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City Government

Mayor Hotline June 20 To 26

 June 30, 2009 ⋅  Post a comment

NO TROLLEY and UNLIMITED TRASH, UNHAPPY TRASH TALK, CIRCUS WITHOUT ELEPHANTS,
6/19/09
Don Day
1504 S. Arcadia
Boise, ID 83705
344-0894
Curb It & Streetcars: Just a couple of comments; I’m really disappointed in you. I know this is a
little late, but on your new trash program. This is something that the city dealt with about 20 or
25 years ago and they went through all this coupon and one can and extra cans and it didn’t
work. They finally did the unlimited and it’s worked very well for 20 years and the city’s stayed
clean. What’s going to happen is we’re going to start having a dirty city again, particularly in the
rental market. People are not going to be paying extra money to get rid of their trash and stuff.
You did improvement on the recycle part of it, but I think you made a big mistake by going away
from unlimited garbage pick-up. I’m very disappointed that you didn’t go back in old records and
find out that you’ve already gone through this whole thing. The other thing is that this
downtown transit system isn’t going to work either. People are not going to drive down and
jump onto a tram for another two or three blocks and pay extra money. I don’t know if you’re
thinking about closing off the whole city down the road or something, but this is just a big tax
burden that’s going to cost everybody a bunch of money and not gain us anything. I know it
sounds great but we don’t have the population base and people just aren’t going to use it. I
mean who’s going to want to drive down, park, probably end up paying parking, then go pay to
ride the tran the next four to five blocks to get into your unit. So, this is not a good idea.
Thanks.
Action Taken: msj

6/19/09
Craig Webber
11165 Tioga St.
Boise, ID
Elephants: I just heard that the circus is coming to town and no elephants are coming because
PETA pressured the Mayor to exclude them. I didn’t know the Mayor was supporting animal
rights. Well, I will not be supporting the Mayor, nor have I been supporting the Mayor since he
annexed me without a vote. So all these things add up, Dave, so hopefully we see you at the
ballot box and you go out of office next time. Bye.

6/19/09
Anonymous
Elephants: I just heard about PETA and the elephants at the Shrine Circus. I think that is so
ridiculous. Why don’t we close the city zoo? I think that would go farther, wouldn’t it Dave?
They’re not letting the elephants go.

6/20/09
Joan Rigg
3613 Red Oak Dr.
Boise, ID 83703
Quinns Pond: It’s Saturday, late afternoon. I took my kids down to Quinn’s Pond, a new boat
and water park, hoping to have a good time, and I was very disappointed. I feel that that area
needs to be well policed and a lot more police presence due to the volatile group of people who
are down there. They’re extremely unpleasant, extremely foul, and in no way was it family
friendly. There’s a large group of people down there who are very rough and just profanity flying
non-stop. They’re not really causing any fights, but they set the mood to a very stressful and
unpleasant setting, and I don’t know what else can be done but to have a greater police
presence down there. Thank you.
BPD
6/21/09
Jerry Cantor
1121 Ranch Rd.
Boise, ID 83702
384-9708
Bike Safety: I’m sure you’ve been getting a lot of phone calls about the recent bike tragedies in
the valley. Every day I open the Statesman expecting to get some sense of completion with the
accidents, especially the last one where the bicyclist was killed while he was in a bike lane on
Hill Road. It seems like if the driver of the vehicle had turned left into the path of a car, the
investigation would be fairly straight-forward; it should be at least inattentive driving and there
should be some conclusion with that. I can’t imagine that there’s any type of law that commits
someone turning left into the path of a bicyclist. I just wonder why this is still under
investigation; how much more investigation needs to be done. Certainly I’m not asking for some
type of revenge against the motorist; I’m sure it was the worst day of his life; I understand he’s a
minor, but I think bicyclists in the community need to have a sense that some type of justice is
going to be served when a bicyclist is killed because of another person’s mistake. I’m hoping to
find out from you what is being done to complete the investigation of both this as well as the
other two recent deaths. It’s on most of the bicyclists’ minds that I talk to. Thank you very
much.
Action Taken: left msj

6/21/09
Levi Nall
573-0359
Ada County Dispatch: I would like to report a complaint about an officer. Tonight I called
dispatch regarding a guy who was drinking a lot of beer; he couldn’t stand, he was walking, you
know he was drunk. He fell down in front of the church and I called the cops back and said, “I
was just wondering if you guys could look at him or catch him or anything.” Inaudible…and
that’s about it. Thank you.

