County
Did County Legal Dept. Act In Bad Faith?
September 12, 2012 
The Ada County Prosecutor’s office needs a reminder about their ultimate boss. It is the people of Ada County, not the Commishes.
When the Idaho Statesman was sent a LETTER denying access to public information on the grounds the information was a “personnel matter” exempt from disclosure, that office acted in bad faith in our opinion. If the county attorney cautioned the Commishes they were outside the law, he owes it to the citizens to come forth and say so…in fact, barring yet another “conflict,” he should have filed appropriate charges for violation of the Idaho Open Records Law.
The letter from a county engineer to his boss simply stated a third party review was needed on data regarding the Dynamis trash to energy project because the engineer felt the issue was beyond his area of expertise. That letter from the engineer was made public by Commissioner Dave Case who said he would not be a party to the deception.
Since the prosecutor’s office reviewed the deceitful refusal to the Statesman and received a copy of the denial, we question how the new commission will be able to trust legal advice from that office after members are seated in January. This goes beyond a mere legal interpretation, it is a blatant attempt to withhold information from the public and it was done with the full knowledge of the Ada County Prosecutor.
To insure more advertising-free Boise Guardian news, please consider financial support.
Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Sep 12, 2012, 6:10 pm
Not felt, Dave. Knew.
Sep 12, 2012, 7:21 pm
For quite some time a few people were trying to get the press and public to understand what was going on at Ada County, but everyone pooh poohed the information or acted as if it were quite insignificant. Now with the Dynamis debacle finally getting looked at, the public finally gets to see what employees of Ada county have known for awhile, that the commissioners are not making innocent mistakes while acting in good faith, but are deliberately misleading and deceiving and using “legal” advice to do so,
Sep 12, 2012, 8:16 pm
I concur regarding the prosecutor’s office. I hope that some day soon the proper authorities will realize that the “Great State of Ada” isn’t so great any more, stop fearing it and take action. Ada County is merely one of 44 Idaho counties. Those of us who have lived here a long time have seen it all, but never have we seen such a blatant and arrogant disregard for the citizens of Ada County as we have seen with the Dynamis disaster-in-waiting (Commissioner Case excluded from these editorial remarks.) We, the citizens of Ada County, have a proprietary interest in this very public matter. It is OUR health and safety, as well as OUR $2 million bucks, that are at stake. The prosecutor, commissioners and all elected officials work for and on OUR behalf. Those whom we entrust to conduct OUR business should always err on the side of the law and the people. Someone PLEASE enjoin this project until a thorough forensic investigation has been completed. The law will be on your side!
Thank you for your time.
KTA-Independent Journalist
Sep 12, 2012, 11:09 pm
How dare you question the Politburo.
PS: Before dave leaves ACHD could he please have someone mow the weeds on nearly all of their properties. The place is looking rather trashy.
Sep 13, 2012, 6:40 am
More evidence that this state is the embodiment of Orwell’s 1984.
Sep 13, 2012, 9:32 am
I guess it all depends on WHO at the prosecutor’s office deals with the Dynamis Duo. I also believe that the commissioners do not have to follow the legal advice they are given. This is truly a broken system of government!
Sep 13, 2012, 11:44 am
I can’t believe that anyone with a lick of sense would send that letter. The legal basis stated speaks for itself and it is so clearly inapplicable.
Idaho’s public records statutes state a presumption that all records are public unless specifically exempted. Ada County’s approach is that all records are exempted and goes from there.
Sep 13, 2012, 4:37 pm
Why, it sounds almost as if the Commissioners thought that they were right and insulated from any recrimination or even the possibility of failure. My, my. Wish we could see the financial records of all of the Corporations and Officials involved.
It is enough to make one a tad cynical.
Sep 13, 2012, 6:48 pm
Dynamis is composed of several LLC’s including a construction company so public cannot view any financials. Of course county no doubt saw some financials before they gave out those contracts HA!!
and bonding requirements–where are they? IPUC in granting the lucrative energy contract between Idaho Power and Dynamis said they were not required to assess the financial viability of a company
Sep 13, 2012, 7:01 pm
I would clarify for Safe Citizens that the idea tha the Commissioners don’t have to follow (bad) legal advice is not applicable. The way it works is the Commissioners say what they want done and request legal support for whatever the proposed action is. The Prosecutor’s Office then provides the legal backing for the actions the Commissioners want to take. If the legal folks suggest a different path be taken contrary to what the Commissioners want, the Commissioners will send the attorneys back to the drawing board. The Commissioners are the client of the attorneys. Just the same as if you, as an individual, hired an attorney and he/she said “bad idea” in response to something you wanted to do,and you said “I want to do it anyway”, the attorney would help you, albeit with fair warning. That is how things go at the County too.
