’m so relieved to see that the lady from Sacramento is still calling! (I’d been worried that she had returned to Neptune.)

    Second… regarding the religious group volunteering to help improve their fair community. If they’re serious, maybe Beater could send ’em over to pick up homeless urine bottles around Albertson’s. (Sorry… that was BAD! Seriously, it’s GREAT to hear from somebody who isn’t demanding more government service, but rather offering to help.)

    Regarding sprinklers at the golf course (and along the Greenbelt in general)… Personally, I believe it’s considerate for those who schedule such things to not be sprinkling during “rush hour.” But a woman of Ms. Olson’s long bike-commuting experience should understand that there IS going to be wet (or icy) pavement from time to time! It goes with the territory. (Us hardcore bike-commuters love this time of year, when we don’t have to deal with the “posers” any more. They get scared off by wet and cold and dark.) Cheers!

  5. Just wondering:
    If the city sprinkles the Greenbelt and/or sidewalks, and someone slips on the ice and is seriously injured, is there a liability issue there?

    Changing the timing on the sprinklers might be a lot cheaper than paying lawyers to deal with the above question.

    Duh!

  6. Gordon, I doubt there is any more liability (for government entities) on Greenbelts, sidewalks, etc., than there is for roadways.

    Although… there IS some liability for homeowners who don’t keep their sidewalks scraped, isn’t there? So you bring up an interesting point. I imagine there are ambulance-chasers who’d be happy to run it through, and see what the judge says.

    For the last 2 years, the Greenbelt has been MUCH more well-maintained over the winter, than traditionally. At least in the Boise city limits, they’ve been doing a great job of keeping it cleared.

  7. Bikeboy:
    Actually, the government entities that own roads do have liability for accidents if the lawyers can convince a judge and/or jury that a wreck was caused by negligence of the entity involved — i.e, if faulty road work, a ditch across the road not properly signed, barricaded, or whatever, or similar negligence caused or at least contributed to a crash.
    Lots of court cases on record; the plaintiffs actually won in a few of them.
    So, one never knows.

    Yeah, re the sidewalks: If the walk is icy or damaged, the city tells the homeowner: It’s yours’ you’re responsible.
    But if the homeowner wants to block, remove or otherwise do something to the sidewalk, the city says: No, it’s ours. You can’t do anything to it. Talk about having it both ways!

    Mighty strange laws.

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