Here’s how to prevent this build-up of encrusted political barnacles in the future:

Representation is from long long ago when communication was painfully slow. But now people can vote via the internet for what they want. We do it all the time with shopping and banking etc. I propose that the elected and highly paid positions should become like jury duty for qualified citizens. With pay but also term limits, and charged with strictly following the will of the people as determined by routine online polling. Some staff members with limited powers and specific limited duties will be retained to coordinate the polling and follow orders of the current leaders. Up-or-Out policies will be used for Police and Fire as well as many other departmental public service jobs to encourage these jobs to become a phase in life for most folks rather than the expensive entrenchment we see in the ranks now.

People not contributing ($$ paid in less than $$ out) will have very limited voting rights. Big tax payers more votes, but not an absolute correlation to contribution. Corporations are not people and cannot vote.

Flat tax; Remove two older laws for each new law passed; No new law will be more than 100 words in length.

(No, I have not been drinking and don’t smoke funny stuff.)

Disenfranchisement.

Ada County, Boise and Meridian have grown by thousands upon thousands of people over the last 3 decades. Even more over the last century. Yet we still have the same number of local representatives as 100 years ago. How can we tolerate this? Why isn’t this even a topic of discussion?

Why should only 5 people at ACHD represent 500,000 Ada County residents? Compare that to maybe 100,000 Ada County residents when ACHD was formed.

Why should only 6 people at Boise City Hall represent 200,000? Especially considering only 40 years ago 6 people represented less than 1/4th that number?

Your voice, your opinion becomes more and more worthless every year.

EDITOR NOTE–Boise Cynic, you are more correct than you realize. I would have no problem with 5 ACHD commissioners representing 500,000 citizens. Truth is each represents only 20% of the citizens. We are prohibited by law from voting for 80% of those who decide how to spend our ACHD money. You can vote only for a single commissioner.

If Demo Sen. Branden Durst were to get his way, he would disenfranchise 2/3 of the people who vote for Ada County Commishes as well (he wants to elect only by district).

Former Mayor Coles got ACHD bill passed to disenfranchise 80% of voters in an effort to unseat a liberal pro-bicycle ACHD commish. Now the liberals seek to do the same thing to get their own seat on the conservative Ada County Board. Politics sucks!

How many times do we hear criticism of Los Angeles? Could part of LA’s problem be the fact that there are dozens upon dozens of separate municipalities duplicating services and even outright competing with each other. How does this help the taxpayer?

Cities have changed drastically since our form of local and State government was created.

It’s time to rethink governance of metropolises. Yes, ACHD has some problems but its existence has eliminated service duplication and most of the infighting between neighboring cities.

Even though I complain about ACHD’s unequal geographic expenditures I am also fully aware that keeping traffic moving in the suburbs is for the greater good of the region as a whole. Sometimes you have to look at the big picture.

We have 4 highway districts in Canyon County and it is full of waste top to bottom. Ditto for all the school districts. Local control is just another word for waste and inefficiency. Admin. staffs, boards, equipment and full of not doing what is best for taxpayers.

I think it would have been fair to point out that Arnold started this spat and also to mention that while each seems to be grinding a personal act, neither letter claimed to be sent on behalf of their employing entity.