By the way, the Statesman reports: “The county is slated to further amend Dynamis’ contract on Monday, but it will not state what changes are being proposed until after they are approved.” It never ends!
Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/09/13/2270549/why-does-dynamis-need-more-land.html#storylink=cpy“
Sep 14, 2012, 4:40 pm
It is Friday 4:39 pm and the Ada County posted daily agenda for Monday [available at adaweb.net under Commissioners Agendas] shows an Open Business Meeting for that day and says “see separate agenda” but no separate agenda is posted. Were it posted, I am guessing it would include the additional amendment the Statesman referred to. Interesting that they are waiting so long to post it…
Sep 14, 2012, 4:52 pm
The agenda for Monday just posted (at 4:50 pm Friday). The lease agreement with Dynamis is on the agenda Monday at 9:00 a.m.
Sep 14, 2012, 5:09 pm
That is true, about the client being in charge. Yet, even in that circumstance, a lawyer should never, ever sign or authorize such a letter. We frequently see clients ignore good legal advice, every year when the legislature passes some cockamamie law that the AG has already told them will be held unconsitutional. They get sued, and lose. Happens all the time.
Sep 14, 2012, 8:39 pm
My Two Cents: Thank you for the clarification, and I agree. I have also submitted a PRR on 8-29-12 for some information only to receive today a letter asking for further clarification. 14 business days to figure that out. Are we still living in America?
Sep 15, 2012, 10:54 am
The law requires a response to your PRR with three days. They should have told you they needed clarification by letter within three days.
Sep 15, 2012, 9:38 pm
Bad faith vs. blind faith. What’s the difference?
Sep 17, 2012, 8:32 pm
one is for the politicians and one is for the voters.
Sep 18, 2012, 8:36 am
I think Sharon is her own legal department. Her is a recent FB post. “The contents of a structure, and commenting upon those contents, do not fall within the professional scope of responsibility of a county engineer.”
Sep 18, 2012, 3:59 pm
We have been under a cloud of smoke from forrest fires all summer long this year. Why would we ever entertain dumping more crud into the air via Dynamis. The project is nothing more than a sleazy effort to dispose of old tires from all over the Northwest.
Electrical power generation is a ruse and has nothing to do with the mission of Dynamis. This project has Idaho Political Sleaze written all over it.
EDITOR NOTE–Based on earliest comments, we feel it is potentially a tire disposal plant in disguise.
Sep 18, 2012, 5:39 pm
I think they have moved away from burning the pacific northwests tires. The real scam is what is known as Renewable Energy Credits otherwise known as REC’s. They are like stock certificates and are sold to heavy polluting power facilities to offset the requirements that they be renewable. The credits are earned at 1 credit per killowatt hour. That would be 2200 credits per hour for the 22 Megawatt facility. these REC’s can be negotiated on future credits. Meaning they don’t even have to be making power to sell their future credits to finance todays operation. Think about the history of Wade Thomas and Pete Johnson of Dynamis and you will find the sales of non existent securities is not outside of their thought process. Think about the possibilities. Look it up. Back east some types of REC’s are selling for 75 dollars each. Idaho waste generated power will not have the same REC value, but are still worth money on the market.
EDITOR NOTE–We explained RECs in an earlier post https://boiseguardian.com/2012/03/07/trash-talk-power-politics-economics-ownership/
Sep 19, 2012, 6:42 am
So when does this supposed investigation actually commence? The complaint was filed by Idaho Citizens for Safe Environment back in June. This is September and absolutely nothing has been done to investigate the allegations that were made, other than some passing of the buck. And prior to the formal complaint by Idaho Citizens, individuals had made similar requests for an inquiry to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office but those were never acted upon then either. At some point the delays are simply obstructionist. Why is no one accountable in this entire process? It really is a sad commentary on local government and local politics.
Sep 20, 2012, 3:55 pm
MTC, I think the root problem is the one party system in Idaho. The things you ask about are not a concern to them when they know the nobody is going to come snooping around