Comments on: GBAD Scuffle Turns Serious

By: Riddick

Riddick — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 00:03:15 +0000

All this drama is better than TV. Sadly, it’s only a matter of time before it all goes away and sanity prevails. Fitzgerald will have to resign for living out of the District, Gayle’s conflict of interest vote will be rescinded, (this is the only place you will see Gayle May and ethical in the same sentence) Bobbi’s kool-aid stand will dry up, Hy (the most incompetent Chairman I have ever witnessed including Little League) won’t be Chairman, and yes, a Visitor’s Bureau will eventually be housed under the Chamber’s direction as it once was. The Board will eventually find an attorney that understands the importance of legal advice for their protection. Nick Miller is clueless. He is making the case for the County Prosecutor very easy.

By: Zippo

Zippo — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:13:46 +0000

Seems like they should all go back to their day jobs

By: Clancy

Clancy — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:48:48 +0000

Melissa,

I was merely suggesting that the Chamber and BCVB has the some of the same goals- attract new business and help existing businesses succeed. The partnership in CdA made reasonable sense to me. BCVB is trying to drum up new business and you may find some new synergies when your are directly helping those business part of the Chamber.

Nate- Thanks for the correction.

By: Cyclops

Cyclops — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 03:03:04 +0000

Melissa, please tell me you are kidding! If not, please share with the group what you are smoking. BCVB is nothing more than a glorified answering service that brags what they have “brought to the table”, when they simply answered the phone and sent out some forms. Pouring public money down the rathole of bureaucracy is no longer acceptable! In fact, the day of the $600,000 grants are gone as well. How many teachers do you think we could employ with that amount of money? The day is here that if it “doesn’t make a direct payoff for the money spent” it ain’t gonna happen!!!!

By: Eye on Numbers

Eye on Numbers — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:49:27 +0000

Idahocrystal, you must be from a place where laws are enforced and officials held accountable.

In Idaho it is “anything is OK as long as you don’t get caught” And when you do get caught the AG or other enforcement agency may choose to do nothing…the Mayor of Caldwell got away with a felony for taking taxpayer money for a YMCA membership for himself and his family but AG underling Mr. Baywater stated “it would serve no public purpose to prosecute the Mayor” in his report. Freedom of info laws are routinely violated and there is no citizen recourse.

Elected and appointed officials can certainly make mistakes but when they make the same one over and over without being held accountable these people are getting away with thumbing their collective noses at citizens and taxpayers. They all have legal council and their lawyers have a fiduciary responsibility to tell elected officials when they have crossed the line. Idaho is still the wild, wild west with little respect for citizens and taxpayers.

By: TELK

TELK — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:38:19 +0000

BettyGH, all you care about is having the gravy train resume for your “custom database program”: otherwise known as “ACCESS”.
Melissa, you are still young and have profoundly limited experience so what you say carries little weight. Yes, you may have worked at the cvb, but you are so impressionable. The cvb has done some good things, however they take credit for events and groups, both small & large, that they had NOTHING to do with. You know that. Everyone does. Why cant they be honest? Patterson wouldn’t know the truth if it bit her on the a__. She has unjustly pocketed so much money for herself and her family members. Bobby has profited enough and needs to go away so this community can move in a positive direction.
Boise’s Chamber employs smart and tenured people with vast experience and I have no doubt that they would do as tremendous a job in marketing our city for tourism as they do for other types of economic development.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 22:50:59 +0000

Nate and Clancy –

I’m wondering why we should put it under the Chamber when the BCVB has done an excellent job for the past 30 years. Personalities aside, they’ve booked tons of conventions, tour groups, sporting events that impact the entire city. Therefore positivity impacting the convention center (GBAD) since they’re the ones collecting all the bed tax. The economic impact is HUGE every year.

I’m just saying that the BCVB has done a good job, why give their “job” to an organization who hasn’t done it at all? Who doesn’t have the track record, contacts, membership, industry reputation? Plus the grant… you don’t start at $600,000 immediately. It took the BCVB YEARS to receive that grant money and earn the Idaho Travel Council’s respect.

This doesn’t speak to the fact that we (or the government) can’t just place a non-profit under an a different organization.

By: Betty

Betty — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:16:56 +0000

Chuck, I see you and the boys are making progress on the big lawsuit and your plans to have GBAD implode!

Judy, when you report back to Chuck, make sure Bower & Co (or whoever they pass the buck to), sends you with a full report that includes how well open meeting laws were enforced during the Wilson era too.

This circus should have ended long ago. The public should be fully disgusted by the entire GBAD board, Center staff and their collective inability to manage our tax dollars efficiently. I mean really. If this group can’t manage a piddly contract with the BCVB, do we really want to trust them with the $10 million or so they have in the bank?

What a waste. Dissolve these groups soon. After all, isn’t that what Chuck and the boys really want?

By: JJ

JJ — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:47:39 +0000

Years of being on public boards has taught me one thing, only the boards with conflict are actually functioning. Plenty of boards have “informal” meetings before the public meeting to make sure everyone is one the same page for the carefully orchestrated public meeting. Without taking a side, I would say kudos to those who have the courage to speak their mind, and not just sit down and shut up. Being silent is the easy thing to do.

By: Rod in SE Boise

Rod in SE Boise — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:42:28 +0000

Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t GBAD and BCVB Boise City government agencies, while the Chamber of Commerce is entirely private.

I would not approve of Boise City giving taxpayer money to the Chamber for any pourpose.

The Chamber exists to lobby government to stop taxing corporations and the rich and to instead tax the middle class. They have no interest in tourism.

EDITOR NOTE–GBAD is an independent unit of government with 5 elected board members. They are not part of any other government. BCVB is a non-profit private corporation. While funded almost entirely with tax dollars (GBAD and Idaho travel Council funds) the outfit is nothing more than a non-profit ad agency. State requires the non-profit status to receive grants and the Chamber seems to fit that description. The Chamber COULD serve the role that BCVB created for itself.