How’s that for “green”??!!!!??!

And, FYI, the track grandstands are used for seating for various concerts, etc., between racing seasons.

1) Lets be realistic, the current track and stable set up is an EYE SORE compared to reputable (and I use that term very loosely) race tracks. Regardless of your pro or anti-racing stance, these facilities hardly are a stellar example of quality. In fact they have more in common with slums in Juarez, IMHO.

2) If you truly want to introduce your children to horsemanship and animals, the racetrack is not a place to do it. Try horseback riding lessons (English or Western) or take them to the Zoo. Having seen the facilities and having been around horses all my life, I don’t get a good feeling for the long term welfare of the horses or their grooms and hotwalkers either ….).

3) From a business and liability point of view, Some rent (and this paltry sum barely qualifies) is not better than nothing if it leaves the facilities in even worse shape, leaves the BOCC holding the bag for unfulfilled contracts, or creates liability. Kudos for the county for doing the right thing.

4) Vet and Feed Suppliers have far more customer base than just the track, which is seasonal and ….when you get down to it, not that many horses…compared to whats in Ada County alone, much less the Treasure Valley. Lets face it, Idaho is still predominantly Agro and Ranch.

One final note: if this deal went bad, then Gordon would be lambasting the BOCC for dealing with these “businessmen” to begin with….

My opinion? Raze or rebuild the slumms to attract more reputable Equistrian Events…
Turn the stadium into an outdoor amplitheater for concerts, etc. (Why should the high dollar concerts and performaces go to Canyon County?)

And keep using the rest of the fairgrounds for ….whatever its currently used for.

Here’s an example, the landlords down the street, in their haste to get the place rented, took on a tenant with 2 large dogs. 2 large dogs in an 800SF apartment with no fenced yard. After a year when the tenant moved out the damage was extraordinary. Not only did the carpet have to be replaced, so did the flooring which had rotted from constant wetness from dog urine.

Damn right you should be careful who you rent to.

EDITOR NOTE–Boisecynic has just earned the “segue of the year.” (For you non library types that’s “an uninterrupted transition…”)

Yep, there’s gambling (though not in league with the stock markets as far as possible losses), there’s drinking, though less than at a bar where there’s little to do but chug it down; yep, there are some sleazy people involved sometimes, but I doubt it’s any higher percentage than in most businesses — certainly less than in Enron, AIG, the now-defunct M-K (top-level folks), and certainly less that in politics.

The racehorse owners, trainers, grooms, jockeys, etc. do it more for the love of the game and the animals than for the money — it’s rare that any of them make a profit, especially at a small track like Boise.

But, now those folks are out of work, the owners have horses that bring no income, but still have to try to feed and house them, take care of vet bills, shoeing, etc. I wonder what will happen to the horses when the owners run out of money. There’s no market for them when there’s no racing, and prices on horses of all kinds are down, like prices for houses, etc.

Vets, feed suppliers, equipment suppliers (Jim Flynn’s comes to mind), etc., lose their main customer base.

And the county gets no rent from the track!

Seems like a lose-lose situation.