CCDC
Doldrums, Apathy, Smoke, Limit Guardian News
August 31, 2015 
We probably owe loyal GUARDIAN readers an apology and explanation for the dearth of posts during the past month or so (for non-library types, DEARTH: a scarcity or lack of something).
To be frank, we haven’t had much to say. The fires are burning, the smoke comes and goes, and it takes the TV “chief meteorologists” and their deputy chiefs 15 minutes each newscast to say “not much change and no rain in sight.”
The naming of a Navy submarine as the “USS Idaho” got little more than a paragraph or two in news of the Fair. Even the Fair itself was slow with lower attendance this year.
On the national scene the Trump circus has little appeal and no one actually believes he will be nominated, much less win an election that is 14 months away. Locally no one is the least bit interested in running for mayor or council in Boise and the incumbents–many of whom were initially appointed–will be unopposed.
There is a very important case to be heard Thursday at 8:50 a.m. in the Idaho Supreme Court with the Greater Boise Auditorium District appealing its 4th District court loss to Dave Frazier, claiming a convoluted “lease deal” for more than $20 million is not really a purchase in disguise. We will discuss more on this one after the decision comes down following the oral arguments.
Ada County will be generating some news in the months ahead following the reports from an outside forensic auditor, the sheriff, and the prosecutor. The elected politicos don’t play nice with each other and we predict it will get nasty before the dust settles in the sandbox.
We also await the Idaho Supremes decision on the validity of Gov. Butch Otter’s veto of the “horseless racing” repeal. It the court upholds the veto, look for someone to come forth on the constitutional issue of having slot machines at race tracks. The legislature saw the machines were wrong, repealed the law, but failed to override the veto which some claim was to late to count.
So, there you have it. We welcome any guest opinions and would hope the mayor and council are not the beneficiaries of rampant apathy. Ironic that Boise families send their warriors off to foreign lands to kill and be killed in the name of freedom and to “protect our rights,” but we cannot get folks to run for office or challenge politicos who seek to limit the rights we think we have.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Sep 1, 2015, 3:04 am
Well, aren’t youLittle Miss Sunshine? I noted the lack of Boise City candidates with some sadness when reported in the Daily. I too have a dread fascination with the news of the manifold fires in the PNW and California and wonder why nature has such a great impact on the quality of our life and what the impact of these fires on the local economies will be. I, too, marvel at the clown-car of Presidential wannabes and the Trumpenator in Chief. I marvel at how the latter’s hate-filled speech attracts so many and appears to repel so few.
So, what about the Idaho Prison situation? I thought that the Weekly gave it very good coverage; but, what happened. Where are the cries of lamentation and demands for reform?
Just what IS going on the the Ada forensic audit – where is investigative journalism?
I haven’t even noticed the usual batch of “school’s open drive carefully” stuff.
Our section of Boise has been getting the ACHD chip seal treatment and what I hear the most of lately, is neighbors bemoaning inconvenience resulting from parking alterations as a result.
Is it too hot to get worked up about real stuff?
Sep 1, 2015, 7:10 am
Being as Dave Bieter is a corporation’s best friend, it is most unlikely that anyone is going to defeat him unless they spend enormous amounts of money, which would have to be provided by the person running for office. Ditto the City Council. The corporate lapdog local media tell the Boise Sheeple who to vote for, and they dutifully obey. Voting these days is just the way to legitimize the criminals grip on political power. We keep voting, and things keep getting worse. Maybe it’s time to just stop voting. We really need to throw everyone in political office out into the street, and completely reform our political system so that money and our useless, corrupt media don’t decide who gets elected.
Sep 1, 2015, 7:56 am
You forgot the $85,000 study on trails that is not needed – even team Dave admitted, “We are not sure what we are going to do with the data”.
It would be fun to follow all the money. What did Wells Fargo buy for their $25,000? Who is going to do the study? Was it bid out or just handed to a member of Team Dave (via a rfp)?
Maybe we are going to rename the foothills the Well Fargo Foothills?
Sep 1, 2015, 10:16 am
Good reminder, Yuri.
Also the upcoming park at Franklin & ? Curtis?
Confederate flags vs rainbow flags at schools…
Boise school districts # are down but what about the budgets?
Still some things popping in B-town.
How about a discussion of why the Guardian is not on Facebook?