6/22/09
Debra Miller
1911 State St.
433-0849
Road Closure/Blockage: I own Boise Trolley Stores. I had two incidents this weekend where
the roads were blocked, so I was wondering who was creating these permits to block off public
road access, and also what kind if criteria there is that they need to be able to do this because
this is impeding my business. I was not informed of this; I do a tour every day of downtown
Boise at 11:00 and 1:00 and I have a specific scripted tour which is on a specific tour route and
the route was impeded Saturday in the park of which I have a lease with the City of Boise over
by the Zoo, they had the road all blocked over there for a race. It totally took up the whole road;
I don’t understand why they can’t just take up one lane if they’re going to do something like that.
The other thing was the 9th Avenue car show on Idaho St. between Capitol and 8th St.; the whole
area there was blocked which I came upon with a tour group on my bus and I had to totally
circumvent my route in order to accommodate that tour. So, in the future I would appreciate
being notified when things like this are coming down the pike; I’m sure this has been planned for
months, so that I can make adjustments and not have to make split second decisions as to what
I’m going to do with my tourists. So, it would be nice to be notified about it. I also would like to
know exactly why this is being done; why can’t they do this kind of stuff at the convention
center, isn’t that what they’re for, instead of a public street? So, anyway, that’s my comment
and I was very upset about it. Like I said, it happened twice this weekend and it really puts me
out as a small business owner here. I had to apologize to my customers; I had to actually back
up the vehicle in the park and if I had had the train I wouldn’t have been able to do that, I would
have been totally stuck. I would have had to lose the revenue for that tour. So, please call me
and let me know how we can remedy this situation. Thank you.
Action Taken: contacted

6/23/09
Janelle
Recycling: I am a concerned citizen of Boise, Idaho. Every time I go to my garbage can and
throw away plastic, I cringe because the townhome complex that we live in is not involved in the
recycling program or any of it. I’m concerned about all the apartment complexes, condos,
townhouses and other household communities that are not involved with recycling. My concern
is having something that I can at least put recycling stuff in so that it can be recycled, whether I
take it to recycling or not. I want to be involved. I would appreciate it if you would please pass
this message onto the Mayor. I’m a very concerned citizen.

6/23/09
Terralee Lopez
3205 Jullion
Boise, ID 83704
377-5744
Curb It: I’m calling regarding the discrepancy that’s happening between Allied Waste and the
Boise City Police Department. I have been told by Allied Waste they will not pick up my
garbage unless it is on the sidewalk; I spoke with a Boise Police officer and he said it is illegal to
block the sidewalk. We live near a school and lots of little children, mothers with strollers, etc.
are passing by, so I need to know what to do. Since you supervise both departments, could you
please let me know who we’re supposed to follow? Thank you.
PW
Action Taken: left msj

6/24/09
Margaret Hobbs
5428 N. Five Mile Rd.
Boise, ID
377-8023
Bike Safety: I was calling regarding my concern regarding bicycling dangers on my street. I
believe that I live on quite a dangerous street right now. I live on N. Five Mile and since they
opened it up from Chinden, the rate of traffic has become so heavy and very, very fast. I mean
it’s only supposed to be 35 miles per hour but cars are going a lot faster than that and they’re
also being very impatient when I have to turn into my driveway. When anyone has to turn into
their driveway, the majority of people don’t even stop for you to turn into your driveway; they pull
over to the right into the bike lane to pass you. This happens all the time every day. We also

June 20 – 26, 2009
have bus stops on this street. Another thing is that in front of my home there is a school bus
stop and I’m concerned about that as well. Even at this time, 12:19, there’s a lot of traffic and
they’re not going 35 miles per hour. We also have 18-wheelers going down this street all the
time; there are small signs posted saying “no trucks” at Five Mile and McMillan and also by
Chinden and Five Mile, but needless to say those signs are not seen by the truck drivers and
the 18-wheelers are far too heavy, and other trucks that weigh a little less are also far too heavy
for the street because we have so many cracks on the street with grass growing between
McMillan and Chinden. When the street was opened from Chinden to McMillan, the street was
never prepared or renovated for the new traffic; it’s the original street which was a dead-end
street, so renovations were never made on this street. Another safety concern that I have is
that we live so close to where that woman was killed on Cloverdale when she was jogging with
her dog, and that is just the next street over on Cloverdale. I’m really concerned that one day
something like that is going to happen because of the people being impatient and swerving to
the right to go around and not waiting for someone turning into their driveway or turning onto
another street. I do hope that you’ll look into this. All someone has to do is just sit on the side
of the street and you’ll see how fast the traffic is and you’ll see that people don’t stop and wait
for you to make a turn. Thank you very much.
Action Taken: contacted
BPD
6/24/09
Jerry Squires
6517 Grandview Dr.
Boise, ID
921-8711
Parking Confusion: This morning I got two tickets for parking my cars horizontally on the
street instead of vertically; I’m in the corner of an “L”, I’m not in a cul-de-sac as the trash man
proceeded to explain to me, although it may be that you can’t park this way. I have lived here
for 22 years, I have had police officers in and out of my neighborhood for 22 years and I have
never once been ticketed for having my cars parked that way, and I have parked my cars there
in the same way for 22 years. Now, I understand that there may be some changes needed for
the trash people, but it would be nice if the City of Boise would inform us what’s going on and
that we need to move our cars, not just show up and give us tickets. I would really like to know
if there’s something the Mayor’s office can do about this and give us a little leeway for
something that we’ve been doing for years, and now suddenly we’ve got to change it and no
official notice from the Mayor’s office or from the city on what needs to be done. So, come on
and work with me here; I would like the tickets rescinded. Thank you.
Action Taken: left msj
BPD

