County
Commish Ullman Talks Probation Issues
October 21, 2011 
By Sharon Ullman.
Ada County Commissioner
Ada County is gearing up to take over the provision of misdemeanor probation services at the end of this contract term, which is September 30, 2012. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to call or write to my Board to express your concerns and frustrations with this program.
Thank you, also, to the Boise Guardian for focussing much-needed attention on this issue and for providing this forum to allow those people who are affected by it the opportunity to interact, provide information, or just vent.
Although I would liked to have seen a thorough investigation take place before my colleagues renewed the ACMPS contract, we are at least now moving in the right direction. As I have mentioned several times on the Boise Guardian, I have never supported the concept of privatized misdemeanor probation or any corrections services but have never before had the necessary second vote to terminate the contract and provide the service in-house. I believe in limited governnment, but corrections-related services are properly handled by government to avoid the profit motive and problems that are allegedly occurring at ACMPS.
Early last week, I had minor surgery, so please accept my apologies if you contacted me and I did not get back to you. I have read all my e-mail and listened to all of the voice mail messages I received, but admit the timing of my surgery did not work well with the high volume of messages I received on this issue. I want to assure you that your concerns have been heard. Meanwhile, I am almost back to 100% health.
To all of the people who are currently on misdemeanor probation: Please understand that I have no authority over your individual case or situation. If you have complaints about the handling of your case by ACMPS, please contact your attorney and/or the judge on your case for assistance.
If you have evidence of a problem at ACMPS that you can document, such as positive UA’s at Global during a time when you can provide PROOF that you were clean, please send a copy of this information to the Board of Ada County Commissioners, 200 W. Front Street, Boise, 83702.
Thank you, again, to everyone for helping to change the way Ada County provides misdemeanor probation services.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Oct 21, 2011, 10:11 pm
You can buy a voice recorder @ Walmart pretty cheap and simply record the meetings with the PO’s. You can wear them around your neck and they digitally record hours and hours of voice data.
Oct 22, 2011, 10:29 am
Thank you, Sharon, for acting in the best interest of the taxpayers of Ada County and of the misdemeanor probationers. I am disappointed that Bisterfeldt and Yzaguirre turned a blind eye to all of the problems with ACMPS and did not vote for a much-needed investigation. Also thanks to the Boise Guardian for bringing this issue to light.
Oct 22, 2011, 3:39 pm
I will agree with Bob on this, thanks Sharon, you listened to us and you seen the proof we had sitting right in front of us. As for Rick he spent a whole five minutes with us and acted like he didn’t have the time to listen to us. Vern, well we never did have the opportunity to meet with him. I will continue to fight this fight until the other two commissioners LISTEN to us!!
Oct 22, 2011, 8:58 pm
Dear Tina,
Are you the same Tina Baird that stomped out of the Ada County Prosecutors Office because you didn’t like your boss there either? I ask this because you are portraying yourself as a credible source and considering your past employment you don’t seem credible at all.
EDITOR NOTE–Play nice. Not real fair to use a screen name and bash someone who uses their real name. If you work for the prosecutor, it would be nice to know that.
Oct 22, 2011, 9:36 pm
Sharon,
It’s no mystery why Rick and Vern renewed the probation contract. They both have adult children who have been on probation in Ada County. One as recently as 2008. So I’m sure they know Nancy Cladis rather well. Which brings up the question of conflict of interest. Can they legally sign the contract having had immediate family under Nancy’s control? That may explain why Vern avoided meeting with Tina and Bob and Rick only gave a token five minutes. They had already made a decision. I also heard a rumor that they signed the contract in advance of the BOCC meeting. If that is true it sure sounds a little back roomish to me. I think THAT should be investigated as well.
Oct 23, 2011, 9:11 am
Tina,
I couldn’t help but notice that you continue to claim you had proof for the commissioners, why don’t you take that proof to an attorney and file a civil lawsuit against her. Hit her where it will hurt the most, her pocketbook.
Oct 23, 2011, 9:46 am
Regardless as to why Tina left the Prosecutors Office, the issue with ACMPS is different. It is different because Nancy has been verbally and emotionally abusive to employees for years. Tina had the guts to speak up and bring attention to this, when other employees did not, myself included. Nancy thrives on power and control, and consistently displayed behavior that was ethically challenged, to say the least. Employees were afraid of her, because of her tactics and the repercussions that followed. Tina did the right thing in this situation, which is where the focus is.
Oct 23, 2011, 10:04 am
You can’t just sue anybody you want. You have to have “standing.” That normally means YOU are the party who has been injured. Tina wouldn’t appear to have standing to sue ACMPS on the basis of its violations of the rights of people on probation.
Additionally, for the most part bosses get to be jerks. “Hostile work environment” has a specific legal definition that is most commonly tied to the classes that are protected from unlawful discrimination – age, race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, etc.
Oct 23, 2011, 11:48 am
Publica
could you please post your email address, I do have a couple of legal questions for you, since I know who you are I can trust you.
Thanks
Tina
Oct 23, 2011, 9:21 pm
[email protected]
Or you can get my work e-mail off the state Bar website.
Oct 24, 2011, 1:41 pm
I have heard a rumor that the commishes made Nancy change a few things in her contract, one being that she cannot charge for UA’s (her new Drug testing lab) is this true? How can I confirm this? Also, if this is true can she still charge her outrageous fees for SCRAM?
EDITOR NOTE–On page 5, paragraph “H” of agreement #951 the language says the contractor cannot refer probationers to any program in which contractor has a financial interest. The contract also prohibits trading work for fees. You can get the contract from the commishes via a simple request for the pdf file.
Oct 24, 2011, 9:36 pm
This is a gold mine for an investigative reporter. I know the Statesman has few reporters on the beat these days. We need to get someone in the media to do a series of stories on this. Maybe the Press Tribune could take it on.
This has the potential to be an award winning story – the plot thickens every day. The judges need to contact all of the folks who have and are currently on probation and promise them there will be no fallout if they are willing to tell their story. Everyone I know is scared to say anything for fear that Nancy will make them pay in the end.
This story is one for the books – look at all the alleged twists and turns to date. I am not the brightest bulb in the room but this is what I see as allegations: bail bonds owner who only sells businessafter it appears to be a conflict of interest with her new gov private contract, government officials approve her new contract despite all concerns raised, relatives of same govt officials clients of Cladis, fundraising parties at Cladis home, Cladis requiring UA’s and classes etc not ordered by judges. Individuals being violated for diluted UA’s so they have to do more and pay more. Staff being told to collect cash as much as possible and I am sure others can add to this list.
And she has another gig going in Canyon County ( search google Caldwell – Nancy Cladis Bail Bonds.
I don’t think it is much of a problem for her to move her UA operations to Canyon County and every other county in the state.
Someone smarter than me needs to generate a list of all the allegations and give it to the news channels, Boise Weekly, Press Tribune and the Statesman.
There are few stories that impact thousands of people and all of the taxpayers in this county. Especially if the county is sued over this.