“but we cannot get folks to run for office or challenge politicos who seek to limit the rights we think we have.”
Are there empty election seats?
The lack of challengers doesn’t mean “we don’t have the right” to challenge.
Unless you are a poor minority, you actually do have the rights you “think you have”. But then poor minorities don’t think they have those rights, so every one really does have the rights “they think they do”. 😉
Sep 1, 2015, 12:13 pm
You do the Guardian a disservice by defining “dearth” for your readers, as though most of us are too “non-library” to know.
EDIOTR NOTE–Point well taken.
Sep 1, 2015, 12:14 pm
I’d be interested in issues of property taxation. A few of us were discussing this the other night, and most agreed it would be nearly impossible for any of us to retire in our current homes due the the prop tax load. I’ve had long time Boise residents I’ve personally known, who have had to leave a debt-free family home due to an inability to afford skyrocketing property taxes. Even old Gov Andrus called it the most “onerous” of taxes. This beast needs to be reeled in. Substantially.
EDITOR NOTE–It is all in the sales pitch. Bieter and Team Dave are attempting to sell yet another North End benefit “foothills levy” with no earmarks for the SW Boise open space, conservation easements, etc. They use $2.50 a month per $100,000 assessed value as the meager cost. Truth is, median value is nearly double that value which means the true cost is somewhere around $54 per residence–much more for commercial property of higher value–and there is no real benefit to citizens who live on the Bench where “increased density” is chewing up habitat along the desert, farm land, ditch banks, and other riparian zones. If they irrevocably designated areas for open space and wildlife habitat in the SW bench, the measure would have more appeal.
Sep 1, 2015, 2:33 pm
Casmir, the state/county has a Property Tax Reduction Program for those who truly can not afford the property tax.
A reverse mortgage also allows a retiree to live in a debt-free home for many years.
More likely you are referring to people who don’t WANT to pay the tax, or someone in an excessive house to begin with, or someone not willing to downsize when the kids leave.
What amounts are you talking about?
For example random picks: 2300 Heron. 210,000 value 2,200 in taxes.
600 W Boise Hills. 4 bd/2bath 280,000 value 4,300. -No exemption.
Reverse engineering says it’s more important to ask what they are doing with all that money?
Police and Fire expenditures are the beasts that need to be reeled in.
Sep 2, 2015, 1:18 am
I am interested to see if the Idaho Supremes move to disbar Idaho Attorney John Bujak.
Despite his ability to avoid criminal charges, trouble follows Bujak like a tail.
Sep 2, 2015, 12:06 pm
Just a reminder–CWI is now taking comments on the proposed purchase and construction of a downtown Boise campus.
I put my two cents in that the 9 million purchase price would better be utilized at the Nampa campus where they have plenty of vacant ground. There doesn’t seem to be any mention of a $140 million bond issue to pay for this. Wonder why? They don’t even have the $9 million in any financial reports I have reviewed.
Sep 2, 2015, 12:13 pm
I went to the Fair this year, they need to rename it the Idaho State Swap Meet, what a waste of time and money.
Sep 2, 2015, 1:16 pm
Random observations about town:
– It looks like a banner season for goatheads! They’re everywhere! (For library-types: puncture vine. It’s a noxious weed with caltrop-like seeds, the bane of cyclists / dogs / bare-footers.)
– It’s official! ACHD has every road in the county either undergoing chipseal, or torn up. (Not really, but it sure seems like it.)
– Parks
1) Rhodes Park is finally undergoing a major facelift, for the entitled skateboarders. The hobo camp has been displaced around the corner; the Weekly says illegal activity is threatening the services offered at the legit homeless shelters.*
2) Esther Simplot Park – I’ve been watching with interest all year. They created a huge mountain of what I assume was tainted dirt that had to be removed. Now it’s back to flat, and hopefully the finished product will start taking shape.
3) New park proposed at the site of the old Franklin School @ Orchard. Locals are lamenting that there will also be a gas station / convenience store… at least it will be paying some property taxes. The park, however it shakes out, will be small. But there are fairly big parks nearby (Borah and Cassia).
* Regarding the burgeoning homeless population… how do we distinguish between the truly needy (temporary setback, mental illness, young children, etc.) and the “lifestyle by choice” needy? And care for the trulies, while NOT making our community attractive to the choicers?