6/24/09
Gordon Hastings
P.O. Box 140362
Boise, ID 83714
608-8977
Bike Safety: I want to make a comment on the biking situation; I used to bike until my back was
injured and now it’s hard for me to sit on a bike. I walk at least three miles a day, and I can’t
walk on the Greenbelt any more because those bikes constantly go by fast and have hit me,
although they don’t stop. They’re doing 30 miles an hour and no warning coming up behind
you, racing. Also, I’ve seen a woman who was walking with her three teenage daughters and
the bikes were so bad that she got off the path and they went back in disgust. I think there
needs to be some consideration for people walking as well, and also that they obey the laws on
the highways. I always give them plenty of girth because they have not protection, but I’ve also
run over the centerline many times and have to wait behind them because they’re elbow to
elbow just chatting outside of the bike lane, and things like that. It’s growing pains, and I
understand that, but I think to make it safe for walkers also, which I have not heard anyone
comment on, the bikers need to watch out for walkers as much as cars need to watch out for
bikers.
Action Taken: left msj
BPR

6/25/09
Jeffrey Johnston
1105 N. 6th St.
Boise, ID 83702
384-1153
ACHD: I called probably last summer about the speed limit at the park on 6th St. between Fort
and Union. It is a park on both sides of the road, such should be a 15 mile an hour speed limit;
it is posted at 20 miles an hour. I talked to ACHD and they said they were going to change that
because they refute it, and you guys had actually called me the day they called me and they
said they were going to take care of it, and it’s still not been taken care of. I would really like to
see this park change to 15 because we live down here on 6th and the traffic then seems to think
they can go 25 – 30 down on our street because they’re out of the park or something. It would
be nice to post the park at 15, which it should be, then have a 20 mile an hour speed limit sign
put further down the street to try to convince drivers that 20 is the fastest they can go. Also, the
thing on the bicyclists/car thing, I think a couple of things we should look at is, why cars think
that the destination is their thing, not the drive. I think more important is that cars have to look
out for things, and the first would be pedestrians and cross-walks. It’s required by law that when
a pedestrian is at a cross-walk, that a car stop, and this is at marked and unmarked
intersections, unless it’s a street light, which has a walking light, and that makes it different. But,
if you go down here, let’s say at 10th and Fort or Hays, and you stand on the corner, the police
department will ignore the fact that you’re standing in that cross-walk; I’ve had that happen more
than once. Wait until school is on, go down there and watch those kids wait there. A friend of
my who just moved to Oregon, got a $230 fine for failing to yield to a pedestrian when she was
making a left-hand turn. The cop’s comment was, “You had time to yield to that pedestrian and
chose not to.” That pedestrian was approaching the cross-walk. Please look into that speed
limit posting.
ACHD
6/25/09
A citizen named Phil
Tree Trimming: Dear Mayor, a couple of weeks ago a storm blew through and the wind broke a
branch on one of the trees along the street. A guy pulled out his pocket knife and cut it clean
and the police gave him a ticket for vandalism. The guy used a proper tool; when you cut a
branch, you use a knife to cut it clean so it will heal, and they gave him a ticket for vandalism.
You should talk to your prosecutor and drop the charges. The guy was protecting citizens who
were going to have to walk under that tree on the sidewalk. It’s just ridiculous; that makes our
police look foolish. Please drop the charges. I don’t know the guy personally, but I think it
stinks what the city of Boise is doing. Thank you.

EDITOR NOTE–This sounds like “urban myth” and probably didn’t happen.

6/25/09
Paula Duvall
4520 Camas St.
Boise, ID 83705
345-9539
Curb It: I would like to know why the Mayor and the city are discriminating against the elderly
and handicapped with the new garbage dumpsters. The elderly and handicapped can’t get the
big ones or medium sized ones out to the curb when they’re full, and we’re only allowed one
small one. I think this is discrimination; it would be helpful if we could at least get two of the
small ones, especially in the summer time when there is a lot of yard waste going out. If I have
to keep trimming Cassia Park shrubs and vines off of my fence, I thing the city should help pay
for my garbage. Thank you.
PW

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